IBS and blood? help!

[PunkChick]

I've been having bad abdominal pains for about three weeks, it started as a dull ache but then started twinging more and it got really painful so i went to hospital and the doctor said i have bad irritable bowel syndrome.

SO i started taking tablets, muscle relaxants and its helped alot but the last couple of days i've started to get a vaginal bloody discharge, not loads but quite abit, like the first motions of your period. it was light pink and then brown discharge and then pink again.

Do you think because of all the muscle pain it could have made my menstruation start early or somethig more serious?

I'm not due on for another week or so so i'm worried.

has anyone had the same thing or any advice?

I guess i'll have to make another doctors appointment

[Brandye]

The possibilities are manifold and cannot be diagnosed over the net. Among the possibilities are that the doctor was wrong or that this is a mere coincidence of the events. We all have irregular periods from time to time and the general upset and bowel cramping could have triggered it. See another doctor.

[RAM MD]

Irritable bowel syndrome is a diagnosis of exclusion. Often as a physician, you can assume that the patient suffers from IBS based on their particular symptom set and often physicians will reccomend a course of treatment pending further investigation. There are countless medical and nonmedical conditions that can result in episodic abdominal pain, diarrhea, cramps....Your physician should do a pelvic exam on you and take the appropriate cultures, appropriate labs should be obtained to R/O certain medical problems such as diabetes, thyroid disease, pregnancy...a urinalysis should be performed and depending the initial results, a colonoscopy or other less invasive GI evaluations can be performed to assist with narrowing down your diagnosis.
Bleeding is not a common symptom associated with IBs and definitely warrants further investigation with your physician.

Hope this helps,
RAM MD

[RedRoses]

Dear Punkchick, please see your doc! Cause sometimes their first diagnosis is overruled by new symptoms. And whenever you feel that it's wrong, take action asap! The sooner, the better. Better be at your doc a time too often, when there's nothing severe going on, than be there too late. Stand up for yourself! Don't let them get away with not testing urine/stool or send you home without a physical exam.

Let me share a story. Not meant to scare you! Or to say your case is the same. But to underline the importance of you listening to your body and taking responsibility for it.

My bowels were very healthy a few years before, until a terrible case of abdominal pain, in which I let myself be belittled by my doc and went home like a good piggy going to the slaughter. Even though I was in severe pain and had brought urine and stool, which they simply through away. After months of pain and being tossed back and forward, in the hospital they diagnosed it had taken way too long to get me the right medication, so that the colon was very much irritated and internal bacteria totally of balance. It needed a long long long time to heal... Not to mention that in the meantime I had also suffered kidney-inflammation, presumably by the same bacteria that had caused infection in my bowels. That helas, remained untraceable, since heavy antibiotics had now taken care of it. My bowels have never been "ok" ever since, allthough I must admit they are getting better and I have had longer 'good' periods by now, it's still quite a nuicanse. Needless to say; I switched doctors after all this. Anyone could make mistakes, yet several in a row with not taking your patiënt seriously? I don't think so. But I've also cursed myself for not standing up for myself back then... My body is my responsibility. I'd encourage anyone to take that responsibility fully.