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IBS SYMPTOM-BLOODY STOOL?

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Posted 1/30/2008 7:28 PM (GMT 0)
Hi. I am very new to this site but from what I have been reading, there are a lot of people going through what I am experiencing and I was wondering if I could get some advice or help from others with IBS. I started getting crippling pain in my back and abdomen a year ago followed by constipation. My doctor immediately said it was IBS. After a while I started to bleed when I went to the bathroom and it came out with my stool and sometimes came out looking like bits of bloody tissue. They did a colonoscopy and said I was fine...no hemmrhoids, colitis, polyps, anything wrong a few months later, I started to get diarhea and more blood in my stool with that. My doctor said it sounded like food poisening....FOOD POISENING?!?!.....I started to think my doctor is crazy because  this happens so often there is no way I keep getting food poisening!  Does IBS really cause bloody stool, bouts of diarhea mixed with constipation, gas, back and abdominal pain, and nausea? Or does that sound more like Inflammatory bowel or some other problem. I know I see a lot about the hard stomache, gas, and pain, but I never see the bloody diarhea. The pain gets so bad, I took a vicodin and it did NOTHING for the pain. I keep heating pads on my stomache at night which helps but does not get rid of the problem.

If you have these same symptoms and are dignosed with IBS or something else, please let me know! I need some alternatives to throw by my doctor so I can get this taken care of...He has given me NOTHING! He keeps telling me to change my eating habits but that is not helping! Any ideas? What works for you?

Post Edited (maychild) : 1/31/2008 6:11:02 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/30/2008 9:03 PM (GMT 0)
smurf  Welcome Maychild!

OH sweetie, my heart goes out to you sad !

I've had IBS since I was 10 and it's no fun!

Alot of your symptoms can be caused by IBS, but there is something else going on when you're having blooding stool!

I'm no doctor, but when these things happened to me and I too was told everything from food poisoning to parasites, nerves, in my head, you name it, I went for a 2nd,3rd and finally 4th opinion I was diag. with Crohn's and leaky gut syndrome.  Hon, you need to find a good INTERNAL Dr. and insist they check everything and before you see him/her, log everything that's going on, e.g. number of stools, texture, smell, etc., plus, have your liver enz. checked!  I don't want to scare you Hon, but because I was shuffled around for so long, I ended up having multiple surgeries that didn't go well, I have a feeding bag now and still have the problems, except blood, and most of the time have to wear an adult diaper!  Does anyone else in your family have bowel issues? That's important for your dr. to know....everyone is different, but whatever is going on maychild, blood is a "red flag" to get the right help.....it is treatable, you need to keep that in mind and chin up, OK?

I'll help all I can and so will others.....people are great here and very wise! 

Get back to me, I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers for you to find the right dr. Hon!

Shower of Blessings!

Funnygirl

Posted 1/31/2008 5:25 AM (GMT 0)
A colonoscopy alone is not enough to rule out crohns since crohns can affect the entire GI tract from mouth to anus and a colonoscopy doesn't get into all of the small intestines...bleeding is not associated with having IBS with the exception of hemmies, which was ruled out, so that means you have something more or other than IBS going on, more like IBD (crohns or ulcerative colitis) since your colonoscopy showed nothing (or the GI wasn't a good one and couldn't detect UC), then I'd lean towards crohns...

I have had crohns for 16 yrs and IBS for the last 5 yrs.

:)
Posted 1/31/2008 4:00 PM (GMT 0)
Nope, IBS doesn't cause bleeding (unless you have bleeding hemmies), and especially not bloody tissue. Something serious is going on there.

See if you can find a GI doctor that specializes in IBDs. That doctor would be more likely to find something. Also, make sure they check you for food allergies, although I would think that even an allergy would be rare to cause you bleeding. Now, some parasites do cause bloody stools, but they're very rare or even non-existant in the U.S. and Western Euopre; I'd only suspect that if you had been to a second or third world country within a few months to half a year of developing this problem.

I've never heard of food poisioning causing bleeding, unless it's something like E.Coli or Salmonella, for which you need IMMEDIATE treatment.

I can't believe your doctor is not more concerned about this. When I was growing up, blood in the stool was always a bad sign; you were supposed to go to the hospital immediately. I thought everyone knew that, especially doctors.
Posted 2/1/2008 12:35 AM (GMT 0)
Thank You all so much!!!!! I made an emergency appointment with a NEW doctor today and she said she thinks it is Chrons or Ulcerative Colitis.... Everything you all mentioned! I am going to see a NEW GI speacialist as well.
Thank You for all of your advice!!!!!!  :-)   I was starting to think that my doctor didn't give a hoot about me!
I am a lot more happy with my new doctor and I probably would have not went back if I didn't know it was a symptom of a more serious condition!
Thanks Again!
I'll give an update in three weeks and let you all know the verdict!

Post Edited (maychild) : 1/31/2008 6:19:24 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/1/2008 1:17 AM (GMT 0)
I have another question. I read from pb4 that Chrons can be afftected from your mouth downward.....I know this is a long shot, but would someone with Chrons also have problems swallowing or burping....I had an endoscopy performed the same day as my colonoscopy because I tend to "choke" on food in such a way that I can still breathe, but it gives me major pain in my chest and if I try to swallow a liquid while the food is in there, I loose my ability to swallow and it all comes back up, giving me the feeling like I really am choking and I can't breathe. A doctor told me it could be muscle spasms in my neck but everything checked out....Could Chrons also be a factor in my "choking" episodes? I swear I chew all my food excessively because I know this happens but sometimes I just can't help it. I also can't drink icee's because they make my whole neck and chest freeze and sometimes the icee will come back up and I throw it up (but not from my stomache, it feels like it never leaves my lower throat)....anyone else have anything similar with Chrons or have you heard of this before?
Posted 2/1/2008 6:38 AM (GMT 0)
Hi maychild :)

It's hard to say for me because although I've had crohns for almost 2 decades I thankfully have not had it affect my esophagus or throat, but I hear it's pretty rare (still it can happen), you could also have GERD so make sure you mention this problem you're having with the choking and such to your new doc as well, it's crucial you give them all your symptoms even if you think it might not be related...you'd be surprised at how many extraintestinal manifestations there are from having IBD, skin, eye, joint, bone issues, mention everything to your new doc.

And keep us posted...I hope you don't have crohns or UC but if it turns out you do, we have a great support family at both the CD and UC forums here at HW...just like the wonderful IBS forum.

:)
Posted 2/1/2008 7:15 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Maychild, I am glad you are getting a GI work-up for the blood in your stool. It's always a good idea to have that thoroughly checked out. Like everyone else, I hope that you don't end up having Crohn's or UC, but if that is the case I hope you can get into remission quickly. Feel free to ask any more questions :)
Posted 2/1/2008 3:19 PM (GMT 0)
Thank You All So Much!!!! I am so glad I found this site because it has really comforted me knowing I am not the only person going through this. Everyone is such a big help and I feel more confident that my problems aren't going to "ruin my life". I used to think that my problems were the end of the world and I would never leave the house when I was having an episode, but now I am realising there are many ways to help the symptoms and there are so many people going through the same thing!!!

Thanks Again for all of your advice! I will give ya'll an update in the next few weeks :)

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