Chronic Blood in Stool, Dr not helpful, Going on for Over 4 months

[pigeonracer]

At wits end! I am 47 yrs old, female, tad overweight(by 25 lbs). For 4 months now I have had blood in my stool, sometimes it is on the outside of the stool but other times definately mixed in stool. Sometimes no stool & it is a blood clot(rare) or mucus. Bowel movements are still shaped, although smaller diameter(size of a dime maybe?) to what I am normally used to (size of quarter or larger), and more frequent. (I used to have a movement maybe 3x week, now it is 10 times a day)

This is my daily proceedure:
When I wake up every morning, I go straight to bathroom & poop out a tablespoon or so of bloody mucus. It is ready to come out as soon as I wake up & stand, no holding it back. Then I am ok for 20 minutes, then back in bathroom for a bowel movement which is a soft shaped stool, either covered in red blood or mixed with the red blood. This continues every 30 minutes to an hour for the next 4 hours! Afternoon, bowel movements tend to stop. Approx 30 minutes after dinner, a few more bowel movements until bedtime. Still red blood is either on stool or mixed in. I do not have diarhea, as the stool is formed and keeps its shape even after hitting toilet water. Just a lot of stool production!
This is becoming annoying as I have to make trips to the store quick & have to plan according to my bowel issues.

There is no pain associated with any of this. No anal swelling, no itching, no nausea, no loss of appetite, no fever, no other symptoms at all. Blood pressure normal. Not on any medications. I do have a mild swelling in my upper left quadrant, approx 6" in length, it is cresent shaped beginning in center and curving towards the left just below & following the curve of the ribcage. After I eat, I can press on it & feel small hard lumps like large grains of rice. To me, it appears to be a fluid pocket of sorts.

Now, I have been to my regular physician, who did nothing except give me antibiotics. He did refer me to a GI doctor. After a month long wait, I finally go into the GI doctor. He said this sounded like hemmeroids? and also maybe polyps causing the mucus. I questioned the fluid pocket, he had me lay down and gently felt the skin and said he found nothing abnormal. Personally, he made no effort to see the issue. They scheduled me for a colonoscopy... 45 days from now! No blood work, no xrays, no other tests whatsoever.

To me, this is a life changing issue and is not only embarrassing but highly annoying! Surely, hemmeroids would not cause this much frequent bleeding? Daily & most of the day! I am thinking they are missing something and am concerned that all this wiating in between appointments may be making the issues even worse.


More info:
After keeping a diary of sorts, the conditions do not seem to be food related. Doesn't matter if I eat salads & veggies or a hamburger & fries... outcome is still the same. If I eat steak, the outcome is a bit more harsh, but still the same. I don't like milk, so that is not in my diet. I drink approx 40-80 oz of water per day and 3 cups of coffee in morning. No other liquids. I am not a huge eater, I rarely eat breakfast, occasionally eat a small lunch, but always eat a regular dinner.

I did discover the Bristol Stool Scale (never knew this existed). My movements range from #4-6, occasionally a 7. Diameter of #4 is the approx size of a dime or penny and only 3-4" in length, this movement is rare as in maybe 1x a day? The other 20x a day are #5 & 6. Most movements are bloody or contain a bloody mucus either mixed in or on it. #4 appears to be not as bloody. Still no pain, no fever, no nausea, not on any meds, no other issues.

[pigeonracer]

Been to GI dr. Got blood work done 2 days ago, all normal, slightly elevated protiens in blood (think is was an 8.0 when the max on chart was 7.0?) All elsle appears normal. Also had  CT scan with contrast & iv contrast, of abdomen & pelvis. It too was normal, only small white spots on liver but said it was nothing. Colonoscopy scheduled for 2 weeks from now, that was the earliest appt.

[whisperwolf]

Your doctor should refer you to a Gastroenterologist for blood work, a occult blood test and a colonoscopy. Many diseases of the digestive tract can be diagnosed this way. He or she may also want to do a abdominal CT and ultrasound. You may have anything from an infection to crohns disease to celiac.