35F, 155lbs / 5’3, non-smoker, non-drinker
Long story, so bear with me! Had my first daughter in August 2023, and not exactly sure when my IBS/possible IBD symptoms started, but somewhere shortly after that I started noticing that I was mostly having type 6 (loose, fragmented)/type 7 (completely watery) stools and never really a complete formed stool. I didn’t think anything of it.
Fast forward September 2024 I was pregnant again and one day around 6 weeks pregnant I was having intense lower abdominal pain - came in waves kind of like contractions starting in my LLQ and radiating to my LRQ kind of behind my belly button, but was distinctly NOT uterine pain. I couldn’t eat all day because of the pain, but ultimately it went away about 24 hours later. That pregnancy resulted in a D&C so at the time I thought maybe it was my body responding to the failing pregnancy.
Come January 2025, I was pregnant AGAIN (with my second daughter who was born in July 2025) and I started having episodes of the exact same pain (lower abdominal pain that came in waves like contractions), and I was getting these episodes like every 3-4 weeks with no apparent triggers, and they would last anywhere from 6-12 hours or so with lingering pain over the days following. Always having pure liquid BRIGHT yellow diarrhea in the 1-2 days following (not during the episodes - usually no BMs during the entirety of the day of the pain; occasionally I had such intense nausea that I vomited 1-2 times during these episodes).
By the third or fourth episode in that pregnancy in March 2025 I finally went to the ER, where I was sent to labor and delivery since I was over 20 weeks pregnant. Since I couldn’t exactly pinpoint where the pain was, they suggested it could be gallbladder pain. I was sent for a RUQ ultrasound where it was determined that I did have gallstones.
Following that episode in March I had no more episodes of pain for the rest of that pregnancy. My daughter was born July 2025 and I had my gallbladder removed in November 2025. Problem solved, right?
Problem not solved. This March I had another episode. It was short lived and the pain wasn’t too intense so I wrote it off. But then it happened again last month (April 16, 2026) and the pain was so bad I ended up in the ER again. This time they believed me when I said it was LLQ pain and they sent me for an abdominal CT, which found:
“Abnormal long segment of small bowel with mesenteric edema and a small amount of free fluid. Overall, the findings are most suggestive of angioedema. Another significant possibility is ischemic enteritis. Infectious and inflammatory enteritis are also possible.”
They screened me for any allergic reactions (I’m also hyper aware of what I eat/do prior to these episodes and there really is NO obvious trigger) and determined it was not that. My inflammatory markers were all elevated and my stool calprotectin was 251, so they sent me to an IBD specialist.
I have a colonoscopy scheduled for this Thursday. Obviously, they think it might be Crohn’s. But I’m wondering if that’s possible when I truly don’t have any pain or much discomfort outside of these days where I have intense pain which are few and far between. The strange stools have persisted (mostly type 6 small pieces/type 7 diarrhea unless I take Metamucil in which case my first stool of the day will be well formed). But the diarrhea isn’t constant, just like 1-2 times in the morning. And it’s not horribly intense either.
Basically I’m wondering - if it’s NOT Crohn’s, what could it be? I’m VERY worried that they missed it being chronic mesenteric ischemia based on the CT results, but my doctor assured me they wouldn’t have let me go from the ER if they thought that’s what it was… but then why did my CT results say that was a “significant possibility”? It’s life threatening if untreated and I’m worried because I didn’t fit the usual mold of people who present with CMI they just wrote it off. I just don’t want to have been the patient who fell through the cracks and ends up dead OBVIOUSLY.
A few more details: Currently prescribed 10mg adderall twice a day (was not taking in pregnancy), just started 25mg sertraline because duh (not started until April 22, 2026), mini pill for birth control, no other meds but do take magnesium glycinate before bed.
Thanks for your help!!