I am currently going through a bad flare and was put on a seven day course of Prednisone - started off at four tabs, now down to one. Since yesterday, I noticed blood in my bowel movement. I'm not experiencing any stomach and joint pains have subsided. Is this something that I should be taking seriously - like go to the ER?
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Jackiecnunez
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Try not to worry too much but if this continues please see your GP. It may be that your on pain meds and that can make you cospitpated. But whatever the cause you do need to tell your GP
Hi, I too have had this problem recently. Don't know whether this is the same for you, but every so often my skin randomly splits. It has to be kept clean and dressed. This has only previously been on my back and most recently on my right shin. There is no trauma involved and offcourse the Dr's can offer no explanation for it happening. Anyway to get to the point. I too just a couple of weeks back had this. No pain, but noticed blood in my poo, which gradually became much worse to the extent that I was literally flooding with blood every time I went to the toilet. The result of the blood loss was immense fatigue (you think you're tired through lupus), that's nothing compared.
I went to my Dr, absolutely dreading what they may say, but it was simply another split of the skin (an anul fissure) or something like that. I was given a laxative to make me looser to not irritate the split and also suppositories. Unfortunately I could not use the suppositories as it was physically impossible for me to administer them due to mobility problems. I am happy to report though that after a couple of weeks I no longer bleed. I actually had my first normal movement yesterday, it was like a major achievement lol. It is still discoloured so there is still some bleeding, but I seem to be over the worst. Hope that this reassures you a little thar you're not alone. Don't be too alarmed at loosing a lot more blood in the coming days. I would advise still seeing your Dr tho to confirm the diagnosis. Also, mine recommended checking my blood and found that due to the blood loss I was very low on iron and needed a supplement. So it's definitely worth checking as if an iron deficiency is left untreated you will become very ill from it. Hope you're feeling better soon huni xxx
Thank u for your advice and support. I did the bloodwork today so we'll see what happens from here on. My dr wants me to do a complete abdominal ultrasound and a CT scan of the lungs also a stool test.
Hello Jackie. Apologies if I've missed this info in your post & replies, but: when I was a teen with fresh red blood from my back passage and in my BMs, the dr gave me a rather overly simplistic rule of thumb: red blood ok, black blood bad. So, what colour is the blood you're seeing in your BMs?
As I understand it, if the blood you're seeing is dark red/blackish, this probably means the bleeding is from higher up the GI system (not from the back passage) and that the underlying call must be investigated
Eventually I did learn that even red blood can signal severe problems: turned out my teenage red blood was due to ehlers danlos hypermobility-related piles...after 10 + years of agonising pain and distress Drs admitted my piles involved an anal prolapse...all of which had to be operated by the NHS when I was in my early 30s. AND my elderly mother's rectal tumour gave her red blood in her BMs....
There can be so many reasons for this blood in BMs. At the first opportunity, I'd tell my GP about any blood I'm passing, of any colour!
thank you for your advice. It's not dark blood, but it worries me as I've never experienced this before also along with neck rash, chest pains, swollen and painful joints, etc. I am scheduled to do blood work this morning at my GP's office - I will let her know what's been going on. I'm very pro-active and holistic with my health. I've been in remission for over ten years and now that I'm experiencing such a bad flare up, I feel frustrated. This sucks big time.
am vvvvv much feeling for you, jackie. good plan. take heart: your pro-active, holistic stuff will be standing you in good stead. whatever this flare is about, all that effort is continuing to help you. this is life with lupus: ups & downs. yes, it sucks big time. but we're with you, and i sense you have what it takes to get through this. please let us know how this goes...XOXO
Yes. If you are straining to have a bowl movement it could be from that, but otherwise you need to contact your Dr. ASAP or go to the ER. I had the same problem, mines was coming out like urine(not to sound nasty) but I had and infection and my red blood cells were low, low enough that could have caused serious health issues.
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