Blood in Stools

I am a 47 year old female with diagnosed Diverticulitus, (hospital 4 times) and have also had 2 colonoscopies with nothing to report.
In the past few days I have had abnormal Bright Red Blood in my bowl movements. I'm tired of going to the Gasto Dr. for this, spending money and they just send me home.
I also live overseas at the time but do have good access to American Medical care.
What are my options as to what this could be, and do I "still" need to see a Dr.?
Thanks
K

[patient915]

Welcome to the gastroenterology community!  My recommendation would be to see a doctor again.  There isn't really anything you can do at home for this problem unless you are having another problem like constipation.

[mammo]

For people under 50 with diverticulitis they now take more aggressive measures.  You need to have a cat scan because a colonoscopy could perforate your colon.  They should be able to tell you how bad your diverticulitis is and if you need to take a more preventive measure. With this condition eventually your bowel will perforate spilling the contents into your abdomen causing peritonitis.  This is a very serious medical emergency, with a long recovery time, and having a colostomy for 6 months due to resectioning the colon.  If you have a resection while not having an attack, you can have the key hole surgery and a quick recovery.  I would at the very least seek a second opinion regarding this, and address the bleeding.  Bright red blood can be anything from hemorrhoids to a lower GI bleed and you need to know the cause.  Take care.

[Morecambe]

Some years ago I suffered torrential diverticular bleeding which was eventually treated via a total colectomy.  It was impossible for the doctor to locate the exact site(s) of the bleeding and treat them invididually via cauterisation or similar.  I felt that if this surgery was avoided then my life might be in danger if the torrential bleeding re-occurred and I was quite far from a hospital.

I think you should ask a G.I. specialist whether your own condition is severe enough to justify (or not) this treatment.

regards
Morecambe