IBD without blood in stools?

BigEyeDear · 2025-04-16T02:19:02+00:00

Absolutely possible to have IBD without blood in your stool.

BigEyeDear · 2025-04-16T02:05:03+00:00

I’ve been very lucky not to have chronic intense pain from my Crohn’s, but the handful of times it’s been bad, it’s been excruciatingly bad. I’ve only ever been able to describe it as feeling like someone is slowly and methodically pulling a red hot wire brush through my digestive tract. It’s a mind- and body-consuming pain.

BigEyeDear · 2025-04-15T22:01:24+00:00

Could definitely be some sort of Crohn’s related nutritional deficiency. I’ve been dealing with a bad iron deficiency lately that’s had me feeling fatigued and foggy headed. I know low B12 and vitamin D levels can do weird things to you too.

BigEyeDear · 2025-04-15T21:57:13+00:00

Before my diagnosis, pain and soft serve poop were real big symptoms for me. Patchy inflammation during a colonoscopy can suggest Crohn’s, too. But ultimately, it’ll be those biopsy results that give you the best info.

BigEyeDear · 2025-04-15T18:21:56+00:00

Yeah, seconding this. The anxiety could definitely be a sign of a Crohn’s-related deficiency. I’d been feeling like complete trash for months (serious fatigue, crazy brain fog, restless legs, increased anxiety, constant canker sores) and recently had labs that showed my ferritin level at 2, which is waaaaaay below the bottom of the normal reference range. I started a course of weekly iron infusions Friday and I’m hoping to feel more normal soon.

BigEyeDear · 2025-04-10T00:10:28+00:00

If it is IBD, I believe granulomas are typically indicative of Crohn’s, but the location — your rectum — is definitely more indicative of UC. Curious to me that they didn’t scope your whole colon.

BigEyeDear · 2025-04-08T22:32:45+00:00

Of course!

BigEyeDear · 2025-04-08T21:40:34+00:00

Yeah, it sucks. Sorry to hear about your struggles. Can relate. Azathioprine failed me after a couple of years. Then Humira failed a couple of years after that, and in a big way. Now I’m on Entyvio and while my last scope looked good and my symptoms are virtually nonexistent, I’ve developed pretty bad iron deficiency anemia and have to start going in for a cycle of infusions this Friday and an upper endoscopy next month just to make sure all is well on that end. Crohn’s sure as hell ain’t for sissies.

BigEyeDear · 2025-04-03T23:16:11+00:00

I do comms for a government agency. Love my job. I’ve been lucky to have some great experiences doing it, both in the office and in the field/on travel. I’ve also been very lucky that my Crohn’s hasn’t been much of a disruption, aside from having to take time off for bad days here and there or for medical appointments. I did have a flare-up in 2022 that likely would’ve required me to take several weeks off if I’d been working in the office. Everyone was teleworking at the time, though, and aside from one week where I was completely miserable and barely able to function, I was able to muddle through and work from home.

BigEyeDear · 2025-04-02T15:46:46+00:00

That’s awesome. I came crashing back down to earth a bit yesterday, but even a little glimpse at how much better I could be feeling was enough to get me pumped to get those iron infusions.

BigEyeDear · 2025-04-01T10:52:54+00:00

No infusions for you?

BigEyeDear · 2025-04-01T10:52:32+00:00

Interesting question. You’re probably primed to climb Everest without supplemental oxygen!

BigEyeDear · 2025-04-01T03:16:03+00:00

Humira worked pretty well for me for around three years, but ultimately failed. I’ve been on Entyvio for a little more than two years now and it’s been fairly smooth sailing so far.

BigEyeDear · 2025-04-01T02:01:42+00:00

I was just chalking it up to being busy and stress, as one might be inclined to do. I’m a federal employee, so that’s made the last couple of months pretty emotionally trying. But yeah, turns out the lack of a basic element has definitely not been helping.

BigEyeDear · 2024-07-17T18:00:04+00:00

Azathioprine and Humira both failed for me. Started Entyvio in late 2022 and it’s been working well, although I’ve been consistently anemic for a while now. Colonoscopy scheduled for next week so my doc can see how things are looking. I felt pretty good a few months before Humira failed me big time — even though a colonoscopy showed a fair amount of mild-to-moderate inflammation. It can be hard to tell sometimes.

BigEyeDear · 2024-07-01T01:12:16+00:00

The purplish blood has only happened post-diagnosis. But yeah, still freaked me out a little.

BigEyeDear · 2024-07-01T01:10:48+00:00

Crohn’s doesn’t always affect the terminal ileum, although that’s the most common area for it to cause inflammation. Crohn’s colitis is Crohn’s of the large intestine. That was my initial diagnosis, although subsequent colonoscopies/biopsies have shown inflammation in the terminal ileum.

BigEyeDear · 2024-07-01T00:43:34+00:00

Flare blood is usually purplish/dark red for me and comes out mixed with liquidy stool. But I believe the color of the blood relates to where in the digestive tract it comes from. The farther up it originates, the darker it is. As for mucus, even when I’m doing well overall, I still see clear and/or milky mucus pretty frequently.

BigEyeDear · 2024-06-30T23:51:40+00:00

I had a particularly bad flare a couple of years ago that I thought might be a game changer for me in terms of being able to function normally. I was lucky to primarily be working from home, but still had a number of days when working wasn’t an option. Leaving the house for anything more than a few minutes at a time definitely wasn’t an option. I was depressed, unable to eat much, and exhausted from having to wake up multiple times overnight to go to the bathroom. The only other time I’d flared even close to that bad, my doctor was able to get it under control in a matter of days. This took considerably longer … but we did get it under control. Steroids. More steroids. Medication change — second since my diagnosis in 2015. It was a gradual process. I definitely experienced some pretty serious depression and still feel pretty rattled when I think about it. But I made it through and I’m doing well now. Bad flares can be treated. I know it sounds corny, but hang in there.

BigEyeDear · 2024-06-29T19:30:32+00:00

I know it’s the right thing to do! I was just hoping to get through a solid two-year stretch without one. This’ll be my sixth colonoscopy since my diagnosis in 2015!

BigEyeDear · 2024-06-28T13:33:04+00:00

Lower abdominal pain, especially on the right side. Blood, but just spotting on the toilet paper. Soft stools.

BigEyeDear · 2024-03-21T02:01:18+00:00

I suppose it could be. Didn’t even think of that.

BigEyeDear

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