Crohn’s Disease Symptoms
Key points
- People with Crohn’s disease can experience symptoms differently from each other.
- Symptoms of Crohn’s disease often include abdominal pain, diarrhoea and feeling generally unwell.
- Gut inflammation can lead to symptoms that affect many different parts of your body so it can be helpful to talk about them with your doctor.
What are the symptoms of Crohn’s disease?
Symptoms of Crohn’s disease can be different for each person and can be serious or mild. Symptoms will depend on where inflammation appears in your gut.
The most common symptoms during a flare are:
- Abdominal pain
- Frequent diarrhoea (sometimes mixed with mucus and blood) and need to use the toilet
- Tiredness, fatigue
- Raised temperature, fever
- Loss of appetite, weight loss
- Anaemia (reduced level of blood cells)
Inflammation in the gut can make it harder for the body to absorb nutrients from food, leading to many of these symptoms.
Less common symptoms during a flare are:
- Joint pain
- Mouth ulcers (sores)
- Eye inflammation (uveitis and episcleritis)
- Liver inflammation, such as Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC)
- Skin rashes
Always ask your doctor if you are worried about any of your symptoms.