Suggest Treatment For Bloating And IBS

Posted on Sat, 20 Jun 2015

Question: I have recently seen one of four gastros in my area. Over the past 4 weeks my stools have been like sludge and the toilet paper has had what looks like are coffee grounds on it. I made an appt w my doctor and also showed her my food journal as well. She advised me to cut out brown rice and that has helped w the bloating. She also scheduled an appt to see the gastro. My diet consists of no gluten, no dairy, no wheat, no sugars, no green vegetables. I should mention I also have sever IBS. 3 days ago and for four bowels straight it was black as can be! Then 2 days ago, 2 times, I had a bowel movement that appeared to have a blood clot on the toilet paper after I wiped. Since then my poop has not been black. Yesterday I had my gastro appt. He performed an exam and said my hemoglobin count was good, 13.?, but said my stool was very dark and prescribed me librax and said all my issues are due to stress. I came home last night and had a bowel and the toilet was filled w blood; I hadn't taken a pill yet. About an 1.5hrs later I took a librax and passed out. Haven't had a bowel yet. I told my mother all of this and she thinks it's more than just stress. She also just informed me that her grandmother died of colon cancer. I'm just wondering if what I've told you can all be due to stress? I am super stressed, but wanted to make sure you thought the doctor was on the right path?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Klerida Shehu (18 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Fecal occult blood/colonosopy/upper endoscopy advised..

Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXX,

I have gone through your medical history carefully and can say as following:

1. Stress alone cannot contribute to coffee-colored stool and bleeding.

2. There are other causes related to your GI tract that need further evaluations to determine the right diagnosis.

3. So far, you are saying that your GI specialist did run some testing. Can you please give in details what testing he did and their respective results?

You are only mentioning Hb 13, which is not enough to determine the right diagnosis.

4. To my opinion, you should run:
- fecal occult blood test
- colonoscopy
- upper endoscopy

5. For the moment, if the episode of bleeding will occur again and/or if you won't have a bowel movement; then, should go to ER as a digital rectal examination will be needed as further examination. Most probably hemorrhoids might be a possible problem, however, tests will confirm/exclude it.

Hope it was of help!
Dr.Klerida

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Klerida Shehu (13 hours later)

The only test he ran was the quick exam and the HG. He told me an endoscopy was not necessary. I had a colonoscopy 2 years ago and they found a polyp that they removed. My regular provided ran several blood tests to rule out several things, that was weeks prior to my gastro appt and all results came back good. The gastro asked if I was taking pepto bismol and I told him I was not and he asked if I was sure about that. After reading up on PB I see it can cause black stools, but I have never taken PB in my life. The gastro told me to come back in 6 weeks.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Klerida Shehu (13 hours later)

Brief Answer:
please follow the suggestions below

Detailed Answer:
Hi back,

1. If the Hb level was 13, then, the bleeding was not severe. However, I'd advise to repeat testing after a few days as the level might be change. If the level will be still normal, then, it is not a serious hemorrhage.

2. You are also reporting that 2 years ago you had a polyp removed. I think you might be experiencing another polyp. That's why I advise to run colonoscopy to rule it out.

3. Another possible cause might be hemorrhoids; however, physical and digital examination will rule them out.

Avoiding constipation and increasing water intake can help.

Dr.Klerida

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar