Bloody stools

[countrygrljm]

I am a 36 yr old female who has had lots of problems with bloody mucus in my BMs. Problems started last October (2006). I had some diarrhea, but it wasn't constant, and cleared up quickly. My stools were normal in consistency, but yet I had the bloody mucus in the stools. I had some abdominal pain, mostly between my rib cage. I ended up having a colonoscopy and it was determined at that time that I had C.Diff and the colitis caused by the infection was located in the transverse (?) area. (Which explains the pain I was having between the ribs??) I was put on meds and the problem seemed to go away. All was well until mid-July of this year. I got up one morning to have what I thought would be a normal BM, only to discover bloody mucus in my stool again! It was a total shock as I had felt fine. I called my dr. right away and was told to get tested for the C.Diff again... I was told that it can be hard to get rid of. I took 3 stool samples in and all three came back negative. Then, for some reason, my dr. told me to have my thyroid tested! (I really didn't understand what my thyroid had to do with my bloody stools!) Well, that came back normal. I finally consulted a GI Specialist and recently had another colonoscopy. This time two small polyps were found and removed, but was told they were non-cancerous. However, I did have small spots of inflammation all throughout my large intestine. My problem is, I continue to have lots of blood in my stools and abdominal pains... and have taken in many stool specimens, but still NO answers! If I do not have cancer, then what else could it be? (I do not suffer from diarrhea, fever, loss of appetite, weight loss, and I am not ever extremely tired.) I am currently being tested for parasites, but do not have those results yet.  

[lizziecee]

Crohn's and Ulcerative colitis can be the cause of inflammation throughout the large intestine, UC probably the culprit, as it only affects the large bowel, whereas Crohn's usually starts in the small intestine, but can affect the whole digestive tract from mouth to anus. It is diagnosed by colonoscopy and biopsy of some of the intestinal tissue.  Crohn's inflammation tends to "skip" along the mucosal lining whereas UC affects the whole large intestine. Guess it is time for you to seek out a gastro who is familiar with inflammatory bowel diseases for a proper diagnosis. Both can be controlled by medication.Do you have your GI's report on the recent colonoscopy? This may help in determining what he atually saw. Diverticulitis can also cause inflammation in the large intestine.
Just clutching at straws here, but these are the only diseases that come to mind at present.
Liz.