Chronic Diarrhea/Gi Bleeding?

[Spellbound]

I am a 22 year old female with no history of disease in my family.

I have had chronic diarrhea for the past 5-6 months.  Upon seeing my GP, I was prescribed Ciprofloxacin since it was thought that my symptoms corresponded with recent travel.  After the treatment nothing changed.  One week later, I experienced some serious lower GI bleeding - The blood was bright red, on the toilet paper, in the bowl, everywhere.  It required several wipings to get rid of it.  I did experience a cramping pain afterwards, similar to that caused by PMS.

Since this event one month ago, I have had no further GI bleeding, though the diarrhea continues.  It is accompanied by considerable mucous, and I feel constantly the need to have a bowel movement.  Additionally, the evacuation never feels complete.  I have tested myself for fever several times recently, but it is always a subtle, low-grade fever, hardly worth mentioning.

After my episode of bleeding I had a rectal exam.  It was unremarkable.  I had blood tests that showed a very low RBC (no surprise, since I saw all the blood I lost!) but no inflammation. Stool tests were normal and showed no leukocytes.

I have an appointment with a gastroenterologist coming up next week.  In the meantime, does anyone have an opinion on my symptoms?  I personally don't think this sounds at all like IBS, and I'm paranoid that my gastroenterologist will find no sign of bleeding since it was a month ago, and I will possibly go untreated.  

Any insight on what this can be is appreciated.

[HMR]

I have experienced similar symptoms over the past 2 weeks (chronic loose stool and a lot of moucus).  I also had a nasty virus a week ago and foot surgery the week before that.  I was on antibiotics for my surgery and again for the virus (they didn't know for sure it was a virus.)  I can't remember the original antibiotic, but the second one was cipro.  I started having the stool-symptoms right before the virus hit.  The cipro seemed to start to make those symptoms go away, but not totally.  (The virus lasted only 24 hours.)  The stool problems came back.  My doctor has diagnosed me with either an intestinal bacterial infection or a reaction to the original antibiotics.  (I think it's called SED or something similar to that.)  Either way, the treatment is yet another antibiotic, flagyl.  However, it seems to be working already, thankfully.  The way to test for either of these is a stool sample.  I am also red and very painfully irritated around my anus from the consistent bathroom visits and wiping.  I recommend using very gentle (with no alcohol) baby wipes and a water based lubricant to make the bathroom visits easier.  I am feeling much better now!

[dinergirl]

a few months back i had the same symptoms.....i was diagnosed with colitis....u should have a colonoscopy to be sure...see a good dr...so many times colitis is misdiagnosed...i had diarrea, blood(bright red) and mucus. watch what u eat....sometimes dairy products..raw veggies..anything with seeds ie: hard rolls ...cucumbers,tomatoes,nuts,corn,i know now tht i cant eat corn especially...so thats one thing i stay away from..could be crohns too...just be sure to see a dr asap..you dont usually get mucus with just ibd..so be well honey...let me know what happens..take care

[RTFLY]

It sounds like it could be IBS except for the fact that you had bleeding. There is no bleeding with IBS. Did you have hemmorhoids? The blood being bright red says that it is coming from somewhere very close to the rectum. The cramping can come from IBS or IBD. I can only say wait and see what happens at the Gastro docs office. I think you need a colonoscopy or at LEAST a flexible sigmoidoscopy. The difference is that, on colonoscopy they look at your entire large bowel. You are under sedation for this procedure. For the flexible sig, they just look at the lower portion of your rectum/sigmoid. This usually requires no sedation. It can be a little uncomfortable but for the most part tolerable. This will show, if there is any, the inflammed areas. They can also take biopsies to see if there is some mild inflammation in the tissue. Also, they may want more stool samples to look for any underlying infection. Cipro is a good drug but you may need a longer course of antibiotics or a different one all together. I suffered with IBD for 3 1/2 years and had a wonderful physician. As a medical professional myself, my doc and I had a great relationship and he made sure I was up to date on all the latest studies and meds being used so I am very familiar with what the symptoms can look like (as well as a trip to The Cleveland Clinic)  Feel free to e-mail me at "***@****" I hope all yurns out well for you!
                                             J.C.I.

[Spellbound]

I forgot to mention that I've had no weight loss whatsoever.