Waiting for hospital

[Watercolourpencils]

I need a good cry/rant/handhold.

I’ve posted before about struggling with ibs and my cramps and diarrhoea.I’ve been getting some recital bleeding, not everyday but enough that I’m concerned. I’m waiting on a hospital appointment but I honestly don’t believe I’ll get seen this year or next year- the waiting list is enormous and it’s only a standard (non urgent) referral. I’ve called but it can’t be sped up. I’ve had poo tests and blood tests and both were fine which is a relief. No inflammation or coeliac. Calprotectin normal. My GP referred me to the the hospital due to the bleeding and no obvious cause for it.

I’ve had another bad flare up tonight and I want to curl up in bed and cry. I didn’t have diarrhoea or bad cramps so I didn’t expect it to be bad, but I went to the toilet and it’s extremely dark brown/black and it’s like sticky tar. Usually when I get bleeding it’s red and I’ve always presumed it was rectal because it wasn’t black, but recently I’ve started getting these black poos aswell. I didn’t eat dinner tonight as I wasn’t hungry so the black poo just came out of nowhere.

I’m so exhausted with it all. I know I should be grateful not to need an urgent appointment because it’s obviously deemed unlikely to be serious which I’m extremely relieved about, but equally I’m having diarrhoea, cramps, red blood and now black poos too.

I just want an answer and a way to stop these awful symptoms. I can’t afford to go private so just need to wait to be seen but I’m starting to get worried about it all. The black poo tonight gave me a fright but equally I know it’s much more likely to be harmless than it is something problematic, and I’m not even 30 yet so it’s unlikely to be anything serious thankfully, it’s just horrible not knowing what’s causing it and also not knowing when it will be fixed by.

I think I just needed a bit of a cry😥 these symptoms are ruining my life on a daily basis and it’s going to be so long before I get an answer or a treatment

Sounds terrible, has the gp given you anything for the flare ups?

My niece had issues in her mid 20s and was eventually diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (not saying that is what you have, there are many conditions with your symptoms). Getting a diagnosis was invaluable to her as her work started disciplinary action for all the time off she had off with flare ups, thankfully once diagnosed and she asked for reasonable adjustments due to disablity they were a lot more understanding.

I would keep pushing the gp as much as you can, keep calling, over stating symptoms and the impact it has on you to try to speed up the referral, might not help but worth a try. Have you tried to get a quote for private to see if it is maybe less then you think /achievable? Is there anyone who could help a little with the cost?

Hope your flare up settles down and you get some rest tonight.

Phone your doctor first thing tomorrow snd tell them you're having meleana (mal-eena) These are the black, tarry, sticky poops which indicate old blood from further up your digestive system.

Hopefully that'll spur them onto investigate more quickly.

100%. Go back to your GP with this new symptom.

Definitely make an appointment to speak to a GP today - with the new symptom you should be seen and action taken.

For help with managing ongoing symptoms after diagnosis, I’ve found that there are several charities with great websites which offer all sorts of advice on what and how to eat, over the counter meds, and home remedies for making life easier. They might help you manage your symptoms so that day to day is less uncomfortable for you.

As @Nelliephant1 says, this is a new and urgent symptom and must be flagged with your GP today. It should hopefully trigger an urgent referral pathway

When you saw your GP regards the IBS/blood loss did they prescribe you an Iron supplement/is this something you take? These often cause black/bloody appearance of stool.

Definitely recall your GP with new symptom for advice. As others have said black tar like stool is often associated with blood loss, which if prolonged leads to anaemic state which would explain your tiredness.

Do you take aspirin/ibuprofen for pain - they can cause bleeding if using them long term - if you are using these regularly it should only be under the guidance of your GP as they may want to either prescribed a gastric protecting medication alongside or some blood test to make sure it's appropriate. Paracetamol long term isn't associated with this risk.

Sorry, after reading back my OP I’ve realised I wasn’t very clear. I’ve had black stool before so it’s not a new problem, it just doesn’t happen very often and it’s usually red blood so presumably further down.

I just felt so upset when I saw it yesterday because I hadn’t expected it at all. I hadn’t had cramps or bad symptoms and then suddenly I had black poo.

I haven’t been able to speed up the appointment as my blood and pop tests were normal, so it’s a relief that it’s not deemed serious enough to need an urgent appointment and I know it’s probably just nothing, but I’m so tired of these symptoms and I just want an answer.

the IBS started 5 years ago and the bleeding started about 2 years ago, so I know it won’t be anything very serious because it’s been so long, but I just want an answer because at least if I know what it is, I can make it stop!