Pneumonia -> Rectal Bleeing

[bengerv]

Ok, I had pneumonia and took a z-pack, then the pneumonia came back some so I took another z-pack. After each z-pack, my stomach got all messed up. I had diahrrea and gas a lot. After the 2nd z-pack, for nearly 1 month, I have had a lot of diahrrea and my hemmerhoids have acted up. I've had hemmerhoids since my 20's. I'm 34. There has always been small traces of blood on the toilet paper when they act up. Well, I had a complete blood workup for the diahrrea and a stool test that all turned out fine except for the leukocytes were down in the bloodwork. Now, I have been slowly getting better and my diahrrea has gone from mush to fragments of stool.I go a lot to the bathroom maybe 6 times a day for small, fragmented bowel movements.

The reason I'm writing is that a couple days ago, I had one of my frequent movements which was a lot of gas and small fragments of stool, though a moderate amount. The problem was that when I wiped, I noticed I was bleeding out my rectum. It bleed like a bloody nose and lasted under a minute. This has NEVER happened before and hasn't since, though my hemmerhoids still act up as usual (external hemmerhoids, minor). I was extremely scared because I had that much blood in the toilet that one time. Is it a sign of something horrible or is it that I just busted a big hemmerhoid after going to the bathroom for the 6th time that day. The blood was bright red and clearly came from not far up the rectum. What do you think? I'm getting a bit nervous. I hate going to the doc's.

My bowel movements have been normal since it only happened once but they are still fragmented and I attribute that to diahrrea... Am I in need of hemmerhoid therapy or am I in trouble?

Thanks!

[bengerv]

Well, now I still have diarrhea sometimes, but mostly just light brown stool that is in small pieces (not pencil-like, but just small pieces) with the occasional dark brown coating on some of it. Lots of gas. Pain in the lower left part of my stomach comes and goes and fees like gas. Being tested w/ stool culture for c-diff and bacterias. This all happened after taking antibiotics. But I'm sick of the gas and diarrhea and frequent bowel movements. Even if they are the right color... Does this sound like a bacteria infection?

[Kevin Pho, MD]

Diarrhea can be a side effect of the antibiotics, or due to antibiotic-related colitis (i.e. C Difficile).

Testing the stool for bacteria and C Difficile can be done.  If bleeding is present, an endoscopy should be considered to look for other causes of the bleeding.  A flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy should be discussed.

This option should be discussed with your personal physician.

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin, M.D.
kevinmd_