# Questions about food, Metamucil and blood in stool



## evawes1 (Nov 24, 2008)

Hey guys, first time posting. Be kind







Its gonna be a bit of a long post, but I hope you can read it and help put my mind at rest.I'm 25 years old, just recently my doc suggested that I had IBS. About 5 months ago at the peak of a really stressful few months I had constipation that lasted a week or so, I took laxatives but it went to the extreme and returned to constipation when I stopped. So I started taking Metamucil once a day. I have taken it ever since, gradually lowering to about a dose a day, but it was twice and at once three times (not sure if I went overboard or not lol). Since then I've been going daily, but I kind've never know whats gonna 'come out'. It might be nice and solid, possibly 'normal', it may be closer to diarrhea, but generally itll be a bit loose. I'm usually bloated on my left until I relieve myself, and it usually builds again from there. I have what I consider to be mucous, and kind of cramps along with the bloating sometimes, but no pain.Anyway, I basically turned myself hypochondriac because of it, reading the internet and with my vivid imagination. I went to the docs with it, and mostly because of the white mucous blobs I saw he took some blood/stool tests. They came back negative for... basically everything. None of the infections, inflammations or disorders, no signs of bleeding. Nothing abnormal in the blood tests. So he basically said I probably fall under IBS. I havent had any other symptoms like weight loss or fever or anything of those sorts that the doc asked.So after that explanation of where I am, I come to my current (almost daily) problem. I went to the bathroom today, it was a loose one, and I saw this red/orange/pink stuff in there. For example, one of the mucous type blobs was completely orange. There were a few pink type bits, and some general orangey/red bits. Not a lot, but noticable. It wasn't like full on red either - it may even have just been orange/brown and I was looking into too much, cause I'm ALWAYS scared of seeing blood. And I saw corn and peas lol. I had those for dinner the night before, but I had nothing red like tomato. However I had what I consider an extra dose of metamucil because I was just feeling a bit blocked.My questions come down to how food and stuff in my stool is affected by IBS. Considering that I've never really seen blood in there (although I've scared myself before seeing what I've come to believe as bits of tomato), and that the tests came back negative, it doesn't seem reasonable that suddenly theres all this visible blood in there. The orange/red stuff wasnt like a streak or something. But could it have been the metamucil, which is orange flavouring/colour? Considering the corn and peas I saw there, its almost like this stuff just went through me. Anyone now if IBS aides in undigested food through my system? Or am I just noticing it for the first time because I'm paying more attention?Additionally, I believe sometimes I see orange bits or parts to my stool, like its the metamucil. Typically its when my symptoms are more diarrhea like. So maybe this is an extreme example of this?I'm almost more angry than stressed, because just when I started to calm down about my symptoms and feel ok, this stuff happens and I get all worried. Please help out a fellow sufferer


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Food in stool is normal, IBS or not. It doesn't make IBS worse, nor does it indicate something much worse is going on. If you don't want to see bits of food in your stool you need to chew more. There are parts of the food that have to be mechanically ground up and the only place that happens is in the mouth.Blood doesn't turn orange even as it ages. It goes from bright red to dark red to black.Mucus can pick up colors from the stool.


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## evawes1 (Nov 24, 2008)

Thanks Kathleen, appreciate it. DO you think its possible that the orangeness of metamucil will make it through the stool? Not like colouring it orange, but seeing it in bits, like the mucous bit I saw? Once I had these loose, sticky orange stuff in there and I put it down to the metamucil.


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Some things colored with food dye will show up in the stool colorfully enough to be noticable. Some food dyes will also change colors and can cause some pretty dramatic looking stools (purple often turns bright grass green when it hits the pH changes).It isn't likely you will uncover something no medical test finds by closely analyzing your stool. All the variations and bits of this and that people use to set off their panic is totally normal and you would see them if you looked at a perfectly healthy persons stool as closely as you do your own.


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## evawes1 (Nov 24, 2008)

Thanks Kathleen, its pretty reasonable that I should trust the tests over what I can see with my eye.


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## IanRamsay (Nov 23, 2008)

hiTrust in kathleen, she is a IBS Encyclopedia. but just so you know you are not alone, i once had a couple of beetroot sandwiches on a wierd craving. next day i had a poo and i kid you not it was red, totally dark red, every tiny bit of it. well, i nearly fell over with fear and panic. couldent breath got the sweats the lot. called my GP and said "hell doc, im dying the end is extremely f*****g nigh" etc etc. turns out it was teh beetroot colour that simply hadnt broken down. the same can happen with food colours like sunset yellow or E110 etc. keep a food diary and try and match up what you eat to what you see in the loo. it will save a few near heart attacks!cheersIan


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## evawes1 (Nov 24, 2008)

Yeh thanks Ian, I can't imagine what would have happened if I ate beetroot and saw that... at least when I didn't think about food colour influencing the end result. I've begun to notice that when I eat tomatoes the day before, I will usually see bits of it in the toilet. I might not, but if I do I can nearly always link it back to that. Same with greens, like sometimes I must swallow a couple of peas whole in my mouthful, because I end out seeing whole peas!I guess I got stressed out this time because I havent eaten anything red the last couple days, only metamucil. So when I saw the orange colour, which I wasn't sure if there was red there aswell, I started to think about all sorts of things







I might try the lemon/lime metamucil or something non-orange (definitely not the cherry flavour lol) and see how things change.


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## mstafford0925 (Sep 24, 2010)

I have to tell you that every time I experience something like this, it freaks me out. I end up standing over the toilet freaking out about what's in my poo! When my IBS seems to be on the go, I get these thigns that are orange and look like blood at first, but then are the consistancy of tomato. Oddly enough, I didn't eat any tomatoes. I think it has to do with bile and mucus hardening. I almost know if an attack is going to come on cause my poo is either forest green, or has orange things in it... uhg.. Lately (the past week) my stomach has felt wreched. I feel a little nauseous, then it turns into extreme hunger and with in minutes I have to use the restroom. I can't quit going and after a couple times of this my whole abdomen is tired and empty. It's not painful it just feels stressed out and empty (almost a pulling sensation). I laid on my tummy and had my Mother rub my back so I could relax and sure as ###### (no pun intended) My tum relaxed and I almost returned back to normal. It is insane how our body will metabolize stress.. I am still headning to my Dr. today to make sure that these symptoms are to be expected though.


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## Jackmat (Jun 13, 2005)

Evawes1, I have dropped a short note in your profile.I was having problems similar to you. I was stressing out over the colour and shape of my stools and the more I stressed the worse it became. And like you, there was nothing physically wrong, it was mostly mental and emotional.Jackmat


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## anonymous313 (Jul 6, 2010)

I have had blood in my stool more times than I am comfortable with, but still can't find a reason.That being said, I have IBS-D and you seem to be saying you have IBS-C or both, and it seems like constipation can cause bleeding a lot more. Not sure exactly why, maybe the pressure, but I seemed to have read that while I was trying to find reasons for blood with IBS-D.


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