3 Months Bloody Diarrhea

[buttertoffeegal]

Hey all, any suggestions/help would be appreciated to work toward solving my issues. I want to lay this out as easy as possible but be thorough--

 

- Diagnosed with celiac Jan 2012. I never "cheat"; rarely eat out. I'm 100% confident this issue is not directly related to gluten.

- Feb 2012 red blood in my stools off/on. Always when taking melatonin. I was stressed at work & thought that was the issue too.

- The blood was (and still is) always associated with an urgent feeling to go that is sprung on me.

- Quit job end of Feb - issue stopped. Bloody again in April seriously the day after I took melatonin. I've heard that people with autoimmune disorders may have problems with it and so I stopped.

- Went to the doc in April for an unrelated issue and mentioned that the blood started up again. Doc checked for internal hemorrhoids and found none; wasn't too concerned.

- I now have bloody diarrhea. Daily, multiple times a day (sometimes as much as 5 times)

- When not bleeding, stools were pale, narrow, small, ribbonlike for about a month. Now constant diarrhea.

- Stool is mucousy; blood bright red. If shaped like a regular (small) poop instead of a big mess, it will "disintegrate" upon flushing.

- Associated "wet farts" that will leave what is best described as minor amts sediment in the toilet as well as red blood.

- I feel very little pain unless during those urgent moments. Pain is minimal. Constantly feel bloated though (high up around stomach/belly button). Have throbbing pain ocassionally on lower right pelvic area and doc ruled out ovary issues w/ultrasound. Occassional pain on right side very close to belly button. All in all the pain is fairly insignificant. 

- Constant headaches/fatigue/neck pain/eye aches EXACTLY like before I was diagnosed with Celiac disease. I am not anemic. The doc checked this week.

- Considered milk protein intoler. and stopped all milk (even butter) and eggs. No help (though I did get milk in my diet half way through).  I am back to eating milk and eggs because I felt it didn't change anything. I have heard that responses are delayed but reasonably how much?!

- I eat *very* minimal amts of sugar; no soda in about 3-4 months (it causes me severe stomach aches and acid reflux). Only processed foods generally are gluten-free Udi's bread and Van's gluten-free crackers. Other than that I eat pretty much whole foods.

- I have lost 12 lbs in 4 weeks. I don't consider this a lot (have a lot more to go) and am exercising a lot more so this is good to me. When not exercising/watching my sugars I don't gain or lose at all even with all of the diarrhea issues.

- Medications: Birth control (Tri-Nessa), complete multi-vitamin for women, 2000 ius of Vit D, and 2 probiotics (PB8). 

 

Okay, I know that was a lot... So I went to the quick care a few days ago after a month of trying to control this issue with food to no avail and the doc looked at me like I was crazy. She said there was nothing that she could do for me except make sure that I wasn't anemic and check a stool sample for parasites. I was hoping for an antibio or something cuz the gut issues seem to indicate inflammation and infection. I was very concerned with the anemia because when I was diagnosed with celiac disease I needed to get an iron infusion. I'm okay on iron apparently. I have yet to provide the stool sample but will do so tomorrow. The quick care doc said I need to see a GI doc and I have no insurance. She straight up said that a GI will likely not see me without cash or insurance so I'm out of luck.

 

I'm looking for any suggestions. I just hope to get the bleeding under control and work toward healing my gut. I am considering the BRAT diet for a spell but can't live on that. I'm also considering the hardcore GAPS diets and a million other things to work this out before seeing a GI but I don't want to be stupid about it. That's a long time to be bleeding every time I go to the bathroom.

 

Suggestions? THANKS!

 

[whitepine]

Hi there,
Sorry to hear that you are having such a hard time with your health. It is very difficult when you are constantly unwell and your doctor isn't budging about things. It does sound like you have a lot of inflammation and even though you aren't anaemic, blood in the stool is usually good cause for concern. The only thing I can suggest is to stop taking the birth control and see what happens. I have found that taking birth control has drastically increased my problems with my bowels and stomach.

 

Your symptoms seem almost ulcerative colitis like in nature. Have you ever had a colonoscopy, maybe this is how you were diagnosed a celiac? Has your doctor checked for appendicitis? It is possible to have chronic appendicitis.
Do you take any pain killers? These can cause problems with gastrointestinal bleeding if you take non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, naproxen, and asprin. If you are , stop or cut back or take aacetaminophen only when you really really need it.  

Hope this helps.



 

[buttertoffeegal]

Hi there,

Sorry to hear that you are having such a hard time with your health. It is very difficult when you are constantly unwell and your doctor isn't budging about things. It does sound like you have a lot of inflammation and even though you aren't anaemic, blood in the stool is usually good cause for concern. The only thing I can suggest is to stop taking the birth control and see what happens. I have found that taking birth control has drastically increased my problems with my bowels and stomach.

 

Your symptoms seem almost ulcerative colitis like in nature. Have you ever had a colonoscopy, maybe this is how you were diagnosed a celiac? Has your doctor checked for appendicitis? It is possible to have chronic appendicitis.

Do you take any pain killers? These can cause problems with gastrointestinal bleeding if you take non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, naproxen, and asprin. If you are , stop or cut back or take aacetaminophen only when you really really need it.  

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks, whitepine. I have never had a colonoscopy and don't take pain killers. I used to take a lot of ibuprofen but I cut back on that a few months ago. I had considered stopping the birth control as well and will seriously consider that now that you have suggested it as well. It is very frustrating to go to a doc that either won't hear you out or feels like the issue is too great in nature to help you because you don't have insurance. Anyway, I will forge ahead! Thanks for your reply!