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What Causes Diarrhea And Blood In Stool?
Question: I am "pooping" blood. Awoke this morning with what felt like diahrea, but passed bloody, loose stool. It is 5:00 pm and still happening. It's like bloody diahrea.
Brief Answer:
you'd better visit your doctor or the ER
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
bloody diarrhea may be caused by various disorders including gastroenteritis, diverticulitis, ischemic colitis, inflammatory bowel diseases, tumors, angiodysplasias, etc. Whenever a patient passes blood, careful investigation is required to determine the cause. Sometimes the quantity of blood is big enough to cause symptoms like faintness, thirst, etc. If blood loss is minimal then no other symptoms are expected.
Clinical examination and lab tests will help with the assessment. A complete blood count to check your hematocrit, urea and creatinine to check renal function (important when loosing blood) and to find out whether urea has risen or not (high urea may mean the presence of blood in the upper part of the gastrointestinal system or the small intestine), an ESR may provide clues for inflammatory bowel diseases, etc. Other tests that may help include an endoscopy of the colon (colonoscopy) after bleeding has stopped.
Your symptoms will guide the investigation. If your symptoms are more like a gastroenteritis with diarrhea and mild abdominal discomfort and perhaps low grade fever or other general symptoms (like malaise, fatigue, etc) then the investigation will be minimal. Otherwise the aforementioned tests will have to be done...
I hope you find my comments helpful!
Kind Regards!
you'd better visit your doctor or the ER
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
bloody diarrhea may be caused by various disorders including gastroenteritis, diverticulitis, ischemic colitis, inflammatory bowel diseases, tumors, angiodysplasias, etc. Whenever a patient passes blood, careful investigation is required to determine the cause. Sometimes the quantity of blood is big enough to cause symptoms like faintness, thirst, etc. If blood loss is minimal then no other symptoms are expected.
Clinical examination and lab tests will help with the assessment. A complete blood count to check your hematocrit, urea and creatinine to check renal function (important when loosing blood) and to find out whether urea has risen or not (high urea may mean the presence of blood in the upper part of the gastrointestinal system or the small intestine), an ESR may provide clues for inflammatory bowel diseases, etc. Other tests that may help include an endoscopy of the colon (colonoscopy) after bleeding has stopped.
Your symptoms will guide the investigation. If your symptoms are more like a gastroenteritis with diarrhea and mild abdominal discomfort and perhaps low grade fever or other general symptoms (like malaise, fatigue, etc) then the investigation will be minimal. Otherwise the aforementioned tests will have to be done...
I hope you find my comments helpful!
Kind Regards!
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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