Crohn's Disease Symptoms

In people with Crohn's disease, symptoms of the condition usually include abdominal pain (or stomach pain) and chronic diarrhea. Several other symptoms are possible with Crohn's disease, such as weight loss, rectal bleeding, and vomiting. Some Crohn's disease symptoms (such as abdominal swelling, a fever, and bowel movements that contain only blood clots) can be signs of a flare-up or complications that may require immediate medical attention.

 

An Overview of Crohn's Disease Symptoms

Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that can affect the small intestine, colon, or both. For a person with Crohn's disease, symptoms will depend on which part of the digestive tract is affected. For example, the most common symptoms of Crohn's disease that affects the colon are diarrhea and pain. For Crohn's disease that affects the small intestine, symptoms often include fatigue, weight loss, and abdominal discomfort on the right side. Diarrhea is less common with Crohn's disease that only affects the small intestine.
 
Symptoms will also depend on the severity of the disease. Some people have a mild case of Crohn's disease and have symptoms only now and then. Others have a more severe case and experience diarrhea and pain, as well as other complications, regularly. Crohn's disease can go into remission, in which case the symptoms may go away for months or even years. Unfortunately, the symptoms usually return at some point. If this happens, the person may even need to be hospitalized during severe flare-ups.
 
Finally, age may influence the symptoms. For example, children with Crohn's disease often have different symptoms of Crohn's disease from those seen in adults.
 
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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD