Bloody diarrhea after running

[debbiemc2000]

Hi,
This question is a follow-up to another I read on this forum.  I have been a runner all of my life, but had to slow down due to my 2 pregnancies.  After I had my first baby, I got back into running and was doing great.  Then I was running a 10K, and 1/2 way through I had severe stomach cramps and had to find a restroom.  I had bloody diarrhea which really scared me.  I walked the rest of the race...had a bit more blood in my stools and then back to normal.  Not long after that I got pregnant with my 2nd child and stopped running again (never had bloody stools after that one day).  Now it has been 7 months after giving birth and I began to run again.  I've been training for a 5K and running pretty hard.  After about a week of training I started getting bad stomach cramps and the bloody diarrhea came back.  The diarrhea is bring red in color and after I go, the next time I have a bowel movement it is still a little red (but more firm), and then back to normal.  The stools are normal again until I run really hard.  My doctor doesn't know what it is and has referred me to a GI specialist.  My doctor checked me for hemorrhoids (both internal and external) and she said that wasn't it.  She also checked me for an anal fissure...that was a negative also.  Has anyone else had this problem?  Does this sound like bowel cancer?  


This discussion is related to Blood in Stool - After Running?.

[Kitty_Sue]

I am 45, female and have the same problem, only mine is nearly every time I run now, feel sort of sick the rest of the day, stool is loose and bloody.  There is one exception that I have noticed:  on a couple of runs, I not only had no bleeding, but didn't have a bowel movement the rest of the day, suggesting to me that I only bleed if there is stool in the lower colon aggravating it.  On my long run this week, I am going to give myself a small enema to completely empty the lower colon to see if that makes a difference.  I sure appreciate everyone's comments--very helpful and encouraging!

[debbiemc2000]

Hi again,
I just wanted to give everyone an update on my situation.  There are a couple of things I have learned that I need to do in order to continue to run.  1.  Drink a lot of liquids.  I have never really been one to drink enough liquids, and I don't like to very much before I run because after having 2 kids it's a little hard to hold it in...but it is completely necessary.  I end up running with a pad, but the hydration does help.  Apparently, when you are well hydrated it makes your blood thinner and therefore it has an easier time going to the bowel and not causing the "restriction of blood flow" as much.  2.  Training and progressing very slowly.  Again, I am one to just get up and go.  Sometimes I don't train for a couple of weeks and then take off and run a 5K.  I'm pretty impatient when it comes to slowly getting into running, but this condition has forced me to be.  I start off very slow and for short distances and then progressively speed it up and run longer.  I'd love to hear if anyone has discovered anything else.  Thanks for all the posts!  It's such a relief to know I'm not the only one with this problem.

[bursonmez]

I have just come from emergency room in which I've spent 2 hrs for the initial tests of acute onset "bloddy diarrhea". It was a weird feeling in the morning since I felt like as if I would have my menses- I mean the floating sensation. But I knew that I had 2 more weeks ahead for my menses. During the day I felt as if I would have diarrhea and in the afternoon there it came! And worse than a diarrhea was the bloody diarrhea. With a panic I went to the hospital and had my initial tests done. Everything (hemogram, stool exam, urinanalysis, CRP etc), came up normal. I will have to go on with further tests- at least to get relieved. But so far no proof! By the way, I am 38 yo, with two sons of 4& 6 years old. I run at a pace of 8 mph for 20 min.s 3 times/week. I am not sure if I can call myself a runner, but I run. I hope I am also having such an innocent diagnosis as yours :) As a doctor myself, I will also discuss this issue with my doctor. I will share if I learn something. Greetings to all from Istanbul.

[lesae]

I've had all the same symptoms: (out of nowhere) 2 years ago after kids turned 4 and 6 I (at 46) started having maroon stools (not quite diarrhea) after running.  Happens more around my period, but not exclusively.  Had a Sigmoidoscopy (don't recommend that) which came back just fine.  

It only goes away when I stop running, but I don't want to stop.  I'm afraid we all sound like exercise bullemics.  Has anyone found an answer?

[elizabeth604]

I'm a mother of an 11 year old runner.  She is part of cross country and cheerleading at her school.  In Sept.  she started to have brownish blood after running.  We went to her primary care and she did some tests and found that the blood was coming from her stools.  The doctor  thinks that it is a fissure so we tried Miralax to soften stool so it could heal.  She was on it 3 months straight and seemed to be better.  I slowly took her off the Miralalx and found that she started the bleeding again.  Back to the doctor we go!

[GinaB12]

I am very relieved to find this forum. I have had blood in my stools while running long or hard speed work for almost 5 years. I am an endurance runner who has 3 children, the youngest is 3 months. The loose stools with blood is almost a guarantee with my hard runs. I usually can't wait until its over and often have them once or twice in the middle of my runs. I also have the fatigue that others have mentioned and will have to rest during my runs. The blood in stool only happens for me during hard or long runs and it never lasts into the next day, only directly related to the running. Not running is not an option.I had a colonoscopy 2 years ago because of this issue and it was normal as well. I am going to make another Drs appointment but find it very interesting that there is so many of us that have this and no one has received a diagnosis of any kind.