Pooing blood...help i'm at my wits end.

[Tinkerisdead]

Firstly my dh is not a doctor as my name suggests.

Im really hoping some experts may come along and reassure me a bit here. Long story as short as possible.

Dd2 is 5 weeks and been pooing blood since 4th march. Stool samples are inconclusive so i'm putting another one in in the morning. She is exclusively breast fed and her poo is green/yellow with seeds but either blood streaked mucus, worsening to blood stained water to its worst on friday where blood just squirted out.

The current hypothesis is cows milk protein intolerance and so i've been dairy free for six days with no real improvement. Two normal poos in that time. I do have an amino acid formula to try if dairy free proves too hard but i'll fight tooth and nail to avoid.

The backstory. I developed pulmonary embolism after her birth so i'm on blood thinner injections and warfarin. I also had a c section scar infection and was on flucloxicillin and metronidazole. Thats when dd started having diarrohea. The bleeding started three days in and still continues. I finished the course ten days ago.

The dairy intolerance could fit but dd shows no signs of improving. I know it must be best to just keep feeding to give her antibodies etc to help her bowel heal but i feel sick that my milk may be causing this. My only 'issue' is that she Feeds like a dream but losing interest when the milk slows. Ive been keeping her on one boob per feed, revisiting the same one for comfort feeding to ensure shes not gassy and green etc from foremilk and thats not helping. Tonight ive tried switch feeding and she seems more fulfilled. Shes fallen asleep so i may try to join her.

Can anyone offer some advice. It just feels like the food intolerance was wheeled out as a cure all answer without any real questioning.

I wouldn't restrict her to one breast per feed, block feeding will reduce your supply.

Could it be a temporary lactose intolerance caused by the antibiotics?

I dont know much about the effects of the antibiotics to be honest. They are quite strong but safety level 2 for bf i was told. I was warned they may cause diarrhoea which right on cue they did, how long would the temporary intolerance last. And wouldnt the lactose in my milk spark it off too?

She's been feeding every two hours one boob then bored etc or falling asleep. She cluster feeds at night as slept all day where i alternate boobs maybe each hour to try to empty each one as she feeds in short bursts all the time dozing in between. But then i worry thats the effect of the poo problem

Are you worried about the medication? There is a helpline you can call for detailed information, or if you can get hold of your local la leche league leader, they have access to this database too.

If the antibiotics have irritated her gut they could cause lactose intolerance. The lactose in breastmilk will be what's bothering her now, but breastmilk is the best thing to heal the gut once the anti-bs have stopped.

My midwife is a peer support worker etc and she checked all meds which appear fine. I just dont want to trust its cows milk protein thats a problem when it started bang on with the ab's. What rita says makes sense as it would be the intolerance but coincide with the ab's. But how long is the recovery and when could i reintroduce dairy if at all now?

If it is lactose intolerance then the dairy won't make a difference. Has the GP tested her poo for lactose intolerance?

Not sure if this is of any help, but I also had a c section infection and was prescibed an antibiotic (can't remember the name sorry). When I told them I was breastfeeding, they would not prescribe me an oral antibiotic because the one concerned would make the baby very ill and when I asked in what way they said severe stomach upset and diarrhea. The GP took advice and prescribed me a gel version of the antibiotic as this was less likely to cause any ill effect

And I really hope that she gets better soon

I couldn't see anything on LactMed about Flucloxicillin but there was this on Metronidazole - toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/f?./temp/~db4HIV:1

Looks like it is pretty safe for breastfed babies but there is a mention of diahorrea and secondary lactose intolerance:

A case of diarrhea and secondary lactose intolerance was possibly caused by metronidazole in breastmilk transmitted to the infant in the early neonatal period.[13]

Just found the gel (am in the middle of a house move and it turned up). It was metronidazole-they wouldn't give me the tablet form because I was breast feeding and said the oral form would make my baby unwell with stomach upset if I fed whilst on it.

I hope that your daughter is getting better and that things are improving for you.

Sorry you are having a tough time of it. Are you in any pain at all when breastfeeding? There is no way it could be your blood from bleeding nipples is there? My friend's DD was throwing up blood that turned out to be hers.

Just a not Dairy free really needs to be tired for at lest 3-4weeks before you may see any improvement. So keep going on that one just in case.

Thank you fir the further responses. The scar is infected again so I'll ask about the gel at my postnatal check. DD has had normal poo since sat but i'm being religious about the dairy free. Im utterly convinced the tablets caused a problem as the symptoms started straight away when i went on them. I was pretty cross cos when the gp told me they may cause diarrhoea and i wasnt happy, he suggested i didnt breastfeed for a week, which stunned me.

This happened to my baby when he was on antibiotics for a urine infection. The doctor at the hospital said it was a stomach bug he picked up in hospital. He has had a bit of blood yesterday which I put down to his cold. Could it be a bug?