DD's perfect mustard colored stool STILL has blood in it...Help!

[Oonah]

For 2 days dd has had beautiful mustard colored stool...but twice I've found blood in them.
I don't know what to do next...give it time, maybe she's still irritated and needs time to heal -or- take more things out of my diet - there's not much left believe me

I see a normal stool and I feel inspired, motivated...I feel like I can actually do this...then I see blood and I immediately crash. It's really taking its toll.

Any advice?

I also want to ask....if your allergic LO gets blood in their stool when they have a reaction, what does it look like?
Forgive me for doing this, but here's a photo of the stool/blood, is this what you see when your LO reacts and has blood in their stool?

DIAPER

One more quick ?.... Is dairy the only allergy that presents with blood in the stool or can a reaction to any food result in blood?

[xekomaya]

Sorry I don't know your story. Do you know what the reaction was that caused the blood in the first place? With ds's most recent reaction to eggs he had blood for 2 days and then dried/ brown specks that I believe were dried blood for 3 days. 2 days of blood might be one reaction, or it might be something else.

And no, dairy isn't the only thing that causes blood. As I mentioned, ours was eggs. I believe it did look similarly to your diaper photo, but we EC and it has always been in a potty so I'm not entirely sure.

[Chinese Pistache]

Mama, it's hard to tell in the photo but is that bloody mucus? Because from what I've read (and I think I even asked about it here) blood from allergies tends to be little flecks or threads of blood. Bloody mucus, otoh, can be serious. Read this site and see if it applies: http://www.drjaygordon.com/developme...ricks/poop.asp

Red streaked stools
This usually comes from bleeding in the lower intestine or rectum. Most often it is caused by rectal fissures which are tiny "cuts" around the circumference of the anus. This can be a reaction to dairy in mom's diet. Elimination of all dairy is the first line of defense in this situation. I have seen countless babies who had blood in their poop which resolved when mom stopped all dairy products and returned with even a small amount of milk or cheese. Other dietary changes may be needed for breastfeeding moms. Formula fed babies lose blood from the lower intestine when they drink cow milk formula and some have the same losses on soy formula. Occasionally, this "micro-hemorrhaging" can become visible as blood streaking on the surface of the stool. Persistent or increasing blood in the stool or blood mixed with mucus (described as "currant jelly" stool in the texts) requires an immediate call to your doctor.

[changingseasons]

No- dairy is the most common cause of blood, but any allergen can do it. DD just had blood from my stevia.

Can you share what you're still eating now? Maybe a second pair of eyes can see something that might be allergenic.

[Oonah]

I think corn was our culprit...I wasn't looking for hidden corn. I am now on the case and happy to report a blood free mustard yellow stool this evening, I am thrilled....cautious, but thrilled.

: no more blood no more blood no more blood :

I did talk to my pedi yesterday, we're going to send in a stool sample next week just to rule out virus etc...our pedi has offered a referral to a GI doc. I may make the appt, it will take us time to get in I'm sure. I'm hopeful this was just from the hidden corn and that we're already on a positive, healing track...and we won't need to keep that appointment.

Thank you so much for help...again

[NKMama]

My son had red blood in his dipe like that on day 2 already. It was more threads rather than mucous. I removed dairy, OJ and peanuts and it was gone in a day and hasn't returned. I still think it was the peanuts more than anything, since I was eating them nonstop during labor and hadn't eaten much else.

[LaurieG]

My dd's diapers can look just like that when she is bleeding (right down to the type of diaper ). Sometimes the blood is mixed in with the mucous, sometimes just specks or strings. So IMHE bloody mucous can be a food allergy reaction. Also, we get blood from a number of different foods - dairy, eggs, and soy at least.

On the other hand, bloody mucous can be a sign of something more serious so I'm glad you are getting those checked out.

[Oonah]

Originally Posted by LaurieG

Sometimes the blood is mixed in with the mucous, sometimes just specks or strings.

That's been our experience too.

Still more blood today and it was stringy and specks.

[Treasuremapper]

Hi -- I'm really sorry to say this, but in my opinion you need to take your child to a doctor to rule out something more serious. Sadly, my dd had an intestinal birth defect but that was diagnosed when she vomited. I'm not saying this to scare you, but it is not likely that blood in the stool is being caused by something you ate or drank.

I am sending you hugs and love, and it's just to rule something out.

[LaurieG]

Just want to prepare you - we did go see a GI and they immediately wanted to do a colonoscopy b/c the blood didn't resolve with eliminating dairy from my diet and because it looked atypical.

I was sure she was reacting to foods in my diet so I refused, but it was such a hard call to make.

Maybe the GI you see (if you decide to go that route) will be less invasive procedure happy, or maybe that is the right path for your LO. It wasn't for mine and so I ended up really frustrated with the whole experience.

Good luck!

[Oonah]

Originally Posted by Treasuremapper

Hi -- I'm really sorry to say this, but in my opinion you need to take your child to a doctor to rule out something more serious. Sadly, my dd had an intestinal birth defect but that was diagnosed when she vomited. I'm not saying this to scare you, but it is not likely that blood in the stool is being caused by something you ate or drank.

I am sending you hugs and love, and it's just to rule something out.

Thank you, it doesn't scare me...we just want to figure this out. This is my ped's advice also. Today I am making an appt and attempting to capture a stool sample for more testing. The good thing is she's fine otherwise, happy, gaining weight, and this doesn't happen every stool....well it's not visible blood in each stool.

Originally Posted by LaurieG

Just want to prepare you - we did go see a GI and they immediately wanted to do a colonoscopy b/c the blood didn't resolve with eliminating dairy from my diet and because it looked atypical.

I was sure she was reacting to foods in my diet so I refused, but it was such a hard call to make.

Maybe the GI you see (if you decide to go that route) will be less invasive procedure happy, or maybe that is the right path for your LO. It wasn't for mine and so I ended up really frustrated with the whole experience.

Good luck!

Thanks for the heads up. Did they do any other testing?

[LaurieG]

Originally Posted by Oonah

Thanks for the heads up. Did they do any other testing?

No. They just wanted to do the colonoscopy. The pediatrician had already done stool cultures and RAST testing and everything was negative so maybe there really wasn't anything else to test for.

I called to "postpone" the scope on the basis that she was responding to changes in my diet. Then I called a few weeks later to say she was definitely reacting to foods but we still hadn't figured out exactly which ones and did they want to see her again (b/c she WASN'T gaining weight and was slightly delayed in development) and they said "as long as she continues to do well we don't need to see her back".

You may have a totally different experience. I don't think the person we saw and I communicated very well. I've since learned there are several things they could have tested for during the scope that maybe would have made it worth it, but the information I was getting at the time didn't seem to me to justify it to risk.