I am a 20 year old college student. Starting about a week ago (completely out of the blue) I began seeing blood in my stool. All the stool was normal/regular but with bright red blood and sometimes mucus. I saw a doctor who pretty much just told me to take it easy on greasy foods and alcohol. I ended up drinking pretty heavily thursday-saturday night and developed diarreah with blood in it.
I am now taking about 5-6 diarrheas per day. Even woke up 2 times last night with diarreah and painful cramps that cannot be relieved any other way. In between bowel movements, I feel fine, but there is a sudden urge every few hours.
My doctor put me on ciprofloxacin (an antibiotic) just in case it is some kind of infection, but the tests from my stool sample are not in yet. Apparently I may have some other disorder like inflammatory bowel disease.
In the meantime, what can I do to curb diarrhea? I have a fun and busy life that I would like to return to without such frequent interruptions. Any help would be appreciated. Also, if it is IBD, how long do these "flare ups" last?
Hello there. Sorry to hear about your recent complications. I am very similiar to you in symptoms, and I can feel your annoyance in the fact that I am also a 20 year old college student, with a busy lifestyle. I am not yet diagnosed with IBD (test results awaiting), but from what I have read and heard from others flare-ups are different for each person... sometimes days, sometimes months? Correct me someone please if I am incorrect. I can give you my experience that the drinking every weekend doesn't help much at all! That has been my hardest part, trying to tame that... but that only seems to make my stomach pains and diarrhea worse. That is good that your stomach pains seem to go away inbetween bowel movements. I'm sure it could be some form of IBD, however, it may also be Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Apparently blood in the stool is more rare in IBS than IBD, but the mucus is very common. A lot of times during bouts of constipation the mucus may appear, and as a result may be left over for bouts of diarrhea. If the blood is bright red, it is very possible as well that it could be a hemrroid (sp?) either internally or externally. (At least this is what I was told by my Dr. when blood and mucus started to appear in my stool). Currently I am experiencing the 7-8 times a day with diarrhea as well, so I know how unpleasant that can be. So much so, that I had to miss a class the other day. The best suggestion I can give is to try to stay away from foods that seem to upset your stomach, and if you really need to be some place (class) you may even want to refrain from food for some time beforehand (I know that sounds silly but it seems to work for me. Make sure you are drinking a lot of water or Gatorade with electrolytes, so you don't get dehydrated on top of it. Sorry I couldn't be too much help, please let me know if you have any other questions... I'm no Dr. but our symptoms are very similiar, and I have seen the Dr. and had NUMEROUS tests done.
good luck to you too- I will let you know what my tests for infections, etc are when I hear back from the doctor's office. For now it seems like I might be seeing a specialist soon though. This really is a tough set of symptoms to have with a college lifestyle, I know how you feel. Hope your symptoms clear up,
This is VERY early for you to even think of an IBD diagnosis. It took me 8 months to get mine. And I was told by many with IBD that sometimes it takes years! To get your diagnosis, you will need further testing such as: Colonoscopy, EGD, CBC, Metabolic Panel, Small Bowel Series (upper &/or lower), CT scans, MRIs, SED Rate test, etc.
Blood in the stool does NOT necessarily mean IBD. It could be anal fissures or 'roids (and they can be internal so you don't even know you have them) as well. I know someone who has blood in his stool & went through the colonosocpy with an all clear. No IBD. No DX. So don't rush thinking you have IBD just yet. Even now after 10 months, I have been DX'd with IBD, but my GI is not for sure if I have ulcerative colitis or crohn's disease (although all the doctor's I have seen are leaning toward CD).
Thank you much and yes please keep me informed about your results! I had gotten checked for infections and parasites as well after my similar symptoms as yours, and they all came back negative. Hopefully you will get some answers!!!
well, i saw the gastroentrenologist and it looks like i've got ulcerative colitis. My doctor put me on a medication called colazal that is working out very well. ( I am on day 5)
It took about 4 days to work but now there is no blood and the frequency of my bowel movements is about back to normal. I am still kind of having diarrhea but I am not having any cramps or frequent urges, etc. So I am feeling much better. Hopefully it will stay this way. Thanks for helping out everyone, and good luck. I'll be checking in again soon. Amberwalsch? any news?
Hey there Van1087-
I am happy for you in that you finally have a diagnosis and that the new med seems to help! However, I am very sorry for you if that was most likely not the diagnosis you were looking for. I'm so glad you thought to come back and give us your results... with so many people never finding a diagnosis... it is relieving when one does. Thanks so much for asking about me... I actually go for an abdominal ultrasound and small bowel series on Friday. Doctor says my symptoms are not due to ulcerative colitis as he did a colonoscopy and did not see any abnormalities in the colon area. However, he is feeling that it very possibly may be due to chrons in a portion of my small intestine. I won't know anything further until Friday, and if by then even I would be incredibly shocked if I heard of anything. I'll certainly let you know when and if I do find anything out further. But in the mean time I hope you can get back to more of the college lifestyle.... studying, attending class, and most importantly drinking .
I'll certainly let you know when and if I do find anything out further. But in the mean time I hope you can get back to more of the college lifestyle.... studying, attending class, and most importantly drinking .
Warm wishes!
Umm, you might find that drinking is always going to create problems. It seems that drinking and bowel problems go hand in hand. The longer you drink the worse the problems become. Take it from someone who has watched her best friend ignore her body symptoms and continued to drink well into her 40's who now has some pretty serious bowel problems. If she had listened to her body, and stopped her drinking she might not be in the spots shes in now. Not an expert, just an observation.
. Thanks so much for asking about me... I actually go for an abdominal ultrasound and small bowel series on Friday. Doctor says my symptoms are not due to ulcerative colitis as he did a colonoscopy and did not see any abnormalities in the colon area. However, he is feeling that it very possibly may be due to chrons in a portion of my small intestine. I won't know anything further until Friday, and if by then even I would be incredibly shocked if I heard of anything. I'll certainly let you know when and if I do find anything out further. But in the mean time I hope you can get back to more of the college lifestyle.... studying, attending class, and most importantly drinking 
. 
