hi,my name is mark,i am 31 and next wednesday i am having a barium meal and small bowel examination and a barium swallow examination,i have had this problem for 14 months,docs have told me its a range of things,swollen intestine twice and ibs,anyway a week ago i passed a black stool,so went for a endscopy they thought i had a ulcer which i dident,symptoms i have is pain all over my abdomen,but not in the same place daily,my stomach making gurgeling noises, diarrhoea,pain after eating and heartburn,i have also lost 2 stone,blood tests come back they done a  LFT which was normal but they said my blood count needs checking again in a month so they want to rule out crohns,this is really taking a toll on my life,fritgened its my liver,pancreas or cancer its just wearing me down,i dont drink anymore as it makes the symptoms worst and if i have a cooked dinner i am in agony afterwords does this sound like crohns diesease

Hi mark, it could well be.  The problem with Crohns is that everyone has different symptoms and some tests can come back normal but you still may have the disease which could be picked up on another test or even at a later date.  Try not to think the worst,hard to do I know, but wait for the test results and tackle the problem when you know what it is you have to worry about.  Stress is a big factor in making Crohns symptoms worse so try to stop worrying.  Stopping drinking is great whatever it is, and try to eat smaller meals with less fiber, that may help.

thanks for the advice

had the barium today,they said it looked normal but went through my system really quick,dont know if thats good or bad.feeling really down now i now i am in pain but the tests say i am ok

Don't get down hearted, from what I can make out lots of people have tests that come back normal.  If you are still suffering then they will have to do different tests until you get a result.   Be aware that the barium can do weird things to your system,slowing it down, so make sure you drink plenty of water to flush it out (you may find your poo is white also - what fun !) Be positive getting the diagnosis may be slow but once you know what you are dealing with you can start getting the right treatment and support you need.

Mark dont worrk hunni, im at the same stage as you, ive had loads of tests scans etc all coming back normalish, which is very down hearted as im so weak and in loads of pain, and always on the toilet 20/30 times a day, most days,  ive lost over 3 stone in weight and still not diagnosed either way, they wont say its not, but cant say it is yet either, so im just sitting on the fence at the moment undergoing yet more tests, which ive had already, my colonoscopy showed inflammation but the biopsies come back normal hw does that work, what is getting me down more than anything is not having a answer. ive already accepted that its crohns, just need someone to confirm it for me, or tell me what it is , if ifs not crohns, im sure you will understand what i mean. keep your chin up hunni, tc xxxsuexxx

I had my colonoscopy before the barium, just the way the appointments worked out.

The scope said it was colitis.  When I had the barium a few weeks later, with a confused look on his face the guy said "I know they've said on the colonoscopy you have colitis, but I haven't got any trace of it."

Me, I believe the scope over the barium.  I think the barium came back clear because my condition is mild.  Also the scope is physically looking at your insides, rather than looking at an xray of some stuff going through it.

Best of luck with the colonoscopy, at least if they say you have colitis you'll know what you're dealing with - it's a shock, sure, but then you can start dealing with it, rather than worrying about what you might have.

thank you everyone whos replied/advised over this its good to know there are people who understand the problems because sometimes others look at me and say you look healthy,but i have gone from 11stone to 9 so somethings not right.the other thing is how the pain varies,its always in the stomach but sometimes at the top,bottom,sides,middle the diarrhoea is also unpredictable,toilet wise its 2-3 times a day and sometimes urgent after food,but io can understand this from the doctors point of veiw,many things have the same symptoms,they have said the doctor who done my endscopy,a mr krouma of the princess of wales hospital wont let this go he will want to find out what this is and make me better so its not all bad