10 Warning Signs of Crohn’s Disease

Plus, how doctors diagnose the condition and what to do if you think you have it

Kristen Fischer,

AARP

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Published December 17, 2025

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Experiencing stomach issues from time to time can be normal, often due to something you ate or a bug your body is fighting off. But if symptoms like diarrhea, nausea and abdominal pain occur frequently, you could be dealing with Crohn’s disease.

This is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a disorder that causes ongoing inflammation in your gastrointestinal tract. Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are the most common IBDs. Crohn’s affects the entire GI tract, while UC is limited to the colon.

An estimated 2.39 million Americans have IBD, and of them, just over 1 million have Crohn’s disease, according to a 2023 report in Gastroenterology. And while there’s no cure for either of those diseases, there is a lot you can do to treat the symptoms and improve your quality of life.

Challenges in diagnosing Crohn’s disease

Reaching a diagnosis isn’t always straightforward. The trouble with Crohn’s disease is that it can be “subtle and progressive over time,” says Dr. Jeffrey Berinstein, an assistant professor of gastroenterology and hepatology at Michigan Medicine. “It’s not something that happens overnight.”

There’s no single test for Crohn’s disease, and its symptoms often mimic other conditions. For instance, weight loss, fatigue, and abdominal pain don’t automatically point to Crohn’s, Berinstein says. And often, Crohn’s is misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a 2023 report in Diagnostics found.

Many people learn to cope with the symptoms, which is why it can take a while for the condition to be diagnosed, Berinstein says. Delaying a diagnosis, however, increases the risk for complications and bowel damage.

Warning signs of Crohn’s disease

Want to know if you could be dealing with Crohn’s disease? These are some of its warning signs:

Abnormalities in your anal area. If you have a complex anal area fistula or abscess that drains pus, or lesions (skin that won’t heal), it can be a strong sign of early Crohn’s, the Diagnostics report showed.
A close relative with IBD. A first-degree family member with confirmed IBD can be a strong indicator that you may have an IBD like Crohn’s disease, the 2023 report stated.
Losing weight. If you’ve dropped about 5 percent of your body weight within three months, it can be an indicator of Crohn’s.
Ongoing abdominal pain. Chronic abdominal pain for more than three months is another indicator. But if you don’t have that pain about 30 to 45 minutes after eating, that can be another sign of the disease.
Diarrhea. If your diarrhea occurs at night, that’s another early-warning sign that you may have Crohn’s disease.
Unexplainable fever. Having a mild fever for the past three months can also point to Crohn’s disease, research shows.
Urgency — and the lack thereof. If you don’t have an urgency — a sudden, strong need to have a bowel movement — when you need to go, that may be an indicator of Crohn’s disease. At the same time, urgency is one of the earliest and most significant symptoms of Crohn’s disease, says Dr. Alan Moss, chief scientific officer of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.
Non-GI symptoms. Other than the obvious GI issues, some people may experience mouth ulcers, joint pain, skin rashes or eye irritation before more gut problems arise, Moss says. Skin conditions and wounds that don’t heal can also be a sign, says Dr. Michael A. Pezzone, director of gastroenterology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s UPMC Mercy location.
Other autoimmune diseases. While other autoimmune diseases don’t cause Crohn’s, having one autoimmune disease, like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, increases your risk of having another .
Certain infections as a kid. If you start to notice possible symptoms, they could have older origins, Berinstein says. A 2021 report report in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases suggests that taking antibiotics early in life could raise your risk for Crohn’s disease. The same may be true for salmonella and E. coli infections early in life, Berinstein adds.

Keep in mind that people with Crohn’s experience periods when symptoms are active (flares) and other times when they don’t have any at all (remission ). If you feel like something is off, see your primary care doctor.

Diagnosing Crohn’s disease

Your doctor will use a variety of tools to determine if you have Crohn’s disease. These include:

Standard physical exam
Questions about your medical history and diet
Blood and stool tests
Additional tests may include X-rays, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of your upper and lower GI tract
Endoscopy , including colonoscopy

Berinstein says researchers are looking at other ways to identify people at risk of Crohn’s before they develop it, so they can intervene early.

Treatments for Crohn’s disease

A variety of medicines are used to treat Crohn’s disease, whether to lower inflammation or suppress your immune response. These include:

Steroids
Anti-inflammatory medicines
Immunomodulators
Biologics
Small molecule advanced therapies
Antibiotics
Antidiarrheal drugs
Pain medications

New treatments are being developed, which Berinstein says is an exciting development in the field. Currently, several medications are approved, which is up from just two about a decade ago, he adds.

Surgery may be needed for as many as two-thirds of people living with Crohn’s. The procedure can conserve parts of your GI tract and improve your quality of life, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation reports.

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Kristen Fischer is a contributing writer at AARP based at the Jersey Shore. She has also written for Health, WebMD, and McKnights and is the author of Zoo Zen: A Yoga Story for Kids.