Please don’t look if you’re easily grossed out but...

[crapmumalertttttttt]

I have inflammatory bowel disease. Bleed on and off. Been found to have mild inflammation.

Just been to the toilet and the bowl was covered in blood and this was the loo roll. Is this something I should urgently get checked out or wait until the morning? Feel okay in myself, been very fatigued though as working a lot.

Wouldn’t usually come here to ask but baby is asleep upstairs and just wanted some opinions,

Gross photo attached

A friend had ulcerative colitis and found that chinese medicine really helped him. The stuff he had to brew up stunk the house out but he was able to stop the steroid foam enema things in six weeks and went on to have a full recovery.

Totally normal flare (have UC) but definitely not normal for anyone - hope that makes sense! That’s pretty much exactly what my childhood looked like everyday. When was your diagnosis?

I’d have thought bloods and a course of steroids and iron at a minimum. If you’ve already got a sample bottle at home, I’d get one ready as they’re likely to want one. As PP said, call IBD nurse and think of everything you can - blood loss, any weight loss? Lack of appetite? Mucus, consistency of BM and frequency. I’ve never met an IBD nurse that wasn’t a superstar. If you don’t know the number for them, your GP will have it.

I am so sorry that you didn’t get the treatment you needed in A&E - I’m very surprised they didn’t wait
for you to see your consultant.

Hope they nip it in the bud quickly for you. Flares are the worst

This sounds very frightening. I don't have anything to add, just wanted to send you some virtual hugs.

Hope your going back OP. Sorry your going through this, sounds very scary

Hello, you poor thing. I dont know how often you're going, but the blood loss, exhaustion and chills sounds like you are in the midst of a flare and quite a bad one to me. This was where I was before I was admitted for surgery- ( eventually given infliximab which brought me back and I've been on immunosuppressants ever since)

I'm really surprised they packed you off home- did they do your bloods, CRP, calpro test etc? Did anyone listen to your heart or check your hydration levels? Did anyone examine you? You need this nipped in the bud urgently, possibly with a course of IV steroids- in hospital- are you on any other IBD medication at the moment?

I'm so sorry for all the questions but this is one of those situations where you need a second opinion from someone who is experienced in IBD- do you have an IBD clinic you can call or can you present at another A&E?

It sounds like this isn't or hasn't been normal for you, so while other IBD sufferers may live with this level of bleeding, it's not normal for you and there is a risk that not addressing it may lead to bowel perforation or unavoidable stoma surgery if it's left too late.

Sending huge hugs

We're you not examined?

I hope by your silence op that you are now being looked after properly or resting as you need to. Sounds like a flare and they should have given you steroids/a scan/blood tests, hopefully they did. Let us know how you’re doing when you can, it’s such an up and down disease, isn’t it? (UC here)

I had no idea people had to put up with this, how horrendous for you :( really hope you've been seen to now and taken seriously

@crapmumalertttttttt I really hope you’re ok.

I have Crohn’s and this has been quite normal for me on and off over the past four years.

I do hope you’ve been able to contact your Gastro team? IBD nurses are worth their weight in gold and are often my first contact if things get worse.

Do you have an IBD nurse you can contact? I really do hope so. What meds are you currently taking?

Hope you've managed to get hold of your ibd nurse. Keep an eye on your temperature and heart rate and try and stay hydrated. Hope they get your sorted soon.

Sorry, I should have provided more info.

I’ve had a sub-total colectomy in the past with a stoma for a year, and now I have a reversal, but UC is back in my rectum.

I don’t have an IBD team but I have a consultant who is impossible to get hold of.

They gave me a quick rectal examination and said the bleeding had stopped but it hasn’t.

I’ve been sleeping all day so sorry for the radio silence. I’m going to call the GP tomorrow to ask for some more steroid enemas and see where I go from there

Ahh @crapmumalertttttttt you have my sympathy, it’s absolutely soul destroying and scary isn’t it? I remember the terror of the amount of blood I lost the first time.

When I’m in a flare it’s like this for me, people who don’t have an IBD have no idea what it’s like, they just think it’s a bit of diarrhoea 🤦‍♀️

This is very similar to what I had a few weeks ago but I was admitted (kind of) into hospital, for a few hours, then sent home! I’m still awaiting my urgent tests....

You need to try and contact your consultant, email/telephone their secretary, get hold of your Gp and take a stool sample to them, you probably need some really high dose steroids and quite probably an urgent endoscopy to find out what’s going on.

@EmmaWithTheGreatHair my IBD team is shocking not every area has a good one. The last IBD nurse I spoke to mocked my symptoms and told me to stop being so dramatic...eventually my GP did some bloods/stool sample tests and my calprotectin level came back at 1968!

Ah ok, that's quite key info OP So sorry to hear that after going through all of that you're experiencing a flare. IBD utterly sucks. Mine began as proctitis, its really miserable and I bled a lot at times during a flare. It did eventually spread further up the colon.

I Had some success with predfoam ( expanding arse foam) but ultimately for me it was whole system immunosuppressants that were/are required. Might there be any risk that it's pouchitis, or are you already diagnosed with it in the proctal region?

I hope you can see your GP soon and tell them what you need, and get an appt with your IBD clinic x