The Autoimmune Connection: Essential Information for Women on Diagnosis, Treatment, and Getting On With Your Life by Rita Baron-Faust & Jill Buyon

Author:Rita Baron-Faust & Jill Buyon [Baron-Faust, Rita]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780071841221
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
Published: 2016-04-08T06:00:00+00:00

“IBS has been called a ‘spastic colon,’ but we think it may be caused by a loss of synchronization between the small and large intestines. Instead of working in concert with each other, one of the intestines may have a stronger reaction to a food or stressful event, and that can cause altered emptying of the bowel,” explains Dr. Frissora. “To be diagnosed with IBS, you must have had abdominal discomfort that’s relieved by defecation, associated with a change in stool consistency and frequency, or mucus in the stool and bloating. About a third of women have a diarrhea-predominant form of IBS, a third have more constipation with their IBS, and the remaining third alternate between the two. However, in Crohn’s disease, in addition to such bowel dysfunction, you have associated symptoms of inflammation.”

Those symptoms include fever, fatigue, and weight loss due to malabsorption, she adds. If your fever is low-grade (up to 100.4 degrees), you may not even be aware you’re running a temperature. You may feel lethargic and irritable, but not feverish. If your Crohn’s is flaring or severe, you can run a high fever (up to 104 degrees), with night sweats. Diverticulitis also causes fever, abdominal tenderness, and strictures.

Crohn’s can cause sores or ulcerations anywhere in the digestive tract or where there are mucous membranes, including the mouth. These include aphthous ulcers, tiny shallow sores that often occur between the gum and the lower lip, or along the base of the tongue. While canker sores last a week or two, Crohn’s ulcers can last for months.

Some women, like Laura, may develop ulcers in the area between the vagina and rectum, or around the vagina itself. Bleeding may be serious and persistent, leading to anemia. In some cases, a fistula (an abnormal, tunnellike opening) can occur between the rectal and vaginal areas or between the bowel and the skin near the anus. (Fistulas can also occur internally between adjacent areas of the bowel.)

“Recurrent oral and genital ulcers also occur in a rare inflammatory condition called Behçet’s disease, which is also thought to be autoimmune,” notes Dr. Frissora. (Behçet’s is more common in Mediterranean countries, the Middle East, and in Japan, where the disease is a major cause of blindness.) Other symptoms it shares with Crohn’s are eye inflammation and raised, red bumps called erythema nodosum, often on the shins and ankles (which can also be a sign of increased disease activity in IBD).

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