# Can anyone explain this?



## cromartie (May 23, 2009)

I've been having constipation problems since March, which coincidentally was the time I was on Cipro 500 mg. I've been on and off Miralax since, but ultimately quit because it was the cause of abdominal cramps/bloating/gas. Also gave me really loose, thin stools. Well since I quit it, no matter how much water I drink, fiber I eat, etc I am getting daily bowel movements that are hard, bigger and lumpy. Seems to be many pellets pressed together. They have mucus on them sometimes, as well as BRIGHT red fresh blood streaks on the outside occasionally. Been back and forth to the doctor since and I finally have a GI appointment next Tuesday. Family doctor did say he saw an anal fissure when I went in mid June. Cause of blood and mucus? Blood only appears on the larger bowel movements that are harder.So I'm passing these harder, lumpier stools everyday in the morning. Here's the weird part that I can't figure out. Some days I have to go back and pass one or two more movements an hour or two after the hard one. When I do, those stools are progressively softer and thinner. Also what feels like only a little came out ends up to be a long skinny movement almost a foot long! Also, it smells horrendous!! Sorry. Diameter ranges from a penny to a quarter on these. There's never any blood streaked on these. Sometimes they have quite a bit of mucus though, other times they look mucus free. Also feel slight abdominal cramps some mornings until I pass all the stool. Then I'm fine.Some days I only pass the hard movement and thats it for the day.And lastly, sometimes when I feel like I need to pass gas, its not just gas, so when I go wipe, its a ton of mucus with a few specs of red in (which I assume is blood).So what I've sorted this out to is the following:1. Colon Cancer? I'm 28, young for it, but not impossible. 2. Fissure/Hemorrhoid? Would explain the mucus and SMALL amounts of bright red blood. I also sometimes feel a burning/aching in my rectum.3. UC/Proctitis? Maybe started that ball rolling with the antibiotics?4. IBS with another thing like hemmorhid, fissure, etc?5. Dairy intolerance developed from antibiotics? Flora messed up?Main thing that boggles my mind is the stool that goes from hard to soft in matter of a few hours. I have a half hour appointment with the GI on Tuesday. What tests should I try to get them to administer in that half hour. Rectal exam? Proctoscope? Should I push for a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy if they find a rectal cause?Thanks...


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

CromartieHere is an excellent list of 10 questions to ask your Doc at your appointment:http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art...rticlekey=13683Just so you know, NO "tests" per se will be done on your first appointment. He/she may examine you and I _would_ ask them for sure to have a peek to check on that anal fissure.From there they may set up appointments for future diagnostics.I would just go in there and tell them your symptoms stating their onset, duration & frequency as clearly and consisely as you can. (Very much like you did for us here.) Then after the exam, ask those questions....Also just so you know as well.. what you describe sounds familiar to what I have read from others here.Keep us posted All the bestBQ


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Could be the Cipro upset the colonic flora.Does low doses of magnesium help? From 250-750 mgs of magnesium oxide daily. Some people seem to find that less bloating than miralax even though it is also an osmotic laxative.Might also be worth considering a probitoic to see if that rebalances things better. Some (like the strain in activia yogurt) seem to help constipated people be more regular.1. Colon Cancer? I'm 28, young for it, but not impossible.Unlikly, and blood would typically be in stool and not bright red.2. Fissure/Hemorrhoid? Would explain the mucus and SMALL amounts of bright red blood. I also sometimes feel a burning/aching in my rectum.Very likelyAlso constipation just by itself can increase mucus. It is non-specific but is used to lubricate the stool so it will move along.3. UC/Proctitis? Maybe started that ball rolling with the antibiotics?Usually causes diarrhea rather than constipation and often the blood is not bright red as it comes from higher up.4. IBS with another thing like hemmorhid, fissure, etc?Very likely5. Dairy intolerance developed from antibiotics? Flora messed up?Could be flora, Lactose intolerance tends to cause gas and diarrhea rather than constipation.


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## cromartie (May 23, 2009)

Here's an update on my current situationSymptoms:- Occasional blood streak on surface of stool, sometimes mixed with mucus. Blood hasn't been visually seen for 2 weeks now and has happened handful of times since March.- Mucus covers outside of stools. Variable amount from a lot on outside to just a small pieces. Color of mucus is white.- Stools vary from hard to soft. Lots of times the stool starts out hard and is soft at the end. Thickness varies from thick to long and rope like.- I have a bowel movement every day within 30 minutes of waking up. Sometimes another bowel movement follows a few hours later and is looser, thinner, more rope-like. No movements at night usually.- Sometimes lower abdominal cramps precede bowel movement. Goes away after movement though.- Occasional occurrences of rectal pain which feels like it's coming from inside rectum. Feels like a burning/pressure feeling in anus and/or rectum. Tailbone pain also present sometimes, maybe referred?- Appetite normal, no weight loss, no vomiting. - This morning had a stool that started out with pressed together pellets, and then was soft and formed at the end. The pressed-together pellets were marbled with a ton of white mucus. Upon investigation, I broke apart the pellets and saw that the inside was one BIG GLOB of white mucus. Also I swore I saw a spec of bright red blood in there on the surface of one of the pellets.Completely freaked out that I have a form of mucinous adenocarinoma which is colon cancer made of 60% mucus and lots of mucus is a typical symptom. With the mucus being marbled into the pellets, that means its mixed? Or do the pellets come into the rectum separately and then get pressed together? This shoots to heck the theory of hopefully just having a fissure or hemorrhoid because the red blood wouldn't have been able to get to the inside of those mass of pellets right at the end of my anal canal. I have a colonoscopy scheduled for 8/17 but this freaks me out.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

As the stool gets more constipated in consistency (which can be separate from frequency) it tends to get hard and pellet like.Anything and everything that upsets the colon in anyway causes you to produce more mucus than usual. It isn't just one cancer and no one else ever makes it. Everyone makes mucus every single day to lubricated the stools and protect the lining. When you get down to the pellet stools that can be hard to pass you tend to make more mucus to get them out.Bright blood on the surface of any stool (no matter the consistency) tends to be from something in the rectum or anus.Blood starts going brown once it is out of the vessels. There also can be red in stools from something you ate.Try not to freak out as that makes all symptoms of everything worse (easier said than done, I know). One thing may be to just ignore what comes out of you and flush without looking. If you poke through stool long enough you can find something that may be normal that will seem off and can freak you out. The test is soon and that will get it sorted so there isn't much good worry will do you at this point.I really can't tell from the definition, but it sounds like the mucus in that cancer is in the tumor, not that it produces much more mucus that gets on the stool.


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