Bleeding Ulcers

[Allen]

This is to inform others so bare with me. It could happen to you.

Monday afternoon I experienced some mild stomach pain exactly like you would expect from eating an un-ripe piece of fruit as I did with a banana. The mild pain lasted 3-4 hours and went away. I thought nothing of it. Also, Monday day I had a normal and regular bowel movement (I'm getting there). Monday night I had to go again. This time my bowels were "loose", still a common occurrence. I found afterward that the toilet bowel was filled with blood, mostly dark clotted blood which would indicate blood from the stomach and not anywhere downstream of the stomach. These identical BM's kept occurring throughout the late night and early Tues morning. By the time I went for my 4th visit I had become dizzy, nauseated, and was burning up with a hot sweat (not chills) due to the loss of blood. I had several occurrences after this too.

After this happened several times I estimated my blood loss at around 2 quarts. While this sounds far fetched my reading up on it somewhat confirmed it. I tried to look up how fast your body could make new blood but as you have blood leaking into your stomach it more than likely can't keep up. Going to the bathroom is only a measure of how much you're losing, not the rate it's pouring into your stomach. Frequency matters too. I had so much coming "in" that I never felt hungry since I was always full of blood. I read where the stomach tear can be like 1/4" to 2" so there can be a lot of variance.

Per articles read: An average human body weighting 180# contains 10.5 pints blood (1 1/2 gallons). I weight a little more than this so my blood level would be slightly higher. When you lose around 30% of your blood you start to become dizzy and nauseated (no mention of the fever/chills). If you make it to a 40% loss you will no doubt pass out and your organs will start to shut down. At that point blood would need to be given to you with no guarantee's of complete recovery. Beyond that you become worm food.

I write this to say beware, it could happen to you or anyone and I'm NOT out of the woods myself but the bathroom visits have reduced way down. I still can't walk far due to being dizzy when I stand. This happened to one of my sister-in-laws too. I am taking Prilosec OTC and Tums to reduce my stomach acid so healing can begin and it is working (?).

Bottom line:
You can get an ulcer w/o any warning.
You can lose a lot of blood fast and w/o a lot of discomfort till things get really bad.
You probably won't know you have an ulcer till you use the bathroom and one may not be available. Once this happens you will have to become a toilet hugger if there is a lot of flow.
With a large opening there's nothing you can do about how much blood you're losing and a visit to the ER would require stiches if you were to make it on time.

A lot of people get these on a less severe level. I've never had one before that I know of but in my case "when it rains it pours".

[S.A. Boggs]

Same symptoms that I had, mine was stage 4 colon-rectal liver cancer. Only a Dr/tests can advise otherwise.
Sam

[bruce]

My brother had dark blood in the toilet. He thought he'd be okay. Finally went to doctor. Test. Xrays, etc. Colon exam. Three times. Nothing. Finally found the source. Cancer in his throat. Lived four weeks and two days. Don't fool around trying to self-diagnose. Get to a doctor sooner than later. No good way to delay. He left a wife and two small children. Thank God he had a pension from his department. He'd been when them a little over 20 years. 48 years old. Sincerely. bruce.

[Art]

S.A.Boggs and bruce have very good advice. See a doctor. Even if you don't have cancer the results can be lethal. One of my best friends collapsed in the shower when he was still in his late 20s. His wife heard him fall, saw him and called 911. He had nearly bled to death from an ulcer, spent several weeks in the hospital. He said his only symptom was weakness but thought nothing of it. One of the most dangerous things you can tell yourself in a situation like this is "maybe it'll go away."

[dogtag]

Glad you're on the mend.

[lyman]

knew a Gent that had similar, a slow bleeder ulcer,

he always look off in color, and was sluggish as in tired,

docs finally found it and took care of it,

[kj47]

I hope you have a full recovery>

[oscars]

Over 80% of ulcers are caused by Heliocobacter pylori. Common diagnosis is by breath test followed by heavy antibiotic treatment for one to two weeks. Proton pump inhibitors are also given for two to four weeks. See a Doc to get this treatment cycle!

[Allen]

Update:

First off: I appreciate the kind words, suggestions, and comments.

Second: I would have updated sooner but had a setback yesterday. It appears everything stopped as quick as it started otherwise I wouldn't be here typing now.

W/O a bunch of unwanted detail like I stated in my op everything seems to be recovering. Do I think the Prilosec OTC made a difference? No, and certainly not that quick as it is time release, but perhaps my condition started because I had stopped taking it about 3 months ago. I have been taking this stuff for decades due to chronic heartburn (why I just happen to have it on hand). After giving up foods with gluten the heartburn went away and I stopped with the anti acids. Now I'm thinking my system may still be as acidic as before and the gluten may have been giving me an early indication of needing help. So, for now, back to regular dosage.

Strange

[Art]

So glad you're on the mend.

Acidity is definialey one of the symptoms of gluten intolerance. Some of the meds I'm on now cause stomach acidity and Alka Seltzer has become my friend.