Since September ish I have been suffering with constipation. I went to my doctors and was prescribed laxido. This helped and I was able to go toilet with no pain.
I stopped taking it as I didn't want to be dependant on it but the constipation returned. I do about 90% of the time have bright red blood on my stool and when wiping when I have constipation. But if I have no constipation. Then there is no blood.
Over Christmas I was suffering with mild stomach pains. I went to the doctors and said I was worried it might be bowel cancer. Told them my symptoms and how I have been feeling. But they said its very unlikely and I probably have Ibs.
My diet has been pretty poor for ages now. Drinking loads of pepsi a day. In the past week I have changed to flavoured water and more fruit to try and help my digestive system. But I still have a mild constipation and a tiny bit of blood.
This is really starting to worry me now and I am so scared I have bowel cancer.
My stools for the most part are brown except when constipated and they may have blood on them. But now always.
Anyone have advice please? I do have a blood test booked in with the doctor. But I am really anxious.
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Sorry to hear you are suffering. I have suffered with constipation for most of my life, with impaction a couple of times. Has the doctor mentioned piles or perhaps a small tear? Usually when there is fresh blood spotted this is usually what is causing it, & the fact that you are probably having to. constrain to go. Dark coloured blood needs investigating as it usually means it’s coming from further up.
Hope you get sorted very soon & your blood tests come back normal. 🤞
I am sorry you are going through all this. Not just the symptoms but the worry.
It probably is "just IBS" (bad enough though that can be) but I don't think your doctor should just make an educated guess. A blood test is good, but you could do with something else too. Maybe a colonoscopy or CT colonoscopy? To really set your mind at rest?
Piles cause bright red blood in stools and when wiping. You say you've been badly constipated, and that could be the cause. You might not even know you have piles, as some can be internal. Constipation can cause all sorts of belly pains.
I bet your doctor never even did a manual exam of your anus area?
I would say you need to get a referral to a GI consultant, and tell the doctor you are feeling quite scared, and want some help. Yes, it might take a few weeks to get one but you deserve it.
Meanwhile if you can tolerate these foods, try eating some leafy greens (I find baby spinach, Pak Choi, watercress, young kale, and just a couple of little gem lettuce leaves kinder to my IBS than cabbage), carrots, baked potatoes, brown rice, fruits (if you can handle fruit) Quinoa, good healthy bread (if you're not gluten sensitive, oatmeal, flapjacks, etc, but try to find foods that don't have too many artificial additives. If you have a health food shop you can get things from, that will be good.
Lentil stew with any veg. you can tolerate is good. Meats and fish and eggs are great but they can be a bit "binding", so pair them with some fibre foods? Beetroot is good for making you "go" naturally too.
Don't load up with too much of these things suddenly or it might make your gut feel worse. Just try one or two in smallish portions at first, and gently build up to having more amount and more variation.
You can still have a pepsi if that brings you some comfort, but cool it with Pepsi and try not to drink TOO much of it! Try sparkling water? Or you might find sparkling drinks are bad for you altogether. I can handle sparkling water nicely, but many with IBS can't have any carbonated drinks.
Sparkling Elderflower drink is so nice. Maybe you could try that.
Since September ish I have been suffering with constipation. I went to my doctors and was prescribed laxido. This helped and I was able to go toilet with no pain.
I stopped taking it as I didn't want to be dependant on it but the constipation returned. I do about 90% of the time have bright red blood on my stool and when wiping when I have constipation. But if I have no constipation. Then there is no blood.
>> I take something like Laxido every day. I have a history of diverticular disease, so have to really worry about that. They're osmotic laxatives, so you don't really become dependent on them.
>> Blood could be hemorrhoids. Did you doc check for those? Very common. Annoying, but not serious.
Over Christmas I was suffering with mild stomach pains. I went to the doctors and said I was worried it might be bowel cancer. Told them my symptoms and how I have been feeling. But they said its very unlikely and I probably have Ibs.
>> Did they do a colonoscopy to make sure it wasn't anything worse? IBS is usually diagnosed by a process of elimination, and all the bad stuff - cancer, Chron's, IBD, ulcerative colitis - is usually pretty evident on the colonoscopy.
My diet has been pretty poor for ages now. Drinking loads of pepsi a day. In the past week I have changed to flavoured water and more fruit to try and help my digestive system. But I still have a mild constipation and a tiny bit of blood.
>> Here's an area where you could really do a lot on your own. Ditch the junk food and soda, and add lots more fiber.
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Anyone have advice please? I do have a blood test booked in with the doctor. But I am really anxious.
>> A blood test is a good idea, but ask him about a colonoscopy as well.
>> Anxiety is actually a predisposing factor for IBS. Are you anxious in general? Dealing with that can help a lot.
>> As for anxiety about your condition, you're probably just fine. Being new to it, I can understand it can be quite scary. Chances are, though, that you've "just" got IBS. It can be a royal pain in the you-know-what, but is quite common and is never deadly.
You can get bowel cancer test kits from eBay or Amazon which you can use at home to set your mind at rest re bowel cancer but be aware that blood from piles will give a positive reading. Make sure you test some poo without any blood on it. You only need a tiny bit. The test kits are the same as those used by the NHS
Hi I have suffered from constipation long term. Long story short having seen a number of Doctors etc one of them recommended I try Basil Seeds It is not on prescription but it really works. Get them online from ebay.
I would ask for a FIT test regarding blood in your stools. This checks for blood in the bowel. If the test comes back with a higher level of blood in your stool you will be given a colonoscopy
You need to take some advice from others here, ditch the Pepsi, its full of rubbish and there's nothing nutritious in it. Eat unprocessed foods as much as possible, fresh fruit, pears are good, not too ripe, fresh fish if liked, vegetables, porridge sprinkled with seeds, lentil, legumes in moderation if you can eat them, drink plenty of plain water, anything that is healthy, but no junk food. The blood is more likely to be piles and or a small tear from constipation. If you sort your diet, the constipation will ease.
This should be a combination of stool and blood tests which look for inflammation markers. If these come out OK, then rest assured they will say that you don't have anything sinister. In these cases you won't be referred for a colonoscopy. Even if you do, you can still be diagnosed with IBS. In fact, in both cases getting a diagnosis other than IBS is statistically very low. Best to distract yourself whilst you are waiting for the results, keep yourself busy and try not to think too far ahead.
Blood with constipation, particularly bright red blood from fissures, haemorrhoids and/or your rear end taking a battering from hard stools is not uncommon, but good to go through the tests mentioned above to put your mind at ease.
Assuming it is just constipation you are dealing with, it is time to take charge of this yourself, as you have started to do.
Here are my tips for it:
What is your fibre intake like? To improve constipation in the short term you can try ground flaxseed on your breakfast, starting at 1 teaspoon and increasing at 1 teaspoon every 2-3 days - you'll need to consume extra water with it.
These foods are also high fibre:
8-9 Prunes
2 tablespoon chia seeds (soaked for 10-15 mins in milk or non dairy milk with cereal or water)
Shredded wheat (or if GF: Nutribrex)
60g Quinoa
Wholewheat bread
75g Whole grain pastas (if GF: Buckwheat)
2 Hard pears
5 Dried apricots
90g Raspberries
1 orange (contain a natural laxative)
2 kiwi.
I find that I need to have 1 orange or 2 kiwi a day and then another high fibre fruit later in the day to help with BMs. Introduce new foods and any fibre increases slowly, starting with one new thing at a time, waiting for 2-3 days for a response and keep a food diary. You may not need to consume as much fibre as I do.
For breakfast I make a porridge of 4 tablespoon of oat bran and 4 tablespoon all bran (wheat bran), 2.5 small cups of water and microwave for 10 mins. I then mix in 2 tablespoon of chia seeds and 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed and leave to stand for 15-20 mins since the chia seeds need to form a gel. On top of that I place 8 prunes and eat. The best thing to do is to start with normal oats in similar quantities and, if needed, replace one of the tablespoons of oats with oat bran for a couple of days, carrying on doing this every couple of days until you get to 4 tablespoon of oat bran and 4 tablespoon of oats. Then start replacing with wheat bran in the same manner. You can then add the other ingredients one at a time. You might find you do not need the complete 'recipe' to have a BM. All these individual components are down to tolerance e.g. you may not tolerate wheat (see later about Alflorex), so it is best to keep a food diary (I do this on a spreadsheet) recording symptoms for up to 2-3 days after each change.
I also take 30 drops of ginger extract before bedtime to aid motility. You may need to work up the dose to say 7 drop increments each night.
Exercise can help with BMs. The government recommends 150 mins of moderate exercise (e.g. walking as if you are late for an appointment) or 75 of intense exercise (e.g. jogging) per week. I also have a bit of a walk around straight after breakfast to get things moving.
You need to ensure that you are drinking enough fluids (2 litres of fluid per day).
There is some good advice about constipation here:
There are also medications that help IBS-C (constipation dominant IBS). I suffer from IBS-C and have been prescribed Linaclotide for it. I also take Alflorex probiotic which has made me more tolerant to taking in the extra fibre I need for a BM.
Failing dietary measures, you can try Optifibre, which needs to be worked up to a dose according to instructions. You may not need the full dose - watch out for gas and increment to a level that is acceptable for you.
Some people are more prone to constipation due to their intestinal anatomy. Through colonoscopies I have been told that I have a long loopy (redundant) colon. This means that food takes longer to pass through and in the mean time the intestines have more time to suck out water from the stool, drying them out and causing constipation. I have found that I need to consume much more fibre than other people to have regular BMs.
I have also found useful having most of my food at meal times, leaving 4-5 hours of not eating between meals, eating my fruit snack before a meal. This means that your digestive system has time to process each meal. It also allows something called the MMC (migrating motor complex) to run which sweeps food waste from your small intestine into your large intestine. This only happens when you have an empty stomach. When people snack regularly, it prevents the MMC from working properly. I also find the larger meals help to push things along better than drip feeding through snacking.
I have started to try getting my fibre up. Been having weetabix in the morning and started putting chia seeds on top to. Been having g fruit during the day to. Apples, bananas, pears and oranges.
I have ditched the pepsi. Been drinking flavoured still water and squash.
But since I have been on the laxido my movements have been much better. No blood and no pain to pass. I am sure if I had issues and was bleeding higher up. I would have blood no matter what.
But not to be crude since I have been on the laxido my stools have been brown and no sign of blood at all.
I am going to try one sachet of laxido a day and hopefully the fruit and water will help. And then hopefully come off the laxido.
It is good that your doctor has ordered blood tests which may pick up inflammatory bowel problems, but it is wrong for any doctor to assume that bleeding from the bowel can be due to IBS and a colonoscopy would be the best step to get a proper diagnosis. I am 73 years old and had a positive FIT test in November on the routine Bowel Cancer Screening Service that is in place in the UK. I had a colonoscopy last Friday, privately, and the Consultant found 2 polyps which he said looked benign and they were removed, but am awaiting the histology. I was quite surprised to have the polyps as I am female - polyps are more common in men apparently, am only 8 st. 2 lbs, have never smoked, have never drunk alcohol, drink mainly plain water, exercise regularly and eat an organic diet where possible and hardly ever eat "processed" meat, and have plenty of fruit and veg, and there is no history of bowel problems in my family. Polyps are in the main benign, but can sometimes turn cancerous over time. I would urge you to keep insisting on the bleeding being checked out with a colonoscopy as much as to reassure you, if anything.
Just to help re-assure. I used to get lots of bright red blood. I had a colonoscopy and it showed a blocked diverticular pouch. After the colonoscopy it seemed to clear the pouch out and the blood disappeared. I have had IBS for 28 years and Diverticular disease about 10 years. I only see blood now if I am extremely constipated and I tear.
Constipation causes haemorroids which cause bleeding.. you'd be better taking the laxatives or increasing fibre/having 2 tsps golden linseed with meals and a big glass of water. You can sprinkle them on top. Constipation is not good for anyone and can cause gut issues.
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