I am 31 year old female, mother of 3. After my last child who is 3 now I started experiencing bright red blood in my stool without pain. I went to my general doctor who referred me to a gi doctor. The gi doctor did an anal exam and noticed an anal fissure. He questioned me about pain and I still have not had any pain or discomfort associated witht he fissure. He gave me a cream and instructions but the bleeding did not go away. I returned after a couple of months and told him that the bleeding had not gone away. He recommended increasing water and fiber to keep stools soft and a nitro cream. This did not work either. I returned again after a few months he did a very quick flexible sig which he said the beginning of the colon apeared normal and confirmed the anal fissure which he said was larger. He recommended seeing a surgeon. I went back to my regular Dr. and she said that many people have these fissures without complications and that the surgery was not with out risk. She said that some people who have fissure surgery do not get full use of the sphincter muscle back and it can lead to incontinence. I chose to not have the surgery since I was not having any pain or discomfort and it was only bright red blood from the fissure. I figured this was as harmless as hemorroids. It has been ongoing now for 3 years and during the last 1 1/2 years I have not been back to the gi doctor or my regular Dr. At first it was occasional to have mucous in the stool. Then It became quite regular that I had gas that had increased in amount by quite some bit over the year. Now ther is a looming sense of urgency to get to the bathroom and sometimes it is for good reason other times it is only to drip mucous. It is always associated with gas. It seems that sometimes I have to have a bowel movement but there is nothing but gas and at the end it is slightly painful almost like a pressure and it does feel like I am going to have to go right back and sit on the toilet again. I am concerned by the amount of mucous and by mucous only stools. I thought that if ot was something that the flexible sig would have shown it. I am not sure if ther is something wrong because I didn't have the anal fissure surgery or is whaterver is going on the reason for the fissure in the first place? I eat really healthy. I have 25 to 35 grams of fiber /day. I eat lots of fruit and vegies. I drink my water. I don't think it is due to my diet My diet has been better if anything over the last three years trying to keep bowel movements soft and regular. It just seems like too much for my age. Any Ideas?? Thanks
Unusual bowel and gas patterns, mucous, and pain are all signs of gi distress. You should see you doctor immediately. I suggest finding a different md.
good luck to you
good luck to you
Hi there. Well, everyone stool normally contains a small amount of mucus because it can make to keep the lining of your colon moist and lubricated. But if you notice some larger amounts of mucus in stool, that means that it be caused by certain intestinal infections Very often, it is normal to see a blood in stool after drinking - it happens to me once a month because I am not getting along with alcohol. It usually disappears after a day or maximum two days.Anyway, if you notice that this blood issue goes on, you should contact your doctor.
star....I have been having the same type of problem since January. I thought it was a lasting side effect after taking "Chantix" to quit smoking. I'm happy to say that I'm smoke free for the past 3 1/2 months, but the bowel/gas problems are scaring me. I quit taking the Chantix because of the nasty gas and soft and at times, uncontrollable bowel movements. The gas is still there, but typically odorless but I too, have urges where I need to get to a toilet...many times for good cause. There are many times that there is so much blood that there are clots and all of the toilet water is a bright red. I have urges to go and many times nothing comes out (it's similar to having dry heaves...from the other end); others a small bm and many other times just bloody tinged mucous. This is such a gross and embarrassing subject and I keep hoping it gets better because I really don't look forward to revealing all to a doctor or really anyone else. I too, am a mother of 3, and I don't have the "control" that I used to and that causes embarrassing moments. It seems like I'm always planning to be near a restroom.
Well, anyways, I noticed that you posted about 1 1/2 years ago...did you ever find anything out about this? Did it go away or are you still living with the problem?
Well, anyways, I noticed that you posted about 1 1/2 years ago...did you ever find anything out about this? Did it go away or are you still living with the problem?
it just happend to me I am unsure of what is going on, I sat up in my chair as if to pass gas and I felt like I crapped my pants I go to the bathroom and there was a discharge of light green blood tinged mucus in the back side of my underwear I can't seem to find anything related to this except this post on this site if anyone has anymore information or suggestion for me email at _[removed]_
I'm 17 year old male and I have the same exact problems. Sometimes, not very often, I get horrible cramps, the only last around five seconds but they hurt so bad that I have hot cold flashes. I'm also experiencing the urges with often times for nothing. I have a good diet, I'm very very active I just don't want to let this go due to "puberty" or growing pains and have it end up being something completely worse.
Hi there - I thought I would write up my experiences because so many times when I was researching my symptoms, you would see people talking about their symptoms, but then they would never come back and say what their diagnosis was! Which was really frustrating as it was just speculation up to that point.
OK - my symptoms were:
Blood in stools, starting with a bit of bright red blood on the stool, then becoming part of the mucus that also appeared
Mucus in stools - quite noticeable
Some diarrhea - but nothing major
A bit of stomach rumbing
No real pain, possibly a bit of trapped wind pain, but nothing major
Went to the docs and he said, yeah probably piles. He checked me using a gloved finger and said that he couldn't feel or see anything - but this was not unusual for internal piles. He prescribed Anusol suppositories and Fibrogel to keep my stools soft (a bit odd as I had softish stools already). He took some blood tests just to be sure and said to come back in 2 weeks if things didn't improve.
After 2 weeks I had had a bit of improvement but I was still bleeding a bit and there was still mucus. The mucus was like a browny-red I'm assuming as a result of the delightful mixture of stool and blood. So I thought I should go back to see the doc. This time he said he still thought it was internal hemorrhoids and that the best thing would be for me to get checked out and if necessary I could get them injected, rather than continuing to bleed.
The blood tests were all normal - he'd tested for inflammation, celiac disease, liver and kidney function, thyroid function and anemia (I think).
I went to the clinic to get seen - they inserted a rigid tube into my backside - it wasn't painful but a little uncomfortable as they pump some air in. The doc said that it wasn't hemorrhoids and my colon was inflammed and bleeding quite a lot. She said that she couldn't really see properly and wanted to book me in for a flexible sigmoidoscopy (I think that's what its called).
I went back for the sigmoid thing and this time I had to have an enema before hand. They just pump some liquid up your bum and ask you to hold it in for 10 mins - which is quite hard! I lasted about 7 minutes :-)
Then the sigmoidoscope thing - you lay on your side and they put a flexible tube with a camera in it and you get to look at your colon on the TV screen. The sigmoidoscope just looks at the lower part of your colon - your rectum, the sigmoid colon and some of the descending (left-hadn side) colon. I could see my colon looked pretty red and the surface of it had tiny trails of blood - a bit like a very sore throat. I also saw some yellow ulcers (nice) and clear mucus. Amazingly there was no poop - I guess the enema did its job. She went as far as she could as the air that she had to pump in was making it a bit uncomfortable. So she wasn't able to see the extent of the inflammation.
She took a couple of biopsies (they kind of insert some sort of wire thing up the middle of the tube and it takes a little bit of tissue from inside the colon. You can't feel it at all.)
After that, she explained that I have ulcerative colitis. It's not super-mild, but it's not that bad either. It's kind of mild to moderate I think! If it was all the way up I think I would have more diarrhea etc.
That was just over a week ago and I have been taking some tablets called Pentasa (which contains Mesalazine) and a foam called Colifoam which you insert up your bum each day. My symptoms appear to have completely gone! Maybe still a bit of mucus, but very mild and haven't seen any blood. I'm sure it's still inflammed, but the drugs seem to be working for me.
Hopefully I can bring it under control and not have to worry too much about it. I only open my bowels once a day and have no pain whatsoever, so fingers crosssed.
Although ulcerative colitis is a seroius condition and can elevate your risk of getting colon cancer, I am so relieved that I at least have a diagnosis because self-diagnosing online is a nightmare as you can never rule out cancer!
My advice would be for anyone experiencing similar symptoms, to not hang around - go to the Doctors - chances are its probably only piles, but even if it is something more serious it's better to get it looked at sooner because then you have a better chance of getting it treated. The process of being diagnosed is nothing to worry about - I was more worried about the outcome than the actual experience. OK, its not nice having someone stick a camera up your butt, but it's a quick procedure and worth it to know that you have done everything you need to.
I have yet to get the results of my biopsies - they take these to determine whether it is ulcerative colitis or Crohns disease. I think it is UC, just because of my symptoms and the fact they saw ulcers, but its good to get a proper diagnosis.
I hope this has been useful and that you all get back on the road to recovery as soon as possible!
OK - my symptoms were:
Blood in stools, starting with a bit of bright red blood on the stool, then becoming part of the mucus that also appeared
Mucus in stools - quite noticeable
Some diarrhea - but nothing major
A bit of stomach rumbing
No real pain, possibly a bit of trapped wind pain, but nothing major
Went to the docs and he said, yeah probably piles. He checked me using a gloved finger and said that he couldn't feel or see anything - but this was not unusual for internal piles. He prescribed Anusol suppositories and Fibrogel to keep my stools soft (a bit odd as I had softish stools already). He took some blood tests just to be sure and said to come back in 2 weeks if things didn't improve.
After 2 weeks I had had a bit of improvement but I was still bleeding a bit and there was still mucus. The mucus was like a browny-red I'm assuming as a result of the delightful mixture of stool and blood. So I thought I should go back to see the doc. This time he said he still thought it was internal hemorrhoids and that the best thing would be for me to get checked out and if necessary I could get them injected, rather than continuing to bleed.
The blood tests were all normal - he'd tested for inflammation, celiac disease, liver and kidney function, thyroid function and anemia (I think).
I went to the clinic to get seen - they inserted a rigid tube into my backside - it wasn't painful but a little uncomfortable as they pump some air in. The doc said that it wasn't hemorrhoids and my colon was inflammed and bleeding quite a lot. She said that she couldn't really see properly and wanted to book me in for a flexible sigmoidoscopy (I think that's what its called).
I went back for the sigmoid thing and this time I had to have an enema before hand. They just pump some liquid up your bum and ask you to hold it in for 10 mins - which is quite hard! I lasted about 7 minutes :-)
Then the sigmoidoscope thing - you lay on your side and they put a flexible tube with a camera in it and you get to look at your colon on the TV screen. The sigmoidoscope just looks at the lower part of your colon - your rectum, the sigmoid colon and some of the descending (left-hadn side) colon. I could see my colon looked pretty red and the surface of it had tiny trails of blood - a bit like a very sore throat. I also saw some yellow ulcers (nice) and clear mucus. Amazingly there was no poop - I guess the enema did its job. She went as far as she could as the air that she had to pump in was making it a bit uncomfortable. So she wasn't able to see the extent of the inflammation.
She took a couple of biopsies (they kind of insert some sort of wire thing up the middle of the tube and it takes a little bit of tissue from inside the colon. You can't feel it at all.)
After that, she explained that I have ulcerative colitis. It's not super-mild, but it's not that bad either. It's kind of mild to moderate I think! If it was all the way up I think I would have more diarrhea etc.
That was just over a week ago and I have been taking some tablets called Pentasa (which contains Mesalazine) and a foam called Colifoam which you insert up your bum each day. My symptoms appear to have completely gone! Maybe still a bit of mucus, but very mild and haven't seen any blood. I'm sure it's still inflammed, but the drugs seem to be working for me.
Hopefully I can bring it under control and not have to worry too much about it. I only open my bowels once a day and have no pain whatsoever, so fingers crosssed.
Although ulcerative colitis is a seroius condition and can elevate your risk of getting colon cancer, I am so relieved that I at least have a diagnosis because self-diagnosing online is a nightmare as you can never rule out cancer!
My advice would be for anyone experiencing similar symptoms, to not hang around - go to the Doctors - chances are its probably only piles, but even if it is something more serious it's better to get it looked at sooner because then you have a better chance of getting it treated. The process of being diagnosed is nothing to worry about - I was more worried about the outcome than the actual experience. OK, its not nice having someone stick a camera up your butt, but it's a quick procedure and worth it to know that you have done everything you need to.
I have yet to get the results of my biopsies - they take these to determine whether it is ulcerative colitis or Crohns disease. I think it is UC, just because of my symptoms and the fact they saw ulcers, but its good to get a proper diagnosis.
I hope this has been useful and that you all get back on the road to recovery as soon as possible!
I have referred to this post many times in my search to understand what might be wrong with me. I never posted my symptoms because they are just what were described above. But, after having a colonoscopy today and receiving my results, I thought I would share. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and Proctitis. It is not fatal, but not curable either.
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One more note, this is normally found in people between the ages of 15-30. Being 46, I am surprised to have something like this. Always knew I was "young at heart!" LOL
Good luck to all of you.
Hi, I just wrote the above message. Start with eating 'soft' meats (as in ground meat, fish, homemade chicken soup), and slowly add VERY well cooked (almost mush) veggies. Rough or raw veggies or too hard on the lining of your colon, it's like eating glass! Get off all carbs (sugar) and eat well cooked 'soft' food until the bleeding stops...then buy the book and follow the rest of the diet! You can heal form UC!
Blood and mucus in stool, lower left quadrant pain, stomach rumbling, diarrhea, etc. These, plus a few others, were my symptoms. It turns out that I had diverticulitis. A huge percentage of westerners have the uninflamed version called diverticulosis. Do not be complacent about these symptoms.
Not to be melodramatic, but I almost died from cross infections. Since I no longer respond to aggressive antibiotic treatment, I need surgery. The "normal" open procedure is very prone to problems of morbidity and mortality. After much research I have found a doctor that performs a totally laproscopic sigmoid colectomy. This gives many less problems and much faster recovery.
The long and the short of it is that you have to become very proactive about your own health. These symptoms should not be ignored, there is always a cause. Find a doctor that will get to the root of the problem!
Not to be melodramatic, but I almost died from cross infections. Since I no longer respond to aggressive antibiotic treatment, I need surgery. The "normal" open procedure is very prone to problems of morbidity and mortality. After much research I have found a doctor that performs a totally laproscopic sigmoid colectomy. This gives many less problems and much faster recovery.
The long and the short of it is that you have to become very proactive about your own health. These symptoms should not be ignored, there is always a cause. Find a doctor that will get to the root of the problem!
Does anyone know what I can do for this problem. I've had blood work and a CT scan, no problems noticed. I had a fissure about 10 years ago and had surgery. No problems until about 2 months ago. Lots of gas, urgency to have BM.....don't always make it. It ends up with gas, muscus with some blood and what I call coffee grounds. I have regular BMS without blood...It's been tested.
Star, when I started reading your first post I said to myself, sounds like ulcerative coltis - very glad someone finally diagnosed it for you. It is misery, I have it and go through the same misery. I am 57, was diagnosed when I was around 42. I have some friends with UC and we are convinced a couple of things are going on as far as triggers which cause flare-ups. Not in any particular order: Stress, and its not always apparent it's going on - some serious looking in the objective mirror may reveal there's stress in your life if you think there isn't. If you know there is, see if the next 12 hours brings a flare up after experiencing some stress. Food allergies - wheat seems to be a common culprit, dairy, too. It would pay to have a food allergy screening. Combinations of foods - we've noticed that certain combinations of foods will cause a flare up where each alone isn't so much a problem. My friend can have cheese, ham and bread seperately, but to have a ham and cheese sandwich sets him off. Sugar can be a problem, it causes inflamation, alcohol, too - beer (wheat, hops) red wine (basically sugar and alcohol). Fruit/vegatables - believe it or not, fresh fruit/vegatables is a major cause. Pineapple, blueberries, broccoli, peaches - look out. Someone in a post said eat soft foods - I agree (I've always eaten healthy, fibrous foods - they're really a problem once you have UC). Benefibre helps to knock back the diarrhea, and will provide fibre - avoind the high fibre diet - sad but true. When I want to go out for the evening, and don't want to find myself running to the bathroom (and potentially not making it there before'exploding' mucous and blood and'silt') I'll take a Lactaid pill (even if not having any dairy) and a couple of Beano's with first bite of food, and a couple of Gas-X 10 minutes or so after eating. This seems to keep things calm for the evening (careful, though, to use it daily rendered this Rx ineffective for me - use it sparingly). The Lactaid is an enzyme, and this might speak to the flora in the colon as being deficient. I'll take a probiotic sometimes when have problems, and it seems to help. I was on long term antibiotics before the initial problem showed up (15 years ago), and most of the UC people I know had been on antibiotics at some point, too, before their trouble showed up. And we believe this is what set up the environment for the UC and its various flare-up triggers. A good probiotoc daily will help (Healthy Trinity is excellent, but expensive. Read about it at iHerb.com and look for anything that has the same flora and doses). So it seems to be a combination of stress, food allergies, food combinations (especially rich foods), high fibre, fresh fruit/vegatbles - especially fruit, sugar (and anything that causes inflamation), and deficient flora in the colon. I feel for you, I go through the frustration, myself. Good luck to you....
Star, oops, I thought I read where you have been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, but it was another poster. You have the classic symptoms. Find yourself another Gastroenterologist and another MD - they've missed it.
My problems started just under a year ago. I had been on Champix to stop smoking and was doing REALLY well when I became badly constipated but feelo as if I need to go all the time. When I do go its mostly Blood or mucus and when I do go to the toilet I never feel I've fully emptied my bowels. When I started to experience terrible pain - eventually I went to see the GP. After an examination she said I had piles. 7 days later I was rushed into my local hospital and within a matter of hours I was in surgery for a rectal abscess. 8 weeks ago the anal pain started to increase - so I went back to my GP and once again I was told i had piles and once again I was rushed into hospital 7 days later with another abscess and an anal fistula.
I'm really lucky that may local hospital has one of the leading colo-rectal units in Europe based in it. My specialist thinks its colitis. Hopefully after this week I'll get a full diagnosis and start treatment.
I'm really lucky that may local hospital has one of the leading colo-rectal units in Europe based in it. My specialist thinks its colitis. Hopefully after this week I'll get a full diagnosis and start treatment.
i am 29yrl old female.i have mucas,blood,constipation,the feeling to go but nothing but mucas,nasuea,adominal cramping etc, i had this on going for 3 years now. i still going under series of test. i have had endoscopey-nrmal,ultrasound-normal,blood teat-normal,gastric emptying scan-not normal. the diagnose me with I.B.S. Irritable Bowel Symdrome. also they said that the food i ingest is not passing meaning the food i eat doesnt pass my stomach.basically it takes a very long time to pass through my body and also sometimes gives me this sulfur taste in my burps.sometimes i vomit at time.but always have nasuea.i was also told just because our bowels arent normal doesnt mean its our colon.it could be related to stomach digestive or liver.so get all three check. good luck to us all