Blood In Stool

[leadmeastray88]

Okay so since going gluten-free my symptoms have resolved completely...

As a child and through my teens I had chronic constipation. Sometimes when I wiped there would be some blood but my mom told me they were hemmroids and nothing to worry about. I tried everything to make it go away but it didn't until I went gluten-free.

Now, I am completely regular. Except the past couple of days I have noticed there has been a tiny bit of blood in my stool..nothing major, its kinda like a clot or something.

I don't know if this warrants a visit to the doctor or not - it's not a significant amount but bleeding of any kind freaks me out a bit.

Any thoughts?

Note: I thought I should mention that for 3 years I took Ibuprofen almost everyday for hernia pain relief as I had 7 surgeries...could that have caused this??

[ravenwoodglass]

You should visit your doctor. At the least he will likely want to do an occult blood stool test to see if there is bleeding that you can't see in your stool. He may want to do a scope to be on the safe side. Most likley it is just your hemmies acting up but you should err on the side of caution.

[leadmeastray88]

You should visit your doctor. At the least he will likely want to do an occult blood stool test to see if there is bleeding that you can't see in your stool. He may want to do a scope to be on the safe side. Most likley it is just your hemmies acting up but you should err on the side of caution.

Thanks for your response, you always give great advice. I'll make an appointment ASAP.

[NicoleAJ]

Hopefully it's nothing, but it's always good to get it checked out. I go through periods where I have significant amounts of blood in the stool--sometimes bright red and other times black. They never find the source of the bleeding when they scope (upper and lower), so generally I just have to wait for it to go away on its own. The GI always thinks its Crohns and then can't find the source. Be prepared for the fact that the doctor will do the best he or she can to find the source and tell you what to do about it, but as long as they rule out the serious stuff, it might just be something you end up living with.

[caramckelvey]

Hopefully it's nothing, but it's always good to get it checked out. I go through periods where I have significant amounts of blood in the stool--sometimes bright red and other times black. They never find the source of the bleeding when they scope (upper and lower), so generally I just have to wait for it to go away on its own. The GI always thinks its Crohns and then can't find the source. Be prepared for the fact that the doctor will do the best he or she can to find the source and tell you what to do about it, but as long as they rule out the serious stuff, it might just be something you end up living with.

But did you have abdominal pain as well? I went to the emergency room yesterday in Italy because I had a good amount of blood in my stool. I've had periods of this before but not as much. Also my whole abdomen ached. The doctor did an xray and blood tests which showed nothing in the blood. But he said I should get a colonoscopy. I guess it's the only thing to be done at this time. Why does your GI always think its Crohns?

[tarnalberry]

Definitely get checked. This is one of those things that docs have always told me - don't say "oh, it's only a little", come in and get checked out. don't mess with it.