Anyone have experience with this?

Wife went to doc for discomfort in her side, thinking appendix.  Doc says "not appendix, if it worsens come back."  So she goes t 2nd doc who does ultra-sound but sees nothing and says, if it turns to pain, come back.  Goes to third doc who says he can't find anything.

She goes to fourth gastro-intestinal specialist who says "could be Chron's disease but need colonoscopy."

She seems to have no typical symptoms of Chron's.

Anyone have it or know anyone who has it and how common are symptoms?  

Colonoscopy is the 11th.

Crohn's disease runs the gamut from annoying to life threatening.

A good place to learn more is here

There are lots of non-Crohn's things that cause GI symptoms.  

Until she gets the colonoscopy, it's impossible to know more.

I'll assume right sided abd pain since you were thinking appendix?

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There are LOTS of other things that can give that kind of discomfort and pain besides Chrons. I've had it for years and the doctors can never find anything wrong. I manage it with supplements, probiotics, exercise, and diet. Chrons is one of the first things doc will come to along with IBD and IBS. She could try probiotics and enzymes to see if it helps. Just note it takes about a month to see results with probiotics sometimes. Good luck!

I just went  through all of this. They did a full battery of test's. Tested for Celiac's and a bunch of other stuff. Went in for scope came back with a clan bill of health. I have IBS. I have no trigger, I just had the runs 24/7. It sucked. On meds now and life, life is so much better not having to worry about where the next bathroom is.

It's unusual, but not typical, of Crohn's (proper spelling, folks if you need to look up info down the road) Disease to present as only pain, without diarrhea in the beginning. Sure, it's possible, but typically pain in someone with biopsy-proven Crohn's is accompanied with diarrhea & fever, or vomiting, if scar tissue is causing an obstruction. Later in the course ( weeks, months, years) chronic pain can occur & is thought to be from inflammation.

In a premenopausal woman with right lower belly pain without diarrhea I would be wondering about GYN issues or irritable bowel syndrome.

The most frequent cause of belly aches in women, however--in my experience as a rural surgeon--tends to be Irritable Bowel Syndrome, aka IBS. Which some folks then convert on their own, or with poor explanation from their doctor, to IBD (inflammatory bowel disease)/Crohn's.

Without knowing lab values & the actual story, it's tough to say what's going on. I always recommend finding a board-certified doctor and ask why any test is being done, as well as alternatives & risks. I also tell my patients what "Plan B" is in case a test doesn't give an answer.

But that's me, & some doctors are very different. Depending on where you are in PA, there are some great docs (I trained in Phili, so I'm biased.

Good luck!

My cousin has it - it's manageable with medication.

I have Ulcerative Colitis, Chrohns nasty cousin.  Best of luck to your wife, there are many options out there if she does have it, so no worries.

That isn't entirely true.... My father had Crohn's disease and passed away from it. It truly varies on how severe of a case you have.

My father was one of the most extreme cases. He could be ok to walk around and, then less than 3 minutes later, be doubled over in pain and incapable of doing anything.

OP, don't worry about it until you get the colonoscopy performed, it will be impossible to know if she has it, until then.

I know two who had it.

Wife suffrers from it she has loose bowels but no diarrhea. Every now and then she will start vomiting which after a time may include fecal matter. After a day or 2 she goes back to normal. She has found 4-5 small meals a day help control it. She starts with oatmeal followed shortly after with yogurt.
She is having her annual colonoscopy in 2 weeks. I know one of these days the sessions will not go back to normal and she'll need an operation. Just a matter of time.

I have some in-laws with it.  Runs in the family.  Some have had really positive results with taking good probiotic supplements.  

About 1/3 of patients with Crohn's will need surgery for blockage/obstruction, perforation or hemorrhage/bleeding.

In today's treatments--biological agents like Humera--can increase time between flares, but these drugs have their own risks.

I've got it, diagnosed right after I moved to Colorado in Jan of 2012.

Mine hits me more as small bowel obstructions, that seemed to lessen by eating less fiber. My Dr. is one of the leaders in this disease and there is a very pricy blood test that can be done to verify if you have it or not.....if I remember right there are two labs in the nation that can run the test on your blood samples.

I'm on Humeria now, not real happy about giving myself a shot every two weeks but I think it may be working (I still hate taking meds with all the warning this comes with). Took almost 4.5 months for me to see a difference and I've been on it for 7 months now.

Other test than can be done are small bowel follow thru and then also CAT scans and MRI's.

Best of luck to your wife, I hate this damn condition and it's a pain in the ass to get under control.

Symptoms can vary widely.

Crohn's can be nasty, but my advice is not to worry until it's time to worry.