Archive · 6 Nov 2025
Common Gut Issue Undiagnosed for 5 Years in Woman with Diarrhea and Pain
Imagine your tummy is like a garden hose that helps move food through your body.
For five years, a lady's garden hose was acting very strange.
Every time she ate, she had to run to the bathroom because of diarrhea.
She also felt bloated, had tummy pain, and sometimes felt sick.
Many doctors thought she just had a sensitive tummy, like having a tummy ache a lot, called IBS.
This is because she didn't get skinny, feel super tired, or have any blood when she pooped.
But her tummy problems got worse.
One day, another doctor did a special picture of her inside (a CT scan), and they found out she had a different, more serious tummy problem called Crohn's disease.
This disease makes the inside of the tummy sore and swollen.
A 50-year-old woman suffered from diarrhea, abdominal pain, and bloating for five years.
Her symptoms, including immediate bowel movements after meals and vomiting, were initially misdiagnosed as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
Doctors suspected IBS because she did not exhibit typical red flags such as weight loss, fever, fatigue, blood in stool, or high inflammatory markers.
Despite consulting multiple doctors and taking gastric pills, her condition worsened.
A CT scan eventually revealed she had Crohn's disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease.
- Who
- A 50-year-old woman
- What
- Experienced undiagnosed gut health problems including diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating, and vomiting for five years, initially misdiagnosed as IBS, but later diagnosed with Crohn's disease via a CT scan.
- When
- Symptoms persisted for five years before diagnosis
- Where
- Unspecified medical facilities where she consulted doctors
- Why
- Doctors initially misdiagnosed her condition as IBS due to the absence of red flags like weight loss, fever, fatigue, blood in stool, or significant inflammatory markers.
- Patient Age
- 50-year-old
- Duration of Symptoms
- 5 years
- Initial Diagnoses Considered
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Key Diagnostic Test
- CT scan
- Final Diagnosis
- Crohn's disease