Blood

I've been having a pretty heavy amount of both bright red and black blood in my stool, especially this weekend. I just had a Remicade infusion on Thursday, and my GI is a jerk, so even though this has been going on for awhile, I haven't been all that eager to call. It's gotten quite a bit worse this weekend, and I'm a little bit worried. Should I suck it up and call his answering service, knowing he's going to blow it off like he always does, or wait and get an appointment with my internist next week?

onedaymore: Hi, gosh, you must not be feeling very well! My suggestion: call the GI (its a holiday w/e in the U.S) so chances are you will get a partner whom you might like better than the doc you are seeing. The on call doc should be able to give you some appropriate guidance because you will get into trouble here pretty quickly. The dark brown is bleeding higher up that is being discolored in the small bowel, the brighter red is bleeding in the large bowel and is not affected by digestive enzymes - could be anywhere from high in lg bowel to rectal. This is a significant event and if the on call dude doesn't answer, call your on call interest asap! Keep track of who you speak to and when. And as an aside, if you are not happy with your GI dude, keep shopping and find one that you can develop a good working relationship with. And please -keep us posted, take care and get well quick! Barb

You have internal bleeding and should contact your GI ASAP.