Beat: MURDER IN THE TOILET (possibly NSFW, definately gross)

[ROADHEAD]

do some research on Anal Fissure

[Quicksilvre]

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Whoa, I have never heard of this happening but if it is true, this is the wrong forum to post about it. [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] Um, I would really consider going to the doctor.

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You mean Health and Fitness, presumably. I understand the thinking, but I definitely think this is a beat, no?

I've been in contact with my doctor and I will be seeing him soon, in less than a week.

[holland3r]

I used to work in a digestive cancers lab. Generally, if the blood is bright red there's nothing to worry about -- the blood is oxygenated and has therefore come from near the anus from like a fissure or hemorrhoid or something.

If the blood is dark, however, it has come from somewhere higher up in the intestine and could be a symptom of GI cancer or precursor legions -- oh noes!

[Quicksilvre]

UPDATE:

Got my prednisone. My doctor wants me to take 30 mg a day (10 x 3 times a day). Hopefully this will improve me enough to concentrate on school, which starts on the 27th. I'm not doubled over in pain and I don't necessarily think I'm getting worse, but the on-again off-again cramps and pain made the weekend (esp. Saturday) fairly unpleasant.

[Quicksilvre]

UPDATE #2:

Prednisone has done nothing for me so far. I'm now up to 40 mg/day (the maximum for me) and I'm still getting cramps, blood in the water, etc. It's actually not coming very often (only once every other day) but it's enough to alarm my doctor. He's made it clear that this is the end of the line for me; any sort of downturn here means IV steroids/hospital/end of semester.

My God, this sucks.

[LOLDONKBETZ]

u probably have cancer...

[Aces McGee]

[ QUOTE ]
UPDATE #2:

Prednisone has done nothing for me so far. I'm now up to 40 mg/day (the maximum for me) and I'm still getting cramps, blood in the water, etc. It's actually not coming very often (only once every other day) but it's enough to alarm my doctor. He's made it clear that this is the end of the line for me; any sort of downturn here means IV steroids/hospital/end of semester.

My God, this sucks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry to hear this.

Has the doctor said how long he plans to keep you on the prednisone if it's not working? It's nasty stuff. And my understanding is that starts to lose its effectiveness; the body gradually builds up a tolerance to it so you need a higher dosage to get the same effect. My pediatric gastroenterologist had me on it for like six months once, and when I switched doctors, my new doc was appalled.

-McGee

[Quicksilvre]

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Has the doctor said how long he plans to keep you on the prednisone if it's not working? It's nasty stuff.

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Up until a couple of days ago the plan was to knock me from 30mg to 20mg on the 11th (about two weeks after I started) and to see him three or four weeks after that. I'll have to call my doctor tomorrow to see what he wants now.

[mmbt0ne]

I had some blood in my colon once (probably one of these diseases said my GP, but I never went to the specialist) and it was some of the worst pain I've ever felt. Ugh, I was a wreck that night.

[Quicksilvre]

[ QUOTE ]
I had some blood in my colon once (probably one of these diseases said my GP, but I never went to the specialist) and it was some of the worst pain I've ever felt. Ugh, I was a wreck that night.

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Yeah, the pain (when it gets bad) is absolutely awful. The last time I was in the hospital the nurses had to keep me nice and tanked on fentanyl the whole time.

Since someone talked about this earlier: the blood really isn't the issue, it's the cramps, and the meds. I'm taking two different steroids right now, each of which have typically been enough to get rid of my symptoms in five to seven days. I've been on them for two weeks now, and I just got the dosage upped to the max on prednisone. I'm still pretty functional, but this can't go on forever.