blood in stool

In my 5 month of treament.  Besides being exhausted all the time and having headaches, recently I've noticed small amounts of blood in my stools (sounds bad but no other way to say it) Is this normal. My appetite isn't very good, but I eat anyway hoping to keep the weight I have (total weight loss 30 pounds) Hate to bring it up to Dr., don't want him to stop my treatments.  I'm on 180mg pegasys weekly and 2 -200mg ribavirin, 1 200 milk thistle and 1 400 vitamin B12 daily. Any help or advice I need. Thanks. I don't post often or ask questions, but this site has been a lifesaver so far.  It lets me know that I'm not alone in my fight.

[tulsatime]

I am sorry this must be scary for you. OK here is the deal. If the blood is red and looks fresh. Than it is nothing to worry about. maybe hemroids. If the blood is entangled in the stool and is a dark maroon red. then that is the time to worry. I know this because I have had this happen to me in the past. The other thing is: do you have cirrhosis. If so then you do need to tell the doctor because that is a sign that there could be trouble. How are your platelets? When my dropped I had blood in the stool. Hope this helps. But if it continues you do need to tell the Dr!! Talk to you later, Debi

[dj4]

thanks for the quick response.  My platelets were lower this week than ever.  As of last Friday, platelet count 91, down from 97. They've been going between 97 to 114.

[LvdByGod]

any time you see blood there it could be serious...especially if you have alot of liver damage... a person can get internal bleeding from the esophagus from "varises",(caused by portal hyper tention) and that can be life threatening so i would get my butt to the drs asap and get it checked out to be sure it is something non threatening.

blood in the stool isn't a normal side from the treatment either (that i've heard of) so i would'nt worry about being takin off because of it.

just my thoughts,
sandi  

here's something on it, not that you have it, but in case your interested;
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000268.htm

[mycoldfeet]

You had everything right except the varises isn't esophogeal varises, that appeares in the throat, and is a bright red, intestinal varises appear darker, and causes lower g.i. bleed, but your absolutely right about life threatning, that is a 911 because what may be a little now, can at anytime rupture. Get to Doc, been a paramedic 21 yrs, don't put it off.

[donAlfonso]

Having had 2 esophageal bleeds, I can assure you that the blood in your stool can be black.  Any blood, no matter the color, is worth mentioning to your doc, ASAP! Hemorrhoids can be a symptom of portal hypertension or ascites.  Find out what it is, then worry about completing tx. Exhaustion and headaches are symptoms of anemia. Tx doesn't work very well if you have no blood.  Seriously, hope you are okay.

dA

Oh, are you really only getting 400/day Ribavirin?  Sounds sub-therapeutic to me, unless you weigh about 50 pounds.

[donAlfonso]

"What he described was a maroon color"

I've read the original post about a thousand times now, but I still don't see anything about the color, just blood.  Others asked about or offered suggestions about color.  Whatever.

dA

[Pauly Boy]

I'm fatigued, tired, exhausted, whatever you can call it that's me. Since starting tx this came on and hasn't stopped. Doc says: if that's the only problem, be grateful. Well, I try... Anyway, sorry to hear about the blood issue. When it comes to blood being in stool, I would quickly contact your doc, tell him the story and see what his suggestions are. I'm almost in week 18 and last week my doc wanted stool cards from me. I asked why and he said: " After your weight loss this past month, your problem with eating, swallowing, reflux, and your  soreness and irritated throat feeling, exam of stool is indicated." It made sense, so I did it. YUK!!! Just what I thought I'd be doing on a saturday night!!! LOL!!! But it's better that way than I find out news that I could have avoided and none of that type of news would be good!!! So I muddled thru it!  Good Luck and Keep the Faith!!!      
Keep killing those critters!!!     Pauly

[FlGuy]

Just to touch on what dA said.  400 mg riba is a very low dose.  Has it been reduced to that level, from a higher amount?  Typically, the lowest dose for traditional tx is 800 per day.  During tx a platelet drop is not surprising and if you stay in the 90's there's not of a concern.  The level at which your doc should take notice is around 30.  You should see the doc with a list of questions.

[mycoldfeet]

the only time blood turns black, in an upper g.i. bleed is what is swallowed and hits stomach acid. What he described was a maroon color, when blood goes through the stomach into the intestines it has the look of coffee grounds and you won't ever forget the smell.

[Morgaina]

Have you been on antibiotics? If you've been on more than one just lately it could happen that your "c difficil" is taking over and it's nasty! I had a very bad round with it, but it can be dealt with.

[tulsatime]

Well after reading the others that posted and may know more than me, I agree you should tell your Dr. I can just relate cause I had blood in my stool around the same time. But I know I have hemorrhoids and Cirrhosis. That is a sign of cirrhosis (Bleeding hemorrhoids) I never told the dr cause I was scared he would take me off treatment. And at the time I was only doing 24 weeks so I didn't have long to go. I think you should have it checked out. Take care, Debi

[mikesimon]

BSOD = black stool of death
I trivialize things that terrify me and that was my expression for a black stool - which I dreaded due to 2 major esophageal bleeds.
WSOD = white stool of death
After transplant I was cautioned about clay colored stools. Well, I didn't know what color of clay they were referring to so I asked them - was it red, yellow, pale clay? Well, one astute person said that I'd know it when I saw it...and he was absolutely correct because I didn't have a doubt that I was in trouble. When the bile duct is obstructed or in bad shape no bile get into the intestine to color the stool and it can be pale or white. I learned to dread the WSOD far more that the BSOD though neither is particularly a welcome sight. So watch out for both the BSOD or the WSOD and I hope you never see one. Mike