Newly diagnosed with Crohn’s limited to the rectum — anyone else?
I know this is a little bit of an emotional post for me, but I just wanted to ask if anyone else here has Crohn’s that is primarily/only affecting the rectal area.
I’ve been feeling kind of alone, sad, and honestly a little embarrassed about it, and I guess I just want to know if this is something other people experience or if it’s considered “normal.” Most of the people I’ve seen or heard about with Crohn’s seem to have it affecting their small or large intestine, so I haven’t really come across many people with it mainly affecting the rectum.
For a little more context, my colonoscopy showed that the rest of my colon and the ileum looked normal, but my rectum was friable and bled easily when touched. They took biopsies, and the biopsy showed chronic and active inflammation, along with rare small, poorly formed granulomas. The pathology report said the findings were consistent with inflammatory bowel disease/Crohn’s in the appropriate clinical and endoscopic setting. My GI doctor ultimately diagnosed me with Crohn’s disease of the rectum. I also have an anal fissure and chronic constipation, which makes everything even more confusing because I’m trying to figure out what symptoms are coming from what.
My CT enterography also came back with no significant findings, and my labs didn’t show significant inflammation, so it seems like the inflammation is pretty localized to the rectal area.
Sorry for the emotional post lol. I was just diagnosed recently, so I’m still very new to all of this and trying to understand everything. I think I’m mostly just looking for reassurance that I’m not the only person who has Crohn’s presenting this way. If anyone has a similar diagnosis or experience with Crohn’s primarily affecting the rectum, I’d really appreciate hearing about it. Anything helps