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What Do Bowel Movements With Bloody Diarrhea Indicate Despite No Pain?
Posted on
Sat, 16 Sep 2017
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Sat, 16 Sep 2017
Answered on
Sat, 7 Oct 2017
Last reviewed on
Question : I ate 2 days ago at a chain restaurant and within 15 minutes had to use the restroom very badly. had 1 bowel movement and 30 minutes later violently vomited until my stomach was fully empty. At the same time had more bowel movements and felt weak for another hour. Started feeling better and then the next day had a bowel movement which was dark maroon/red and was mostly diarrhea. Had a few more and continues to be dark red. There is no pain to speak of.
Brief Answer:
gastroenteritis
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
it seems that you've got a gastroenteritis. 15 minutes are kind of little time to induce diarrhea although I can't totally exclude that it was the restaurant's fault. Dark maroon or red stool indicates bloody diarrhea which may occur with some pathogens. A stool culture, a complete blood count (CBC) and basic biochemical panel are important tests to do. If you don't have fever then you should avoid antiobiotic treatment unless your doctor prescribed it to you. Clinical assessment is also important (mostly to exclude other potential causes of bleeding or serious ongoing blood loss).
Important indications of a serious condition include the following (please note that this list is not exhaustive, it's targeted to the most likely cause of your situation):
- low blood pressure and high pulse rate (which may indicate significant loss of volume)
- abdominal pain, particularly if it's on a single location and does not move around
- vomiting blood
- cold sweat, faintness, etc
If you don't have any of the above then you can try something to prevent vomiting (like metoclopramide) and make sure that a doctor sees you later in the day. Otherwise you should seek medical assistance immediately.
I hope you find my comments helpful!
Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
gastroenteritis
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
it seems that you've got a gastroenteritis. 15 minutes are kind of little time to induce diarrhea although I can't totally exclude that it was the restaurant's fault. Dark maroon or red stool indicates bloody diarrhea which may occur with some pathogens. A stool culture, a complete blood count (CBC) and basic biochemical panel are important tests to do. If you don't have fever then you should avoid antiobiotic treatment unless your doctor prescribed it to you. Clinical assessment is also important (mostly to exclude other potential causes of bleeding or serious ongoing blood loss).
Important indications of a serious condition include the following (please note that this list is not exhaustive, it's targeted to the most likely cause of your situation):
- low blood pressure and high pulse rate (which may indicate significant loss of volume)
- abdominal pain, particularly if it's on a single location and does not move around
- vomiting blood
- cold sweat, faintness, etc
If you don't have any of the above then you can try something to prevent vomiting (like metoclopramide) and make sure that a doctor sees you later in the day. Otherwise you should seek medical assistance immediately.
I hope you find my comments helpful!
Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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