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Posted 12/20/2012 8:21 PM (GMT 0)
Hello everyone,
I have never posted on any forum but here I am. I am just going to jump right in. I have had two colonoscopies, (that does not look spelled right) and the last one was July 2009. It was clear, so clear they told me they would see me in 10 years. I was thrilled. Yes, I have hemorrhoids, a couple of them which act up probably once a month. But everything else was cool. I had the scope down my throat at the same time, all good.
So, jump ahead three years. I have always been one of those people, constipated one minute diarrhea the next but didn't worry because of the test results.
I recently had to start taking cholesterol meds and an aspirin daily and now in the last month or so I bleed with every bowel movement. I also have narrow stools with bright blood and of course when I wipe. I cannot believe I am writing about this. My face is red but I am continuing.
So, it is I am bleeding just about ever bowel movement which are only coming every couple or three days or longer sometimes which way different than I used to be. And they never come easily.
I am getting nervous. But I keep thinking about the tests and trying not to worry. Blood work is always good. I have horrible acid reflux and take Prilosec OTC for that and sometimes I get a little nauseated for no reason. But mostly I am freaked about the blood in the stools, in the toilet and on the TP, the narrow stools most of the time and constipated or very difficult to pass. I always have Preparation H on hand and use it a lot. I am 52 and other than being overweight and taking cholesterol,high blood pressure meds oh and an aspirin I am fine.
Suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Posted 12/20/2012 8:32 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome welcome !

You have been Dxed with UC or what? Any diet changes recently?
Posted 12/20/2012 8:39 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome :)

Dont be embarressed! we have all experienced this and talked about it here, detail is welcomed!

I would make another appt for a colonoscopy to see whats causing the blood, could be higher up hemrriods or something more serious. i ignored my symptoms at first and never had colonoscopy... year later BAM!

Always a good idea to talk to your doc :)

keep us posted.

Posted 12/20/2012 8:52 PM (GMT 0)
I think you should get checked out. There are a number of things that could be going on.
Posted 12/20/2012 9:20 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to the forum and no need to be embarassed at all!!
Posted 12/20/2012 9:44 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks everyone. I am nervous about talking with him, but I guess I have to. I forgot to say that about 10 years ago I did have to go to a specialist who did an exam that was not comfortable, as a matter of fact, and he said I had a fissure, fission, Gosh now I cannot remember what he called it but I am sure you all know. Anyway, he gave me prescription strength suppositories and it actually worked. I wonder if that could be back. I don't know. But, I will make appointment to talk to him about it next week. Thanks again everyone. I will be back with what doc recommends. Ugh. If I am not back before, hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!
Posted 12/20/2012 10:05 PM (GMT 0)
Whattheheck1, as everyone says, call your DR. You should specifically talk to your DR about the bloody stool. But you should also talk about the variation in your stool quality, any issues you might be having with belly pain or gas, and whether or not the blood might be related to the daily aspirin you're taking. Your DR should schedule you for some blood work and will probably ask for a stool sample. As awkward as this conversation might seem to you, it is really necessary and you should not be shy or try to use euphemisms.

Good luck.
Posted 12/20/2012 10:14 PM (GMT 0)
So sorry to hear that, but welcome! Don't let this forum freak you out too much, there is great information here but also some scary stories. Go see a GI right away, because the longer you let it go, if it maybe is UC, the harder it will be to treat.

It's such an awkward thing to talk about but necessary, and just remember that's just about all your doc talks about all day!
Posted 12/20/2012 10:20 PM (GMT 0)
It could be IBS and hemorrhoids or it could be IBD. It could be infectious or UC. You may need a 2013 scoping.
Posted 12/20/2012 10:21 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to the pain in the ass club! ;)

You'll find loads of help and different ideas on diets, meds and how to improve symptoms etc. I'd advise researching anything that takes your interest because what works for some UCers won't for others.

With that in mind, I was interested to read that your bleeding started after you began taking cholesterol meds and aspirin - all designed to thin the blood.

Do a search for a video on Cholesterol by Sally Fallon Morell. It should give you an alternative perspective to what the medical profession preach.

Cholesterol is essential for the body and one of it's benefits is to help blood clot e.g. to help wounds heal. When it comes to UC, this is very important.

A few weeks back I changed over to a diet with lots of saturated fatty meat (organic, fresh), the bleeding stopped in a few days. However, I'm not claiming it's the only thing that stopped my bleeding, but it's worth looking in to it.

Good luck
Posted 12/20/2012 10:33 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you all for your insight, I really appreciate it.

Wavey - I thought it was interesting, too. It has only been since the new meds this has started. I actually have an appointment with my cardiologist next Friday and will ask him about this, too. I am still going to call my regular doc tomorrow, if they are in, and try to set something up soon just to find out. As I said, I already have had two colonscopies but I never had blood in my stool in that awful at home test. They always came back negative so we did the colonscopies just to make sure all was well. I was usually anemic and they figured it was due to periods. I have not had one in a year and my anemia had pretty much been healed. So, I wonder if these meds are messing with me, now. I will find out. But I appreciate the suggestion for the video, I will definitely watch it. Thanks again and to everyone as well.
Posted 12/21/2012 3:41 AM (GMT 0)
I would beware of excessive use of Prilosec ... all meds like that weaken the bones. It took me almost two years to reverse the osteopenia I was developing. (I broke my kneecap in three places WITHOUT hitting it on anything, if that gives you an idea of how weak my bones got from excessive use of Prilosec.) An alternative treatment? I am still figuring it out but I have found that probiotics greatly reduced the reflux, at least for me.

As for the bleeding, get to the doctor! Reduce the grains and gluten in your diet, up healthy saturated fats ...
Posted 12/21/2012 4:07 AM (GMT 0)
Whattheheck1, welcome to the forums. I hope you can get everything figured out colon-wise. But, I'd like to offer a suggestion. Look up the supplement DGL. It's an all-natural supplement that is deglycerhizinated licorice root. One chewable tablet reduces stomach acid and helps with indigestion and acid-reflux. My whole family takes uses this product with success, thanks to our doctor who recommended it. I used to have terrible acid reflux when I was in my teens and took Prilosec, wish I knew about this long ago!
Posted 12/21/2012 4:22 AM (GMT 0)
welcome to the butt house :-)
Posted 12/21/2012 5:20 AM (GMT 0)
Hi, welcome to the forum. There is nothing too embarrassing to talk about here. Nothing is off limits.

Anyway, you mentioned thin stools. How skinny? That can be a sign of UC inflammation.
Posted 12/21/2012 3:09 PM (GMT 0)
Whattheheck1, My Dr also instructed me to take an aspirin regimen (baby aspirin), but to our surprize, It caused me to bleed from every where, I had blood in my urine, coming from my rectum, and developed purpura all over my arms... It started within the first month of the therapy. We went off the aspirin, and within 2 weeks the bleeding stopped.

Carlie
Posted 12/21/2012 3:20 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome to the forum...sorry you have to be here. Pls don't be embarassed to talk about this stuff here...we live for this kind of talk...lol!
B
Posted 12/21/2012 4:01 PM (GMT 0)
I would urge you to see a holistic or naturopathic doctor. Most (but not all) regular MDs are the memorize-and-regurtitate type: they memorize their medical school textbooks, and then regurgitate the information to their patients. They rarely think for themselves. Unfortunately, they have a lot of mis-information, and outdated information, and they keep proliferating it. This can have drastically negative effects on one's life.

Holistic and naturopathic docs don't have all the right answers, either, but they won't recommend taking out your colon off-the-bat. Instead, they'll recommend things like dietary changes (avoid foods that make you bleed), and such. Avoiding "offending" foods is not nearly as convenient as taking pharmaceuticals, imho (not that it's a one-or-the-other decision), but it has less of the nasty side effects, both short-term and long-term.
-marcus
Posted 12/21/2012 5:03 PM (GMT 0)
gz - didn't nd's read books too ?
Posted 12/21/2012 5:41 PM (GMT 0)
While I certainly don't really want to defend doctors but I must say:

1.Nd's read books too

2.I'm not sure a lot of ND's think for themselves either. Many of them offer the same treatments whether you have Cancer, the hiccups, or UC. Not all but many. The truth is there are a lot of quacks just as there are a lot of bad doctors.

3. ND's have a lot of misinformation and outdated information too . Many are offering the same treatments they did years ago.

4. They don't recommend taking out your colon right off the bat because they never recommend surgery to anyone for anything - that is not what they do. On top of that they want you to keep buying their products so that they can get richer and richer. At least you can say with a doctor that if he recommends colon surgery right off the bat(which hardly any do) it is the surgeon who makes the money, not the GI and if it cures he has somewhat hurt his own business.

5. Many GI's do recommend dietery changes (like going lactose free). There are no diet changes that work in everyone because that aspect is very individual. Many GI's also recommend some other things besides prescriptions like probiotics or natural treatments, although many do not. Only the patients themselves know what their true offending foods are. A naturopath is doing a disservice to his patients if he claims to know that certain foods are "offending" in all UC patients. Many UC'rs are lactose intolerant but many UC'rs are not lactose intolerant so it would be wrong of any kind of doctor anywhere to suggest all UC patients quit eating lactose. The same is true of all other foods.
Posted 12/21/2012 6:39 PM (GMT 0)
You need to schedule an appointment with your doctor and get scoped. Hopefully it is something that can be easily resolved, but you need to rule out all the scary stuff first. Please do not delay doing it. No reason to be embarrased. Good Luck.
Posted 12/21/2012 10:13 PM (GMT 0)
Whattheheck,

Welcome to the forum.

It's good you found us.

I understand your feeling a little embarassed by talking about all this "private" stuff like bowel movements in all its details... but it's important for you to share it with us so we can help direct you, and more importantly it will be crucial to disclose it all to your doc. Don't worry about us, we've heard and seen it all here before...

Yes, you've gotten some great advice here. Go get yourself checked out with a GI.

You'll probably need a colonoscopy for diagnostic purposes.

Interesting comment by wavey on the cholesterol ... there are alot of myths out there about it.

Dr. Oz had an interesting show (repeat) on it this past week - google the name Dr. Sinatra on his the Dr. Oz show website - really fascinating stuff. Dr.Oz looked like his head was going to explode from the info, haha.

Anyway, back to your digestive distress issues - you may want to start a few things: food journal to identify any problematic foods, you could pre-emptively research a few things, like probiotics, slippery elm powder, and l-glutamine.

If you are interested,  there are things IMO that you can control, which will have a direct impact on your disease, the symptoms you experience and their severity.

I was able to control my UC into remission through various supplements, probiotics, diet modification, and LDN , low dose naltrexone.

 

For more info on the protocol which has put me into remission, please go to this link: https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=1666318 , and look at the 11th post.

 

Let us know when you have an appt. with your GI.

I hope you feel better and let us know how we can help you.

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