Thickening of ileal loops

[KB08]

Hi. Wondered if anyone could shed some light on this as I'm getting really concerned. Iv been having really bad flare ups for over 2 years now. These now include some sort of blood in the stool. Not a massive amount but it's there. I recently took ill whilst on a holiday in Turkey. They did me an ultrasound and said I have thickening of the walls in my small intestine (ileal loops) hence why when I had endoscopy and colonoscopy in UK nothing showed. I'm waiting to have a pill cam.

Could this be Crohns?

[Starfush]

try fasting whether intermittent up to 18-20 or 24+ hours. We put so much processed unatrual junk in our bodies.

[Viklou]

The Pill can can visualise your small bowel and perhaps identify any issues. I had clear Colonoscopy but the pill cam found crohn's in the middle of my small bowel. I had some large ulcers that seemed to be responding well to the steroids and patches of inflammation.

[KB08 in reply to Viklou]

Thanks for your reply. Yes iv had blood in my stool a few times which they thought was a stomach ulcer but my endoscopy was clear. So it must be coming from my small bowel.Do you mind me asking what symptoms you have? I really struggle with my joints. And I get really sore and painful eyes and headaches. Iv been so poorly from this last flare up 😩

[Viklou in reply to KB08]

My main symptoms were stomach pain and diarrhoea. Vomiting, joint pain and extreme fatigue. Plus I lost a lot of weight very quickly. It took 6 years to be diagnosed and took a while to actually get a pill camera. My bloods were always OK but my stool samples always had raised fecal calprotectin, never hugely raised but consistently raised. Have you had any stool samples carried out?

[KB08 in reply to Viklou]

Ye I have all that apart from the vomiting. But I get really extreme nausea which is one of the worst symptoms 😫 I had inflammation in a stool sample last year but they put it down to me being on a PPI 🤷‍♀️

And when I was in hospital in Turkey my stool sample came back with infection. My bloods always come back normal too which is always frustrating because I constantly feel like I have some sort of deficiency but I don't. The most I lost was half a stone in about 2 weeks but they didn't see that as a lot.

[Viklou]

I lost 5 stone in 6 months. Granted I did have the weight to lose but it was awful. I also had a lot of gallstones so had my gallbladder removed. You may well have had an infection while you were away but an MRI or pill cam would be best to diagnose for small bowel crohn's.

[KB08 in reply to Viklou]

Oh wow 😳 bless you that sounds horrendous 😫It's just horrible constantly feeling poorly and having to work and having two young children.

I'm really hoping they get in touch with me soon. And I hope your feeling better too ❤️ thanks for taking the time to message me

[Viklou]

I've been on steroids since diagnosis and no other treatment plan. I've stopped taking the steroids and just having a break from them totally as they're not a good long term soluion. Mine is classed as mild and at the minute I'm ok

[KB08]

I'm glad the steroids have worked for you. I really think that's what I need as it's affecting my skin and eyes as well. But until I have the camera I doubt they will give me anything. Can't believe they haven't given you any more meds though. I thought crohns could be managed with medication. Are you still under a gastro consultant?

[Viklou in reply to KB08]

Yes still under gastro but all is ok at the minute so no meds. Just been asked to do another stool sample. Hopefully that will be fine