This is a tough question and it'll depend upon you, your disease, and how familiar you are with your disease. I'll write my particular guidelines in a minute but I suggest that whenever you are in doubt, call your physician and see what he thinks.
Lately, it seems to me that doctors are less willing to tell you what you should do and they won't give you a definitive answer. If this happens, ask them "what would you suggest if I were one of your family members?"
If this doesn't work, then I would err on the side of caution and go to the ER.
Until this year, I had become very familiar with the pains and sensations of my Crohn's Disease. So, even when I was having quite painful partial small bowel obstructions, I almost always stayed home. In cases in which I thought I had a partial small bowel obstruction, the warning signs that I should get to the ER were pain that was not controlled by the medicines I had or a fever. If I got either of these, then I did go to the hospital.
Since I developed the abscess, the symptom that I used to decide whether to go to the hospital has been fever. One of my doctors said 102 F was the magic number, I believe the Mayo Clinic said 101.6 F was the magic number. I would say that if you know you have an abscess or fistula, then if you develop a fever, you should be ready to go to the hospital. If your fever goes over 102, then call your doctor and prepare to go to the hospital.
Sorry if this entry is a bit disjointed, I'm writing after having taken Benadryl and Norco; so I'm feeling a bit disjointed :)
Anyway the main concern I can think of for IBD patients is bowel perforation. In conjunction with a small bowel obstruction, the perforation will cause severe pain - for me this was one of the most painful experiences of my life (on par with the pain of major surgery). Alternatively, your bowel could perforate in a slower manner with a fistula. The fistula will also cause pain but it will be a much lower level of pain over a much longer period of time.
If either of these things happen you could develop sepsis (infection getting into your circulatory system) or peritonitis (infection getting into the spaces between your organs in your abdomen). Both of these are life threatening. Both of these cause your body to develop a fever to fight off the infection. For me, I can tell I'm developing a fever when I start feeling extremely cold and begin shivering.
Peritonitis will cause abdominal distension. With my abdominal abscess flares of my symptoms cause abdominal distension (what I call bloating) and my abdominal muscles also go very rigid. For the last several months, I've had some bloating almost continuously. At times I look like I'm 6-7 months pregnant :| .
Sepsis
Fever
Rapid heart rate
Rapid respiration
Source of infection
Abdominal pain
Peritonitis
Fever
Abdominal distension
Nausea/vomiting
Loss of appetite
Thirst
Low urine output
Fatigue
Inability to pass stool or gas
Additionally, I have sometimes experienced a feeling of unwellness that is nondescript and doesn't fall into any of the categories listed above. If this happens to you then depending upon how bad you feel, you should consider getting this checked out too.
Listen to your body, if you are experiencing issues that are not familiar to you be sure to speak to your doctor about it before it becomes an emergency. If you feel like it is an emergency, it is better to check it out and be found wrong than to not get it checked and discover that it is an emergency.
Lately, it seems to me that doctors are less willing to tell you what you should do and they won't give you a definitive answer. If this happens, ask them "what would you suggest if I were one of your family members?"
If this doesn't work, then I would err on the side of caution and go to the ER.
Until this year, I had become very familiar with the pains and sensations of my Crohn's Disease. So, even when I was having quite painful partial small bowel obstructions, I almost always stayed home. In cases in which I thought I had a partial small bowel obstruction, the warning signs that I should get to the ER were pain that was not controlled by the medicines I had or a fever. If I got either of these, then I did go to the hospital.
Since I developed the abscess, the symptom that I used to decide whether to go to the hospital has been fever. One of my doctors said 102 F was the magic number, I believe the Mayo Clinic said 101.6 F was the magic number. I would say that if you know you have an abscess or fistula, then if you develop a fever, you should be ready to go to the hospital. If your fever goes over 102, then call your doctor and prepare to go to the hospital.
Sorry if this entry is a bit disjointed, I'm writing after having taken Benadryl and Norco; so I'm feeling a bit disjointed :)
Anyway the main concern I can think of for IBD patients is bowel perforation. In conjunction with a small bowel obstruction, the perforation will cause severe pain - for me this was one of the most painful experiences of my life (on par with the pain of major surgery). Alternatively, your bowel could perforate in a slower manner with a fistula. The fistula will also cause pain but it will be a much lower level of pain over a much longer period of time.
If either of these things happen you could develop sepsis (infection getting into your circulatory system) or peritonitis (infection getting into the spaces between your organs in your abdomen). Both of these are life threatening. Both of these cause your body to develop a fever to fight off the infection. For me, I can tell I'm developing a fever when I start feeling extremely cold and begin shivering.
Peritonitis will cause abdominal distension. With my abdominal abscess flares of my symptoms cause abdominal distension (what I call bloating) and my abdominal muscles also go very rigid. For the last several months, I've had some bloating almost continuously. At times I look like I'm 6-7 months pregnant :| .
Sepsis
Fever
Rapid heart rate
Rapid respiration
Source of infection
Abdominal pain
Peritonitis
Fever
Abdominal distension
Nausea/vomiting
Loss of appetite
Thirst
Low urine output
Fatigue
Inability to pass stool or gas
Additionally, I have sometimes experienced a feeling of unwellness that is nondescript and doesn't fall into any of the categories listed above. If this happens to you then depending upon how bad you feel, you should consider getting this checked out too.
Listen to your body, if you are experiencing issues that are not familiar to you be sure to speak to your doctor about it before it becomes an emergency. If you feel like it is an emergency, it is better to check it out and be found wrong than to not get it checked and discover that it is an emergency.
No comments:
Post a Comment