What to do about blood?

Hi all,

I've had Crohn's for almost 20 years (ouch! I feel old) and there are still times I feel like I don't know what I'm doing.

Case in point: I've been experiencing leakage and constipation on and off for a little while now. Last Monday, I had a bout of diarrhea with tons of blood. Later that day, I came down with the chills and spent the next 24 hours in bed. Fast forward to today and I'm constipated again.

Do I contact my doctor? Every time I do, I feel like I'm complaining for nothing. Bah. I wish I came with a manual sometimes.

Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Oops I came back to your post and read that you were just leaking blood.. Coincidental that was happening to me the other day.. Call your GI. It could be a small cut in your bowel thats actively bleeding. (Not to scare you, your doctor knows more than me.) If it was bleeding for more than 24 hours 100% go to the hospital. Mine only lasted 4 hours so I was good..

Again, best of luck, love.

Yes call your doc! As MB1123 said, that's what they are there for. I think we have all been there. Crohns is complicated. Every time I think I know what to expect something new pops up. My doc once joked about wishing he could install a little door in me so he could figure out what on earth was going on without sending me for more tests or procedures. Doctors are just happy to catch it before you end up in the ER and if you have one that makes you feel like a bother then you need a new doctor, but it sounds like you have a good one (it took me a long long time to stop feeling like a complainer, it's just life with this disease, my doctors remind me and I remind myself)

Side note: if you continue to have issues with leaking while (or after) you are getting the flare under control, there is a pad product- I think it's called butterfly- that is extreme helpful. I use it off and on when having issues and it helps keep things clean.

HI everyone! I'm new here... Our daughter was diagnosed a year ago w/ Crohn's. WE are on GI# 4. (Who we like) WE got discouraged w/ the others who seem to do just meds and surgery. Saw the book "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" on Amazon and was blown away at the reviews. (It's about a natural treatment and gut healing through the Specific CArbohydrate Diet ). WE both decided to try the diet. Helped her get off prednisone. SO far so good. On month 7. No meds and feeling good, except now dealing w/ scar tissue, which we are treating w/ serrapeptese. Also dealing w/ joint pain. I've been a researchin' momma and discovered some good tools. THe best tool for us was a comprehensive stool test, which gives all the important readings, better than a colonoscopy and showed the names of the bacteria that is actually causing the inflammation. Turns out she has Klebsiella. THe diet turns out to be just the thing that works as we discovered later this bacteria loves to eat sugar and starch. We also discovered that a fecal transplant has killed this super bug in a 13 yr old girl. (We are looking into that now.) Since everyone is different (and different treatments) we've been looking at different groups for encouragement and info exchange. I believe knowledge is power for us and gives us options, other than meds. (Not that they can't work well at times needed) SO far, crohnology.com is a good search engine w/ many members. Learned alot with this site. THe FB groups are also good. We are all on a healing journey and I appreciate hearing what has helped others, and hope I can pass on tips as well!