Too much blood - possible wrong diagnosis?

[cz2424]

For the past few years it seems I have had blood in my stool.  I am a 31 year old woman and had 2 colonoscopies in 10 years.  The first time I found out that I had interstitial cystitus and was cured with the bladder instillation.  That was several years ago.  My mother has passed away 15 years ago and had severe ulcerative collitis but I think I have been told that it is not something that is passed on. I also have a lot of stress at work and wonder if this is part of it.  About a year ago, I was experiencing a lot of blood in my stool and this caused some concern.  While I never have painful stools, I do think I have a lot of diarrhea and adnormal patterns and I have a normal diet.  I had gone to see a specialist and had a colonoscopy and he blew it off and said I had internal hemmoroids (hemorrhoids) and no worries.  Well, lately things (in my opinion) have gotten quite worse.  I don't just have smears of blood on toilet paper - I have a lot of it.  Bright red, dark red, clots of blood at times and a ton of mucus all of the time.  Sometimes, I don't even have any stool - it is all blood and mucus.  Tonight was scary and I even considered going to the hospital - my stomach is super bloated and there is a lot of blood...Am I overreacting?  Or, do you think I may have been misdiagnosed?  I just think there is too much blood for this to be "normal".  It is there every single day - some days worse than others.  But today was bad enough for me to ask.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Kevin Pho, MD]

With several colonoscopies in the past, more serious causes like colon cancer or polyps have been appropriate evaluated for.  A colonoscopy would also have evaluated for ulcerative colitis and diverticulosis which can lead to a significant amount of bleeding.

It is possible that the internal hemorrhoids themselves can lead to the symptoms.  If that is the case, you may want to be referred to a surgeon for possible removal or band ligation.

This option can 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.
http://www.straightfromthedoc.com

[Inanga]

i'd say the blood part is very consistent with internal haemaroids - the brightness of the blood indicates it's coming from lower down - blood from further up gets turned black. I had the same thing after a bout of constipation - the hard large stool damaged the haemaroid. you can help them heal by making sure the stools are soft - eat fibre and water and maybe fruit like kiwi, or take a stool softening medicine. Mine healed up and haven't been a problem for a year (must be only minor ones). Sounds like yours are serious enough to get treated one and for all.

on the mucous and bloating side - this sounds like a separate issue - have you considered food sensitivities? I had the bloating and diarhea (diarrhea)/constipation cycle and it turned out to be a gluten sensitivity for me. Have been great since avoiding that. I also get bloating from bananas and tomotoes - I'm also allergic to some pollens - apparently there is a link becuase the proteins in these have a similar structure. I'd look into sensitivites with a dietician - beware blood tests for allergies - they are not totally reliable and only test for specific types of reaction. I only tested +ve to a pollen but the rest defintely gave me problems. good luck.

[renee1981]

I just wanted to let you know what has been going on with me that way maybe you could go and tell your doctor that something is up.  Hopefully this time they will help you.  I have been having abdominal pains for about 5 years and trust me, I have seen so many doctors.  I ended up having a hysterectomy for the same pains that I am having this same day.  Since the surgery, I have been told that I have IBS and if you notice, that is a doctors easy way out if they do not know what is going on.  Anyways, after being told that I had IBS my pains started getting worse and I started having blood in my stools.  What really got me was when I would go to the bathroom, my stools were mucous looking and I know that it is not normal.  For a whole week, my stools were mucous and then finally there was nothing but blood and mucous.  That same day that I had blood and mucous, I was running a fever of 103 degrees.  I ended up getting admitted to the hospital for a week.  As of now, I was diagnosed with Colitis but they are not sure if it is either Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn's Disease.  I am still in the process of finding out what is wrong.  I am sorry that you are going thru this but there are a lot of us going through it too.  I hope that the doctors can help us all with our pain and problems.  I am 24 and I hate going in and out of the doctors office.  Good luck with everything and hopefully they will find out what is wrong!!!