Blood in stool - no answers from drs

[creatingkarma]

I have had occasional blood & tissue in my stool for 6 months now accompanied with a lot of lower abdomen pain (not bladder). The doctors cannot seem to find where it is coming from. I do not have hemmoroids, tears, fissures or anything like that. The blood is definitely coming from above the anus & it is bright red & fresh & full of bloody stringy tissue. In January I had a colonoscopy. The dr found 2 small polyps & 1 large polyp the size of a thumb which were all removed & benign. The drs thought that was what was causing the bleeding & thought that was the end of it since nothing else was seen as wrong. Well, here I am again. On Tuesday I had severe stomach cramps, vomiting, & bloody diahrea again. I went to the er where they did blood work (normal) & a cat scan (normal). They threw their arms up in the air, told me they don't know why I am bleeding & sent me home. I went to my primary dr yesterday & he has me scheduled to see a surgon on tues for exploratory surgery consult, which scares the bloody crap out of me (pun intended). I don't understand why they can't find what is bleeding. I don't want to go in for exploratory surgery & wake up with my intestines removed & a colostomy. Can anyone help me? I know that you shouldn't diagnose yourself but my drs aren't doing it for me. I believe that I have Ulcerative colitis but that is something that they should have found during the colonoscopy, right? Or did I just get a bad gi dr who found the polyps & called it good? Any advice at all would really help me right now. Thanks.

PS. And hello to all my old ic buddies I have not talked to forever. I did not mean to abandon you. I just do not have internet at home any longer. I missed you.

[tigger_gal]

I hope everything goes well, you are in my thoughts and prayers. Don't forget to call me and have one of the girls let me know when you are out of surgery.

[Annie2]

I obviously can't diagnose anything, but will comment I had the same symptoms and it turned out to be mild ulcerative colitis which was DXed during a colonoscopy. Do you take Elmiron for your IC? If you read the literature with Elmiron you will discover that a small percentage of people do develop rectal bleeding as a result of taking Elmiron. I took it for several years and it worked well for my IC. Then I developed colitis. After struggling to get my colitis under control, I finally stopped the Elmiron and my colitis went into remission. I don't know if you use Elmiron, but if you do you might want to check out the package info sheet and discuss it with your doctor.

Good to "see" you again, but so sorry for the circumstances! Sending prayers for you. Hope all goes well and you will find a cause (and solution) for the problems you've been experiencing!

[Snowden1]

Hi I have this rectal bleeding (although not as bad as yours) when I am really constipated - which is all the time now. I can't seem to stop it. I did take the Elmiron for 40 days and had so many issues, nausea, hair loss, intestinal cramping and now reading the post before I remember I had blood in my stool then too. It seemed to get worse daily so I stopped it. I thought it may have been the Aloe Vera because I was taking them at the same time. I really don't know what caused it. I do feel tender spots all over my abdomen all the time and hard spots. I couldn't make it through the prep for the colonoscopy but did the upper GI and have GERD and a small hernia (not a big deal). I am supposed to take something for the GERD but all the pills for that set off bad pain in my bladder. I really hope you find the source of this pain. I hope you don't have to go through an exploritory surgery just to find colitis - I would think your GI dr. would have found. And you are sure it isn't a fissure breaking in there when you go? Sorry to have gone on so long. I hope all goes well with your procedure and they find out what is going on.

[ICNDonna]

There are other medications besides elmiron that can cause bleeding. If you're taking any meds at all, I think it would be good to check to see if any of them have bleeding as a potential side effect. Even things like aspirin and ibuprofen can cause bleeding.

I hope a cause can be found soon.

Warm hugs,
Donna

[izazen]

I had tons of blood when I had my one and only colon removal threatening attack of ulcerative colitis. Not to be too graphic but dripping on the floor, filling the toilet type of blood.

Do you have a good gastroenterologist? I have a really, really good one (one of the most noted in the world) if you want to come to Chicago.

[darlene]

It might be time to get a new gastro. If you have another colonoscopy, they should do multiple biopsies and check for microscopic inflammation. Biopsies don't hurt. I have had many done, and have yet to feel any pain afterwards. Darlene inflammatory bowel disease for 25 years

[creatingkarma]

Thank you to everyone. I switched primary doctors & the new dr sent me to have another colonoscopy plus upper gi. It was found that the valve in my stomach isn't working properly & so all the bile from my gallbladder is pushing up into my stomach where it is just sitting there & eating the lining. Since I have chronic diahrea (5+ times a day) the blood was passing through my system so quickly that it didn't have time to turn color. That it is why it was coming out bright red & fresh & why the drs thought it was my intestines. I also have gastritis (chronic inflamation), IBS which I have known for years, and they took 4 biopsies to check for microscopic colitis & celiac disease. Still waiting on the results. The gi put me on Welchol to bind the bile so that I can pass it out of my system.

[tigger_gal]

hugs and prayers girl! I am a phone call away.

[Mothergoose]

Hi

I have not heard of Welchol, but my son and husband take colestid pill form or cholystimine (sp) in a powder form.

My son was house bond for 6 years with constent D, everytime he ate it went right through him, in less than 20 mins. This med was life changing for him. he leads a normal life now.

The condition he has is called Habba Syndrome,

I hope this med works as well for you.

MG

[endogirl2]

i'm in chicago and might need to see someone for my IBS issues, can you please send me the name of the great dr. in chicago? Thanks!

I had tons of blood when I had my one and only colon removal threatening attack of ulcerative colitis. Not to be too graphic but dripping on the floor, filling the toilet type of blood.

Do you have a good gastroenterologist? I have a really, really good one (one of the most noted in the world) if you want to come to Chicago.

[creatingkarma]

Re: Blood in stool - no answers from drs

Hello! Been a long time but here I am again. Things have gotten worse since I 1st started this thread. My last colonoscopy came back negative on the colitis & celiac disease yet here I am still having these symptoms. This has been going on for 4 years now. Every 3 - 4 months I have bright red blood (some mucusy/tissuey blood globs plus regular drippy like you got cut blood) in my stool. It happens for about 3 days each time along with terrible intestine pain. I've had 3 colonoscopies all by different GIs at different hospitals...nothing ever found. It's as if whatever is causing this has healed & disappeared by the time my procedure gets scheduled 1 - 2 months after my bleeding spells. I've asked if they could give me a colonoscopy while this is happening but always told no. They only do that in a life or death situation. This has gone on for soo long & I'm getting real tired of it. I know I'm not crazy & I know this isn't just IBS. I want to know what's wrong. I know this isn't normal. And no, I do not take Elmirion. I took it for about 3 months 10 years ago & that's it. I don't take asprin or NSAID's cause they don't help anyway. I'd really like a diagnosis so I could get treated. I'm at the end of what to do. Why go to the dr, ER, GI? I've gotten to the point where it's like "Oh, time to do this for a few days." & I just go from laying in bed to sitting on the toilet till it passes & don't even bother telling anyone. I just feel like there's no point.