Symptoms of Crohn’s disease

Crohn’s disease is a disease that classically occurs in relapses. This means that the symptoms usually do not occur permanently but in phases. Such phases in Crohn’s disease usually last several weeks.

The main symptoms of this disease are severe abdominal pain and diarrhea. The pain is usually localized in the right lower abdomen and often occurs either after eating or before defecation. Some patients also report nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite and weight loss.

The inflammatory reaction can also lead to the development of fever. In children, growth retardation may sometimes occur, which is the first or only symptom. The resulting malnutrition can lead to various complaints that are difficult to classify, such as anaemia, bone loss (osteoporosis) or fatigue, reduced performance and feelings of weakness.

Complications that can be aggravating are fistulas (especially in the anus, but more rarely also as a connection into the free abdominal cavity and in this case significantly worse), abscesses and in about one fifth of those affected even mechanical intestinal obstructions are found. However, the type and severity of the symptoms vary from case to case, which is why a delayed diagnosis of Crohn’s disease is not uncommon. In addition to the symptoms that result directly from the inflammatory processes in the bowel, about half of the patients show additional symptoms outside the bowel (extraintestinal manifestation of Crohn’s disease).

Typical here In a few cases, these concomitant symptoms can occur before the actually classic symptoms of the intestine, which makes it even more difficult to diagnose Crohn’s disease. However, if the underlying disease is successfully treated, these symptoms also disappear in most patients. Life expectancy in patients with Crohn’s disease is only slightly or not at all limited, regardless of the relapse activity. Optimal drug therapy is a necessary prerequisite for this.

Problems with the joints (sacroiliitis, arthritis or arthralgia),
Inflammation of the eye (iritis) or
The skin for example rosacea (acne-like skin changes) or
An erythema nodosum (red spots and nodules).