# What were Kurt Cobain's illnesses?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 22, 2003, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643 "2003-11-22T07:32:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Kurdt\_Kobain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kurdt_Kobain)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/1 "2003-11-22T07:32:03Z")
Hello,
I recently picked up a book called Heavier than Heaven, which is a biography about Kurt Cobain. It detailed how he experinced stomach trouble for a lot of his life.
Does anyone know what stomach problem Cobain had?
Also, does anybody know what mental disorders Cobain suffered from? One disorder commonly reffered to is Bipolar disorder. I am wondering if their is any truth to that.
K-K
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### Author:  [@Kurdt\_Kobain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kurdt_Kobain)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/2 "2003-11-22T11:13:55Z")
☹
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### Author:  [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/3 "2003-11-22T11:39:06Z")
Who knows. I do know he was a heroin addict.
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### Author:  [@Intaglio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intaglio)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/4 "2003-11-22T12:59:56Z")
He had bad judgement in women - Courtney Love.
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### Author:  [@crazy\_grady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazy_grady)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/5 "2003-11-22T13:23:24Z")
He suffered from lead poisening. Enuff to kill him. From the business end of a 12 guage.
GRADY
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### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/6 "2003-11-22T14:18:11Z")
Without trying to be a smart ass, I think that his major problem was Crohn’s disease.
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### Author:  [@Kurdt\_Kobain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kurdt_Kobain)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/7 "2003-11-22T14:20:15Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by crazy grady \*
> \*\*He suffered from lead poisening. Enuff to kill him. From the business end of a 12 guage.
>
> GRADY \*\*
Fuck you! He was a great man.
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### Author:  [@Mythos45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mythos45)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/8 "2003-11-22T15:16:29Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by crazy grady \*
> He suffered from lead poisening. Enuff to kill him. From the business end of a 12 guage.
And Grady is…wrong! Kurt used a Remington M-11 **20** gauge semiautomatic shotgun to end his life.
[http://www.justiceforkurt.com/investigation/crime\_scene.shtml](http://www.justiceforkurt.com/investigation/crime_scene.shtml)
[http://www.btinternet.com/~teppic2000/KurtCobainCase/CrimeScene.htm](http://www.btinternet.com/~teppic2000/KurtCobainCase/CrimeScene.htm)
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/9 "2003-11-22T17:19:44Z")
They didn’t say in his biography?
Sounds like a shitty book then.
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### Author:  [@Kurdt\_Kobain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kurdt_Kobain)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/10 "2003-11-22T17:26:25Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Lord Ashtar \*
> \*\*They didn’t say in his biography?
>
> Sounds like a shitty book then. \*\*
All they said was that he had mysterious stomach troubles, the doctors were mystified.
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### Author:  [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/11 "2003-11-22T17:33:23Z")
I have nothing to base this on specifically with KC’s case…but, speaking generically, opiate addicts will often invent ilnesses and pains that difficult to diagnose (“my back hurts” is another common one) in order to get more pain meds from their doctors.
Oh, and BTW, you’re not going to last long around here if you tell people “Fuck you” in forums other than the BBQ pit.
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### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/12 "2003-11-22T17:48:23Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by mouthbreather \*
> \*\*I have nothing to base this on specifically with KC’s case…but, speaking generically, opiate addicts will often invent ilnesses and pains that difficult to diagnose (“my back hurts” is another common one) in order to get more pain meds from their doctors.
> \*\*
I don’t doubt that addicts make up stuff in order to get meds, however, Cobains affliction was, IIRC, inherited as his mother also suffered from the same problem.
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### Author:  [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/13 "2003-11-22T17:52:45Z")
He may have legimately had Crohn’s – I have no idea. But it seems to me that is something that is pretty readily diagnosed?
When you say his mother suffered from the same…do you mean Crohn’s, or do you mean “unidentifiable stomach pains” ?
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### Author:  [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/14 "2003-11-22T18:00:16Z")
**Mouth** there are also various other “irritable bowel syndrome” diseases/disorders that are much more difficult to diagnose. A friend of mine has one ever since we got back from Panama. Presumably there is some sort of parasite, but all test keep turning up negative.
They’ve said, “well, it’s not exactly Crohn’s”… so they just call it “unidentified irritable bowel syndrome”. They _still_ think there’s some kind of parasite, but since they can find it, they can’t kill it. So they shrug and say “deal with it.”
The symptoms are as unpleasant as Crohn’s. But he’s managed well after modifying his diet to avoid some foods.
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### Author:  [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/15 "2003-11-22T18:46:18Z")
Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis is Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Different altogether than Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Crohn’s has lesions in the gut wall along the entire digestive tract; UC is only in the large intestine. It is sometimes difficult to diagnose because it flares and goes away, but there are blood tests and telltale signs to look for on colonoscopy for diagnosis. Inflammatory bowel disease is very serious – it can lead to multiple surgeries, cancer, and a whole host of other problems.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a harder diagnosis to make. Its aetiology is unclear, but it can be quite debilitating. There are no good treatments for it, either. To my knowledge, it is not associated with any other disease or condition (besides perhaps depression), so it is not as inherently dangerous as IBD. Given that his conditions were “mysterious” and evaded diagnosis, it probably was IBS.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome is often associated with crampy diarrhea. Since opiates are a good pain reliever and reduce bowel motility, I could see how Cobain could get hooked on them. He may have tried to quit and beyond the regular junk withdrawal type stuff to deal with, he may have had a flare up in bowel problems. Sometimes IBS is associated with phases of diarrhea and constipation; the heroin could have helped one and made the other worse. Since he was depressed, it may have been enough to push him over the edge. Hard to say, really.
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/16 "2003-11-22T22:14:33Z")
He did sing about eating cancer. If he did it in real life, that could have caused some digestive problems.
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### Author:  [@Mearl\_Dox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mearl_Dox)
#### Post date: [November 22, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/17 "2003-11-22T23:34:02Z")
Wow, I might have the same disease as Kurt Cobain!
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### Author:  [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/18 "2003-11-23T00:30:36Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Mearl Dox \*
> \*\*Wow, I might have the same disease as Kurt Cobain! \*\*
:eek: You’re dead, too!?
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### Author:  [@Mearl\_Dox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mearl_Dox)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/19 "2003-11-23T07:20:33Z")
And let me tell you, it’s hard to get a cable line run 6 feet under.
Although I meant crohn’s disease.
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### Author:  [@Kurdt\_Kobain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kurdt_Kobain)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-kurt-cobains-illnesses/214643/20 "2003-11-23T11:04:12Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by mouthbreather \*
> \*\*
>
> Oh, and BTW, you’re not going to last long around here if you tell people “Fuck you” in forums other than the BBQ pit. \*\*
He was obviously trolling.
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