Variety of symptoms for several years

[Lyn-De]

  I'm a 17 yr old white female, a I had a lipoma on my back removed when I was 10 years old.  Since even before that, I have had blood coating my stools, or by itself in a mucus-covered form.  It is generally bright red.  Other symptoms I have noticed over the years are a bit stranger. They include: severe abdominal cramping a few times a month and vomitting or just nauseau for a whole day if I stay up late (past 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, when I normally go to bed around 11:00pm and wake up around 9:00am). I've never had a sigmoidoscopy because the idea has always scared me, but my symptoms are not going away. After researching in the medhelp files, I though that polyps in my intestines seemed the most likely because it said that a type of benign polyp is a lipoma.  I remember my doctor telling me (after having my first one removed) that lipomas could reoccur anywhere on my body at any time.  What I need to know is what kind of doctor to see, and whether or not you think it likely that I have polyps (or diverticulosis) being so young and all. Thank you for your help.
Dear Lynn Dee,
Although lipomas are commonly found in the colon (large intestine) they are rarely, if ever responsible for rectal bleeding. Furthermore, they are more commonly located on the right side of the colon and the bright red bleeding that you are describing generally implies a rectal or left colon source of bleeding. As you mentioned, polyps and diverticulosis are usually more commonly found in elderly patients. However, juvenile polyps can be found in young patients and rarely adenomatous (benign but precancerous if not removed) polyps and colorectal cancer (extremely rare) have been seen in young patients. Rectal bleeding in younger patients is more commonly caused by inflammatory bowel disease (colitis), infectious colitis, hemorrhoids or anal fissures. Since your symptoms have been persistent and chronic I would recommend that you have an evaluation by a gastroenterologist to try and determine a cause for your bleeding. This may mean having a sigmoidoscopy or a colonoscopy. Good luck to you.
This response is being provided for general informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice or consultation. Always check with your personal physician when you have a question pertaining to your health.
If you would like to be seen at our institution please call 1-800-653-6568 our Referring Physicians' Office and make an appointment to see Dr. Muszkat, one of our experts in Gastroenterology.
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*Keywords: lipoma, rectal bleeding, causes, evaluation