Patient was educated on symptoms of Crohn’s disease as follows:
- Abdominal pain
- Pain is secondary to the inflammation and swelling of the intestinal walls.
- Abdominal cramps
- Contractions of the smooth muscle in the swollen intestines result in cramps.
- Reduced appetite
- The abdominal pain and cramps can reduce the appetite and patients can be averse to eating, fearing the activation of symptoms with food.
- Bloody stool
- The inflammation can lead to ulcerations in the large intestines, leading to hemorrhage and bleeding.
- This bleeding can be fresh and bright red if the involved part of the intestine is in the large intestine or closer to the rectum.
- The bleeding can appear black in color, due to partial digestion, if the source of bleeding is in small intestine, secondary to partial digestion of blood.
- Anemia
- If the blood loss is heavy, patients can present with symptoms of iron deficiency anemia, such as, extreme shortness of breath, pale skin and mucous membranes, dizziness, fatigue, and exhaustion.
