confused?

Okay so heres the drill...

I'm 19, just had a baby three month ago and on friday night i started with these pains, they started getting more and more consistent like every hour or so (in my gut/stomach), as the day passed on to saturday night they were getting more often and more painful and i was constipated. My mum called the emergency room and I got an appointment for 01.15am. He told me he didnt know what was wrng with me and gave me codeine. However, after taking a codeine, I started having a reaction so decided to stop taking them and stuck to paracetemol. AGONY. I managed to open my bowels however it was just watery with little brown bits (sorry to gross you out?)

Now today (monday) I woke up, except when I got a pain and went to open my bowels, it now had blood in it. I've had no fever (apart from with the codeine) and no other symptoms but the pain/diarohea and constipation.
As the days gone on, I've noticed it's now a mucousy/bloody/water stool.
I revisited the doctor and she wants me to do a stool sample, however I'm back to being constipated now and managed a tiny bit of mucusy stool...

I'm so freaked out right now, thinking of the worst case scenario...

My mums determined its IBS, but im just not sure

Anyone?

Hi

First of all don't panic! The majority of bleeding is benign (only about 1% referrals with bleeding turn out to be cancer, so there's a 99% chance its not!). The most common reasons for bleeding are hemorrhoids or a fissure, a small cut in the anus or back passage. This could be an infection hence the reason for the stool sample. If it doesn't settle, then you will need more invasive investigations such as flexible sigmoidoscopy (camera test to look at your left large bowel) or maybe a CT or a colonoscopy (camera to look at the whole large bowel). Occassionally, this sort of story can be due to a new presentation of inflammatory bowel disease, although common things being common, I suspect my first inferences will probably be the cause. ibs doesn't cause bleeding unless constipation-predominant in which case the straining can cause a hemorrhoid or a fissure. I hope this reassures you a bit, but you are right to get it checked out.

Glad to hear you are getting it sorted. I suspect your inflammatory markers were raised. What we look at are the white cell count (WBC), the C-reactive protein (CRP) and the ESR or Erythrocyte sedimentation rate. These can all be raised, although not diagnostic, in colitis as well as other condtions. Suprisingly, they can also be normal in the presence of disease, so they are only an indicator and are of more use in guaging treatment if raised. Best wishes for your future management!