[Lawstudent27]

Hello everyone,

I am new to this website and would appreciate any advice you have. I have suffered from IBS-C for over a year now, with Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth and Gastric Reflux. A few days ago, I went to the emergency room because I had severe abdominal pain and black stool- which turned out to have digested blood. My cat scan came back totally fine and my blood tests were all fine except for a higher white blood cell count. There was blood in my urine and I'm still waiting to hear back from the tests, but I'm suspecting a UTI. Does anyone have any idea what was causing the blood in my stool? I did also have hemorrhoids, but wouldn't that blood have been red and not digested? I have also have had a colonoscopy and endoscopy, and everything keeps coming back fine except my stomach showed up as red and irritated. I do not have Chrone's or celiac disease. I'm at a lost for what to try or get tested next. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I am going to into my second year of law school and this condition is greatly affecting my education. Thank you so much.

-Lawstudent27

 

[flossy]

Hi Lawstudent27 -

Sorry to hear about all your intestinal woes. I don't know for certain what is causing blood in your stool, but it does sound like it could be from your hemorrhoids.

Click on my link below for more info on IBS-C:

https://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/topic/325690-the-abcs-of-chronic-constipation-aka-ibs-c/

Good luck & keep us posted!

 

[annie7]

so sorry about your problems.

i have blood in my urine from time to time. sometimes it's due to a UTI but i also have interstitial cystitis.

i had dark, maroon colored blood in my stool for almost a year and i still get it from time to time. i had an upper endoscopy and a few other tests (no colonscopy because i no longer have a colon) but the tests showed nothing wrong. my gastro doc told me that there are areas of the small intestine that an upper endoscopy doesn't reach. so idk...

if your stomach is red and irritated, could the blood be coming from that? what did your doc say about this. and yes, you're right--hemorrhoid blood is bright red.

as far as further testing--you could ask your doc about that if you haven't already done so or you could see another gastro doc to get a second opinion. i believe there is another test to further examine the small intestine--that part that the upper endoscopy doesn't cover--that's what my gastro doc told me but i didn't go for it--by then i'd had it with tests...

good luck with everything.

 

[flossy]

P.S. You might want to try aloe gels to help soothe your stomach too.

 

[Ermine]

I'm surprised they didn't discuss this with you during their findings. It would be hard to pick up on melena vessels in most scans. Did they say it was inconclusive? I hear a lot of people coming back with these tests with it labeled "inconclusive" because they can't specifically find what they are looking for which doesn't mean nothing is there. If you have a form of resistant bacterial growth in your GI tract, it could cause micro-tears along your bowels. Parasites could cause some bleeding (not all parasites are bad btw). Of course there are things like pepto bismol (sulfur) or sometimes taking things like asprin (can cause bleeding) which can cause the stool to turn black. Staying away from fungal promoting foods like fructose corn syrup might be a good idea too. Sometimes polyps can bleed. I've had a couple of polyps removed during my sigmoidoscopy which the doctor said they looked like they were "bleeders" and he asked me if I had blood in my stool in the past.

Yeah, you'd want to keep an eye on it if it continues and it isn't under control because that could lead to other problems down the road.

I used to have bleeding when I was stressed like right before a test because my bowels wouldn't work right but that was bright red from small internal hemorrhoids not dark like what you are describing.

 

[Lawstudent27]

Hello everyone,

Thank you so much for the support and responses. It really helps to not feel alone. To give an update, my urine culture test came back as negative, which is confusing because there was definitely blood in my urine sample and my doctor also said I had a high white blood cell count, so I thought the test was going to reveal that I have a UTI or some other kind of infection. So frustrating!

Erin

 

[Lawstudent27]

Hi Lawstudent27 -

Sorry to hear about all your intestinal woes. I don't know for certain what is causing blood in your stool, but it does sound like it could be from your hemorrhoids.

Click on my link below for more info on IBS-C:

https://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/topic/325690-the-abcs-of-chronic-constipation-aka-ibs-c/

Good luck & keep us posted!

Hi Flossy,

Thank you so much for your advice, I will definitely check that link out and try the aloe pills. I really appreciate it!

Erin

 

[Lawstudent27]

so sorry about your problems.

i have blood in my urine from time to time. sometimes it's due to a UTI but i also have interstitial cystitis.

i had dark, maroon colored blood in my stool for almost a year and i still get it from time to time. i had an upper endoscopy and a few other tests (no colonscopy because i no longer have a colon) but the tests showed nothing wrong. my gastro doc told me that there are areas of the small intestine that an upper endoscopy doesn't reach. so idk...

if your stomach is red and irritated, could the blood be coming from that? what did your doc say about this. and yes, you're right--hemorrhoid blood is bright red.

as far as further testing--you could ask your doc about that if you haven't already done so or you could see another gastro doc to get a second opinion. i believe there is another test to further examine the small intestine--that part that the upper endoscopy doesn't cover--that's what my gastro doc told me but i didn't go for it--by then i'd had it with tests...

good luck with everything.

Hi annie7,

Thank you so much for responding to my post, I really appreciate your help! I'm also sorry to hear about your health issues, I hope you are finding ways to manage them like I am trying to do. I will definitely look to see if there's a test that can further exam the small intestine. My doctor did not say anything about the blood coming from my stomach- but the cat scan did show that there was no active bleed which was frustrating.

Good luck with everything too!

-Erin

 

[Lawstudent27]

I'm surprised they didn't discuss this with you during their findings. It would be hard to pick up on melena vessels in most scans. Did they say it was inconclusive? I hear a lot of people coming back with these tests with it labeled "inconclusive" because they can't specifically find what they are looking for which doesn't mean nothing is there. If you have a form of resistant bacterial growth in your GI tract, it could cause micro-tears along your bowels. Parasites could cause some bleeding (not all parasites are bad btw). Of course there are things like pepto bismol (sulfur) or sometimes taking things like asprin (can cause bleeding) which can cause the stool to turn black. Staying away from fungal promoting foods like fructose corn syrup might be a good idea too. Sometimes polyps can bleed. I've had a couple of polyps removed during my sigmoidoscopy which the doctor said they looked like they were "bleeders" and he asked me if I had blood in my stool in the past.

Yeah, you'd want to keep an eye on it if it continues and it isn't under control because that could lead to other problems down the road.

I used to have bleeding when I was stressed like right before a test because my bowels wouldn't work right but that was bright red from small internal hemorrhoids not dark like what you are describing.

Hi Ermine,

Thank you so much for your thoughts, I really appreciate it. They didn't use the word inconclusive, they said my urine test was negative and my blood tests and cat scan was all fine. I recently had a colonoscopy/endoscopy which showed no polyps, but I do have a history of polyps in my family. I do have an infection in my small intestine- small intestinal bacterial overgrowth- so I wonder if that could be the cause. Also, I wonder if it was just severe constipation that caused the bleeding.

I'm sorry you had bleeding before tests, that sounds terrible! It's definitely also been difficult for me to take exams with my IBS, always need a seat in the back so I can run to the bathroom if needed lol.

Thank you again for your thoughts!

Erin

 

[Ermine]

Thanks for the update and replying back. A raised white cell count could be a virus or inflammation or infection. Sometimes if they can't really tell and you are continuing with pain and bleeding they might try to give you a wide spectrum antibiotic anyway without finding out what it is, but that doesn't mean it will help necessarily, so all I can say is that you might have to wait it out until symptoms get better or worse. Viruses are normally fast and fleeting if you have a decent immune system to fight it off. Something is considered chronic if it lasts longer than 3 months. Keeping that in mind might help you to get a bearing on how to gage the seriousness of your condition. Relaxing, keeping up with healthy routines or just treat yourself like you are sick and do what you normally do to get better is probably your best bet for right now.

Telling teachers ahead of time that I had a dodgy tummy sometimes helped keep them from questioning why I left the class unexpectedly. This is why I love online classes these days!

 

[Lawstudent27]

Thanks for the update and replying back. A raised white cell count could be a virus or inflammation or infection. Sometimes if they can't really tell and you are continuing with pain and bleeding they might try to give you a wide spectrum antibiotic anyway without finding out what it is, but that doesn't mean it will help necessarily, so all I can say is that you might have to wait it out until symptoms get better or worse. Viruses are normally fast and fleeting if you have a decent immune system to fight it off. Something is considered chronic if it lasts longer than 3 months. Keeping that in mind might help you to get a bearing on how to gage the seriousness of your condition. Relaxing, keeping up with healthy routines or just treat yourself like you are sick and do what you normally do to get better is probably your best bet for right now.

Telling teachers ahead of time that I had a dodgy tummy sometimes helped keep them from questioning why I left the class unexpectedly. This is why I love online classes these days!

Hi Ermine,

Thanks for your response! It's taken about a week, but I am starting to feel better (still constipated though lol that never goes away). I'm giving another urine culture test in two weeks. Wow, I wish I could take online classes! I had a teacher yell at me in her office my first semester for leaving the classroom to "wander the halls" every day

my other professors have been more understanding though thankfully. Thanks again!

-Erin

 

[Ermine]

Hi Ermine,

Thanks for your response! It's taken about a week, but I am starting to feel better (still constipated though lol that never goes away). I'm giving another urine culture test in two weeks. Wow, I wish I could take online classes! I had a teacher yell at me in her office my first semester for leaving the classroom to "wander the halls" every day

my other professors have been more understanding though thankfully. Thanks again!

-Erin

There seems to be always one that doesn't understand or treats it like a way to make excuses. That's too bad having to deal with the stress of what people think and what you are feeling at the same time. I'm finding flaxseed tea is of big help. I have the whole seeds in the bottom of the cup with boiling water poured on top to steep (best not to microwave) then just drink the gel at the top when going through an attack/flare-up then as things settle I'll actually start swallowing the seeds whole days later. I find there is one diet for flare ups which is different for the diet for maintenance. During flare ups I have very bland foods and sip aloe and sometimes barely eat at all. When I feel better I gradually get back to eating a balanced diet with things like cooked bok choy, brown rice and still being very careful to avoid foods that can start it up again. I avoid (especially in the beginning) beans, chocolate, caffeine of all sorts, wheat/gluten, corn syrup, dairy. I love chocolate and dairy, so it saddens me to have to give them up. There are times I take it for granted because I'm doing so well and I'll have dark chocolate and then everything seems fine then have icecream and chocolate then later I'll have decaf coffee, next I'll have regular tea before I know it as time goes by BOOM I have another attack because it is tiring being so careful all the time.

 

[Lawstudent27]

There seems to be always one that doesn't understand or treats it like a way to make excuses. That's too bad having to deal with the stress of what people think and what you are feeling at the same time. I'm finding flaxseed tea is of big help. I have the whole seeds in the bottom of the cup with boiling water poured on top to steep (best not to microwave) then just drink the gel at the top when going through an attack/flare-up then as things settle I'll actually start swallowing the seeds whole days later. I find there is one diet for flare ups which is different for the diet for maintenance. During flare ups I have very bland foods and sip aloe and sometimes barely eat at all. When I feel better I gradually get back to eating a balanced diet with things like cooked bok choy, brown rice and still being very careful to avoid foods that can start it up again. I avoid (especially in the beginning) beans, chocolate, caffeine of all sorts, wheat/gluten, corn syrup, dairy. I love chocolate and dairy, so it saddens me to have to give them up. There are times I take it for granted because I'm doing so well and I'll have dark chocolate and then everything seems fine then have icecream and chocolate then later I'll have decaf coffee, next I'll have regular tea before I know it as time goes by BOOM I have another attack because it is tiring being so careful all the time.

Hi Ermine,

Thanks again for your response! I want to give you an update that my OBGYN found I have a yeast infection today (it took the emergency room, my GI, my primary, and my OBGYN to finally find it, can you believe it?!) It's disappointing that my doctors are so used to me being in pain that they don't look further into it. I'll definitely try the flaxseed tea, thanks for the idea! I love chocolate, dairy, and coffee too, it is so sad to give them up.

-Erin