New here with questions
Thu, July 05, 2012 1:55 PM
Hello,
I have a 4 year old son who hasn't been diagnosed yet, but we're possibly looking at some form of IBD. We meet with Ped GI today, but thought I'd throw my questions out to parents with experience as well. He's always had issues with intermittent constipation since infancy. He has loose stools starting on 6/18 that progressed to several days of bloody diarrhea (where I could see the blood). The diarrhea lasted probably a little over a week and his stools seem to be going back to normal consistency now. Of course we had all of the labs run after the first bout of bloody diarrhea (he was also having accidents, which is extremely rare for him) - which showed quite a bit of blood. All of his labs came back normal except for the fact that he had an elevated CRP (1.9) and elevated fecal calprotectin (269). We do have a family history of Crohn's disease, so that mixed with his results has me worried.
I guess my question is, have any of you heard of an instance where the CRP and calprotectin are elevated but it turned out that the child did NOT have a form of IBD but instead had a viral infection? He's had no fever and has been otherwise well, so the virus is further down the list in my mind.
Any input you all can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!
Amy
ajwright8973Joined Jul 5, 2012
Thu, July 05, 2012 8:31 PM
Reply posted for ajwright8973.
My daughter was 4 when she was diagnosed, so I know the endless merry-go-round you feel like you are on right now. I remember how overwhelmed I was and it had taken a toll on our entire family. I have learned a lot over the years (we've been @ it for 8 yrs now) everybody is different. I've heard of kids being hospitalized with a swollen knee (never having complained of belly pain), also like my daughter having been misdiagnosed with other things because it is uncommon for infants to have IBD.
His CRP isn't terrible. According to a filed labs report I just used to make sure of what I was about to type, and as I had thought up to 4.9 is "normal range". I agree with the previous post to follow-up with gastro and have an endoscopy and colonoscopy done to actually get a better picture of what's going on inside. Obviously bloody D is never good and something is up.
I''m not sure what your diet is like, but we actually had to change our lifestyle quite a bit and kicked much of the whole fibers to the curb. We had many appts with a nutritionist and lots of trial and error, but we finally struck a balance. You may want to start simply by eliminating milk and milk products (he may not do well with lactose). They can test for that too. A food diary was helpful with the trial/error period.
Joined Sep 9, 2009
Thu, July 05, 2012 7:07 PM
Reply posted for ajwright8973.
First off I would like to say I'm hoping and praying that he doesn't have this. I would say a CRP value of 1.9 really isn't that high, especially if it is measured using mg/L. Normal is below ten. Usually with IBD it's above ten. I'm not saying its not that, I'm just saying you would think from the symptoms you described, if they were caused by inflammation, that value would be higher. Another thing that is comforting to me would be that he doesn't have fevers. I know when I was first diagnosed (mind you I have severe severe disease) I had 102-103 fevers all day every day. Another good sign is that the bleeding and diarrhea have gone away, or going away if not already totally gone. Even if it goes away completely I would have them do a colonoscopy just to make sure there is no diseased intestine. It will give you peace of mind knowing either way. Keep me updated on what you find out. 
Joined Feb 21, 2012
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