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Black tarry stools every few months or so

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 10/31/2012 11:59 PM (GMT 0)

I just want to know if anybody else gets this

Every few months or so, I will get an episode of blood in the stools

It is black and tarry, and usually I lose about a pint of blood in these epsiodes (I did the calculation based on my height and weight, I drop from a Hemoglobin count of 13.0 down to 11.9 or 12)

It has become a typical pattern even though my meds seem to have me in remission

Until about 3 months ago, I had 10-15 BM's a day, and all were loose.  I also started having abdominal obstructive episodes every week or so

3 months ago, due to a bleeding episode, my doctor put me on 40 MG of prednisone

I immediate went to 1 BM a day and solid - He has since reduced me to 20MG of Pred, Added 100mg of 6MP and I do Humira injections weekly - Also taking Pentasa 4 pills a day - Iron supplements, B12, Vitamin D etc... (The regular crohns supplements).  Also, I cut Gluten and Sugars from my diet about 6 months ago to try to reduce any inflammatory response I was having due to food

I do not go to the hospital for these bleed episodes anymore as they run me through CAT scans, to tell me they see no active bleeding - so it is a bit of a waste of time although I always have this fear of bleeding too much.

Does anybody else have this happen, if so, what do you do?  Is there anything I could be doing to exacerbate this bleeding that I am not aware of

I have been an member of the board for 6 years and appreciate all the support and feedback my fellow Crohns sufferers provide

Thanks in advance

Posted 11/1/2012 12:07 AM (GMT 0)
Your Crohn's must be active somewhere and that is what is causing the bleeding. I don't think you are doing anything wrong to cause this...it is just an evil disease. When you are on the higher Prednisone doses does the bleeding stop? What does your doctor think? You are on all the good meds, but some of us just have resistant disease. It doesn't sound like you can do a pill camera test because of the history of obstructions, but maybe there are other tests the doc can do to find the source of the bleeding. Several years ago I was having trouble with a bleeding ulcer in my small intestine...we got regular blood tests to watch the anemia levels, and I did need iron infusions a couple of times. I hope you figure it out soon and feel better.
Posted 11/1/2012 12:13 AM (GMT 0)
Gumby44

You are correct,

They tried capsule endoscopy in 2007, and it got stuck in there until my resection in 2008 where they retrieved it.

I also believe that the bleed is high up in the small intestine as the blood is very dark.

I am getting bi weekly blood tests because I am on 6mp, so I will do one tomorrow to see how much I dropped, I expect to be in the low 11's for Hemoglobi, which thankfully is not low enough for blood tranfusions (I have had to do those before)

How did they eventually treat your ulcers? did they heal, did they have to resect, or are you still having issues?

Thanks

Posted 11/1/2012 1:52 AM (GMT 0)
Pred can also cause black tarry stools.
Posted 11/1/2012 2:17 AM (GMT 0)
Unfortunately, it is definitely blood, Do you mean that Pred can cause an upper GI ulcer to bleed?

Thanks

Posted 11/1/2012 2:50 AM (GMT 0)
I was on Prednisone for awhile, and it seemed to quiet the bleeding ulcer....it's come back a couple of times, but all is well right now. I hope your docs figure out something to get it under control soon!
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