Lately I have had abdominal pain with diarrhea and weight loss for no apparent reason.

I kept thinking it would eventually go away. Then one day after talking to a friend of mine she stated that I could possibly have Crohn’s Disease and that I should see my doctor to get to the cause of my symptoms.

I thought to myself what is Crohn’s’ disease?

I later found out that Crohn’s disease is an inflammation or ulceration of the digestive tract, most commonly in the last part of the small intestine known as the ileum and the large intestine or colon.

After doing some research on Crohn’s disease it turns out that I have several of the symptoms of Crohn’s disease. These symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea and weight loss. Some other symptoms of Crohn’s disease that I did not have include poor appetite, fever, night sweats, rectal pain and rectal bleeding.

There are several different types of Crohn’s disease which include Crohn’s colitis, Crohn’s enteritis, Crohn’s terminal iletis, Crohn’s entero-colitis and ileo-colitis.

The two most common types of Crohn’s disease are Crohn’s terminal ileitis and Crohn’s ileo-colitis.

Crohn’s terminal ileitis is an inflammation that affects only the very end of the small intestines. With this type of Crohn’s disease the symptoms are usually abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Crohn’s ileo-colitis is the other most common Crohn’s disease. With this you have inflammation of the small intestine and colon. The common symptoms for this are bloody diarrhea and abdominal pain.

I went to see my medical doctor to discuss the symptoms that I was having and to discuss the possibility of it being Crohn’s disease.

I learned that there are several ways to diagnose Crohn’s disease. First a medical history and physical exam are performed. Then an imaging test such as a barium x-ray to look at the intestine and colon may also be ordered. A colonoscopy is also a consideration when diagnosing Crohn’s disease.

Crohn’s disease cannot be cured but can be treated with medication that reduces the inflammation and cures infection which in turn reduces the symptoms of Crohn’s disease.

After an exam by my physician and a few medical procedures, I learned thankfully that I only had an infection causing my abdominal pain and diarrhea which was treated with antibiotics.

It is important to not self diagnose and see your medical doctor so proper treatment of your symptoms can begin.