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Does anyone's child have Crohn's without an obvious objective symptom like diarrhea?  

 Reply posted for Ds mom.

My son was diagnosed with Crohn's almost two years ago.  But I am certain he has been sick much, much longer than that.  He does not have the typical diarrhea that is indicative with Crohn's. Therefore it took us a long time to get him diagnosed.  He also started Remicade last April.  It has helped him immensely.  However, there has been times that he still complains of belly pain.  This last fall he became so constipated that he impacted his bowels.  It took us two months to get all the rock hard stuff out of him.  During this time he lost his appetite as well.  That was one way I knew something was wrong, but didn't know if it was the Crohn's especially since the Remicade had been helping so much.  Since then, I have noticed that if he should get "backed up" even a little, it will hurt him.  We keep him on a daily dose of Miralax and use Ducolax occaisonally as needed.  Basically, he cannot have anything substantial in his system otherwise he will hurt.  This is something that I only learned about him these last couple months. 

I don't know if any of this helps, but it is something you can think about and even try out.

 Reply posted for Ds mom.

Hello.  My son is 8 and was diagnosed with Crohns is Oct. of 2008.  His symptoms were loss of apetite, weight loss, fatigue, loss of energy, constipation, and fever.  He never had diarrhea.  I have always wondered why because that is not the case with most crohns patients.  I asked about this but the doctor does not seem to have an answer.  I have recently took him for a second opinion.  We will see.  I will keep you updated.

 Reply posted for Ds mom.

I share in your frustration.   Thinking back, there was  a period of time when my daughter too complained of belly pain, just so happened a morning of a gi appt.  (perfect timing).   I sent her off to school and told her after school we were going to see our doc she could tell her.  The doctor sat and talked with her for a while then had her describe the pain.  The doctor turned to me and said "she may be having spasms".  I was floored.   The next time she complained, I heated up a heat pack and she layed down for a bit.  Supposedly that helped.  You may want to try it next time.  What do you have to lose?

Lizzies Mom

 Reply posted for Ds mom.

Hi, I'm new here, but your post immediately caught my eye.  My daughter is 11 and was just diagnosed last October.  She's complained of stomach aches and occasional constipation for a long time, but she's an incredibly picky eater, and we always thought that if she would just eat a more rounded diet, she would feel better.  She never had "bathroom issues".  One incident of bleeding brought us to the gastroenterologist, and while that turned out to be a small hemorroid, the colonoscopy did show Crohn's.  So here we are.  Her stomach hurts every time she eats, she says it's like a burning feeling.  We were back at the doctor last week because her last safe food, plain pasta, even made her stomach hurt.  Another colonoscopy is scheduled in 2 weeks.

Judi

 Reply posted for Lizzies Mom.

Thanks everyone for your input and support.  I do believe that when she tells me she feels sick, it's for real (although I'm skeptical when her tummy suddenly hurts when I drop her off at school).  Part of the question is what's causing her to feel this way.

 Reply posted for Ds mom.

Yes, every child is different with the way they present the illness.   For example, my daughter was constant diarrhea and stomach pain.   A boy I know from a support group was a swollen knee w/high fever.   A girl was weight gain and constipation.....I think the list goes on. 

My daughter was young like yours when first diagnosed, and I agree, it is hard to determine is this CD related or just a school virus.   One thing that her pedi gi told me early on is when the little ones complain of stomach pain, she ususally listens......little kids don't know to "fib" yet.   Whereas, the teens could just not want to go to school to take an exam and pull a "CD" excuse.   I know how dramatic little girls can be (I'm the mom of 2), but over the years I have learned to listen to my gut.   Sometimes mothers intuition is all you need.   Are the complaints accompanied by a fever, is she active, inactive, mouth sores, sore joints, gone poops lately, sometimes they just need a little extra tlc.   Let's face it, we all have days where we'd rather hang low.

Now that my daughter is in remission, and only takes daily maintenance meds, she almost never has diarrhea.   So, when the day comes that she does, who knows, it may just be a stomach bug.  I used to jump in panick that her CD was becoming active, but that only made our whole family worried.   Now I try to be more calm about it and treat it as a stomach bug initially (fluids, soup,etc) and see how she progresses. 

Hope this helps, you're not alone, we are all doing the same......our best.   Be well.

Lizzies Mom

 Reply posted for Ds mom.

My 15 y/o son also does not have the typical diarrhea symptoms of CD.  He started out with mouth/throat ulcers, slowly losing weight, abdominal pain and then blood in his stools. 

He is doing pretty well now on VSL3 probiotics, fish oil capsules, 3 Ensure Plus per day, organic/natural foods, and now vitamin D as we just found out his level was extremely low. 

 Reply posted for Ds mom.

It's really hard to tell how our kids are feeling inside and what is "normal".  My son is the opposite of your daughter, he doesn't share his feelings so when he does speak up I know he must be feeling pretty lousy.  (And I have a daughter like yours, she lets me know about every bump and scratch...right now we are dealing w/ a knee injury.  It only hurts when it's convenient for her.)

I was going to look into probiotics as well.  I'd be interest in hearing if they work for you.

 Reply posted for Bens Mom.

Im thinking that I need to assume that if my daughters CRP isnt elevated and she isnt becoming increasingly more anemic (and since her last Upper GI and endoscopy were normal) that shes likely not truly having a flare.  

 Reply posted for Ds mom.

I am dealing with the same issue with my 15 year old.  In fact, I just posted something yesterday.  He was diagnosed in the Fall and has very few of the "bathroom issues" that accompany Crohns.  My dad and my brother have both had Crohns for about 20 years, so I know what to look for.

I'd be interested to hear from other parents or patients that don't experience the common symptoms of Crohns.