Lots of blood despite fixing iron levels

Before six months I noticed a considerable increase of my hemorrhage in just two or three days. In the beginning, I blamed my low iron levels. I also felt a bit better after my first iron infusion. However, even though I managed to get my iron levels at 103 μg/dl and most of my CBC values inside the normal range, blood is still present and hasn't changed much.

I also had a colonoscopy, that showed an active left-sided colitis but not anything strange.

What might be the reason behind it?

steven65msp said...
Colitis --> bleeding --> low iron and low blood count numbers.

Are you taking any medications specifically to treat the colitis? I don't think an iron supplement will do anything to directly treat the inflammation in your colon.

An enema type medication like Rowasa (mesalamine) or Cortenema (hydrocortisone) would be a good starting medication for left-sided colitis.

Cortifoam (hydrocortisone foam), Canasa (mesalamine suppository), or Anucort suppositories (hydrocortisone) may also be good choices if the inflammation is not too far up the left side - mainly in the rectum.

Currently I'm taking only supplements. From the prescription drugs I've taken mesalamine, azathioprine and remicade. Oral mesalamine doesn't help at all any more.

I've only tried mesalamine enemas. They seem to make me worse, although to be honest, I've always neglected taking them.

But the thing to notice here is that this condition started before six months. I used to have a lot of blood in the past but it was along with a watery diarrhea. Now I have it even when I have solid, hard stools.

I have mostly solid stools now. I have inflammation in my rectum and sigmoid colon and it's common for me to see blood with the solid stools also. If the ascending colon (right side) and transverse colon are healthy, that can be enough to remove the water from your stool and form solid stools. Then there can be bleeding on the left side that gets coated onto the solid stools.

My doctor told me that oral mesalamine may not be effective for people with solid stools. The theory is that if the mesalamine is evenly distributed throughout the stool, then most of it is trapped inside the pieces of stool and only a small amount is on the surface of the stool that can contact the mucous lining of the left colon.

Did the azathioprine and Remicade help? Why did you stop taking those?

steven65msp said...

My doctor told me that oral mesalamine may not be effective for people with solid stools. The theory is that if the mesalamine is evenly distributed throughout the stool, then most of it is trapped inside the pieces of stool and only a small amount is on the surface of the stool that can contact the mucous lining of the left colon.

It used to work perfectly for the first 1,5 year. I reverted back to diarrhea after it stopped working

steven65msp said...
Did the azathioprine and Remicade help? Why did you stop taking those?

Only remicade helped me a bit, but I stopped it for a variety of reasons.

I managed to get some solid stools from a combination of curcumin, l-glutamine and smoking. I wasn't fully in remission but I was feeling better. After the blood increase, I usually have a combination of a little bit diarrhea mixed with blood and solid stools cut into small pieces. The less the blood is the more solid stools I have.

fruitgirl said...
I agree that getting your iron level up isn't going to stop the bleeding -- it'll just help replenish the iron you're losing because of the bleeding.

Actually my doctor told me that low iron levels can contribute to the decrease of the hematocrit, which can increase the blood I'm seeing.