Two kids with bloody stools!

 I have 2 children with Crohn's-a 15 year old girl (diagnosed at age 10) and a 17 year old boy (diagnosed Sept. 2010). Both kids ate fast-food pizza last evening and both have been eating lots of snacks and goodies this week because of the holidays. Anyway, both have been having bloody stools over the past 12-18 hours-bright red blood, no pain? We are still trying to achieve good 6MP levels in my son, so he is still symptomatic on and off, however, my daughter has not exhibited any Crohn's symptoms for a long time. Could it be the fast-food pizza that caused this??? Too much of a coincidence??!!! My daughter is also on 6MP and post bowel-resection 2 years ago. I am very worried of course and called GI, who is on vacation until Monday.

It is probably what they ate over the holidays. If it were my gut I would say some aggressive fiber like popcorn or nuts or the like could cause bleeding.  This bleeding would stop bleeding very quickly in my case. As dunny said if the bleeding is serious take action.

Post Edited (FunGuy) : 12/29/2010 5:14:42 PM (GMT-7)

 Hello! Yes, it is def. blood and not red dye-that did happen once before when my children ate red licorice and had red/maroon colored BM's. My daughter has 4 bloody stools in the last 10-12 hours-each one progressively worse, but no pain. Maybe an anal fissure? IDK, seems like too much blood for fissure. I will watch closely and wait for GI to return from vacation. Thanks for the welcome and responses, this seems like a wonderful forum, very informative and supportive!  

It's hard to know what's going on. Did they eat any popcorn or seedy/rough foods?

It sounds like it's not "normal" for them to have blood in their stool when they are flaring? If that's very unusual for them then I would be more suspicious that it is not CD-related - for now.

The main thing that would concern me would be a GI virus especially c. diff. It's easy to pick these up from food that's been out to long at parties and at restaurants due to poor food handling practices.

If it was c. diff it is very likely they would be in pain, have watery diarrhea, run a fever - they would usually feel sick. So it doesn't sound like it's that.

Most GI infections make you feel pretty sick so it is a bit of a puzzle.

I'm sure the GI has someone on call for him. I would call and ask for advice, see if they want to order stool cultures. If they have something that needs treatment it's probably better to get that started sooner than next Monday - 6 days away.

You could also have the kids catch their output in something so you could really see how much blood is there, if there are clots, mucus, etc.

It takes very little blood for it to look like a lot in the toilet.

If they have fissures it would be remarkable for them to both get them at the same time. And fissures are generally pretty painful.

Red blood means that something (the gut, a small tear, a hemi) is bleeding close to the exit. If it were black it would be coming from higher up. While ANY blood is of serious concern, I would be more worried if you said it was black. Is the blood increasing? Is it more and more every time? Or just the same amount? I would definitely attribute this to their diet and put them on a low res diet for the next day or two and see if that soothes their guts. If they start to have pain or the blood increases dramatically then put in a call to the GI who is on-call. SOMEONE can help. If they settle out a bit, then call your regular GI on Monday for sure. Hang in there mama!

 Thank you all for your informative advice and welcomes-it feels great to be able to vent and speak to others who know how difficult this illness can be, especially as a parent of 2 kids with CD. My daughter has been sick on/off for the past 5 years, but when my son started getting sick this past summer, I was in complete denial that he too could have CD,even though my GI was convinced that it was. (We have strong family history, my Mom also has CD for the past 20 years) As other parents know, I wake up everyday wondering which child will not be feeling well; belly pain, nausea, diarrhea... my belly ususally hurts too from the worry and stress, it kills me to see my kids suffer. My son is down about 16 lbs. and pale and just tired and weak alot, we are considering starting Remicade soon b/c it's been 3 months on 6MP and steroids and he is still breaking thru with symptoms. We might give it another month to see if the 6Mp kicks in, but if things do not improve, we are looking at changes in tx. approach. BTW, it must have def. been what the kids have been eating this week, b/c both had BM's this am and not a trace of blood!!! Very weird??? I guess we will stay away from Dominoes for awhile! In the meantime, I have a 10 year old daughter that I am watching closely...I feel like it's just a matter of time.. i have her on probiotics too and pray everyday that this disease doesn't affect her too, so scary. Thank you all again for the wonderful support!!

I completely understand how you feel about being a mom with children with IBD. I have a 15 month old daughter and I worry everyday. I can hear my son get up in the morning to run to the bathrom and moan in pain... it is at that point that my stomach starts to hurt, too. I haven't even gotten out of bed yet, and I am already nervous to face the day.
I, too, have IBD, but I have been lucky to escape the symptoms for many years== in fact, 2 pregnancies and births and nothing..
I hope your kids are feeling better, its a very tricky disease.. never in a million years would I think my son would have this.
Please try to stay positive, but I for one know how hard that can be.
M