Pain as a symptom

Along with diarrhea, abdominal pain is the typical symptom of Crohn’s disease, 87% of Crohn’s patients have pain. 20% even when there is no active episode. Severe abdominal pain and long-lasting abdominal cramps are characteristic of Crohn’s disease.

However, the pain can also be experienced as dull or stabbing. Since Crohn’s disease very often manifests itself in the area of the lower small intestine and this lies in the right lower abdomen, pain in the right lower abdomen is a common symptom in patients with Crohn’s disease. As a result, especially at the beginning of the disease, abdominal pain is often confused with appendicitis.

The pain occurs mainly after eating or before bowel movements, but can also be present continuously due to the permanent inflammatory activity. Crohn’s disease can be accompanied by joint pain as well as abdominal pain. The pain improves with the treatment of the acute flare-up, but can also be additionally treated with painkillers.

Symptoms on the skin

Symptoms on the eyes

A typical symptom of Crohn’s disease of the eyes is the so-called uveitis (inflammation of the choroid). It can occur on one or both sides. The anterior choroidal inflammation can easily be confused by laypersons with conjunctivitis: The eye is strongly reddened, hurts and watery.

Patients are very sensitive to light and complain about the feeling of having a foreign body in the eye. In the case of posterior choroidal inflammation, the eye appears normal from the outside, and patients describe blurry/cloudy or hazy vision, which can be explained by the inflammatory process in the posterior part of the eye. Posterior choroidal inflammation affects the part of the choroid that supplies blood to the retina and is therefore more often accompanied by long-term visual impairment than anterior choroidal inflammation.

Symptoms of a relapse

Crohn’s disease occurs in relapses, i.e. phases of active disease (relapse) alternate with phases in which no disease symptoms are present. A relapse can either start suddenly or develop gradually. Typical symptoms of a slow-onset episode include frequent tummy rumbling or increased discomfort after eating, flatulence and constipation.

The characteristic symptoms (also the sudden onset of the episode) are long-lasting abdominal cramps, severe abdominal pain and watery, slimy or bloody diarrhea. Often a relapse is accompanied by loss of appetite, fever, nausea, vomiting, tiredness, weakness and a general feeling of illness. Weight loss is possible in the course of a relapse.

Since Crohn’s disease can affect the entire digestive tract (including the oral cavity and esophagus), inflammation is also possible. Symptoms here are mainly pain in the mouth and discomfort when swallowing. During a relapse, Crohn’s disease can lead to the formation of fistulae (connecting passages) in the abdominal cavity, to other organs or to the outside, and to abscesses in the digestive tract.

The symptoms vary depending on the location of the fistulas and abscesses (closed cavities filled with pus). Depending on the severity of the symptoms of a relapse, everyday life can be severely restricted. Usually a relapse lasts several weeks, more rarely only a few days. However, the duration varies from patient to patient, but also from episode to episode.