New and needing advice from experienced IBS'ers

Hi pjbparrot,
Welcome to Healing Well :)
Mucus is common in IBS and yes you can pass it without stool however I'm just a little concerned about the blood. It could be harmless hemmies but you need to make sure. Have you had any tests to confirm your IBS? Colonosocpy, barium enema? Is this the first time you have bled?

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_{Dx: IBS 1989, Diverticulosis 2004, UC 2005, Sjogren's 2006}

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Hi and thanks, yes it was just streaks inside the mucus, pink/red streaks, nothing dark or black. The mucus however was like jelly, got me kinda worried

hi
im too having the same symptoms! let me tell u my whole story.. im 23 and had a baby a yr ago. about 3 months post partum i started having loose stools which were attribuites to postpartum thyroiditis. after my thyroid problem resolved i still continued to have loose stool which was then attributed to ibs, but i had no testing done. then i started to alternate, had diarrhea, constipation, thin stool, mucus stool.. had it all. over the last few weeks i have noticed on several occassions that i have what looks like bloody mucus in my loose stool. this is really frightening for me. the bloos is pretty bright red, and im scare.. what if its cancer. if anyone has symptoms like these, please let me know. i dont have this bloody mucus all the time, but i have seen it prob 3 times. im also thinking what if its not blood and just undigested tomatoe,, because i see undigested tomato skins in the stool too, sorry for the nasty details. pls help me out
thanks

Lelele, Lil's right on: you should see your doctor. Hemmroids are VERY common in women who have been pregnant and they will bleed bright red. But you do need to get checked out just to make sure. But don't worry yourself into a tizzy; colon cancer is not very common, especially among young people. IBS and hemmroids are hundreds of times more common. But bleeding can also be a symptom of Inflammatroy Bowel Disease, which will need treatment, so that's why you need to see a doctor to make sure that you "only" have IBS.

Have you had your hormones tested? There seems to be a link between women with hormonal problems and IBS. If your hormones didn't get straightened out after you had your baby, then that may be why you're having some bowel problems now. Also, changing your birth control can sometimes cause problems. If you're on some now that you weren't on for a long time before, or are on a different kind than before, you might explore going off of it or changing to a different kind. I think it was Lil who found her IBS got better when she got off the Pill. But some women who have naturally irregular hormones may find that BC makes them better, not worse, so that's something to think about too if you're not on anything right now.

Another thing you will want to explore with your doctor is getting a stool sample tested for c. difficile. This is a bad bacteria that you can get in your guts. It usually causes pain and diarrhea, but the symptoms can vary. It is actually quite easy to catch this in the hospital from toliet seats and I have read about a woman getting it who just went in for one night when she was giving birth.

Oh, and if you drink anything with red dye in it, like fruit punch, Jell-o, or Kool-Aid, you may want to stay off of it for a little bit while you continue to monitor your stools. Kool-Aid, I know from firsthand experience, WILL color your poops red, most especially if they are loose and/or watery to begin with. I haven't noticed this happening with natural foods, but certainly with the ones with a lot of dyes.