“Bleeding/loss of blood?”
I have a friend that I wonder if she isn't completely honest with her doctor. From what I hear from her and her son (I work with both) she sometimes needs to get blood transfusions she went to get blood work done today. She always complains her stomach is killing her throws up like every day. She gets really shaky looks pale. She's had an ultrasound all different tests with real answers. She told me she will bleed from her butt, then she will say it's from a hernia years ago. I'm just wondering if drinking straight vodka daily would be the cause of most of this. I believe she isn't telling her the whole truth. I know she's afraid to get admitted because she said she's worried about the withdrawal. The longest she said she has gone without is 20 hrs breaks my heart to see/hear her go through this. She's a great person. Thank you for taking the time to read this and respond!
Female | 49 years old
8 Answers
PathologistPathologist
Bleeding from anywhere is a serious issue. Bleeding causes anemia and other problems that needs to be addressed sooner than later. Bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract (stomach, small intestine, large intestine) is serious . Maybe she has a gastric ulcer based on your history. This needs to be addressed as soon as yesterday before anything else happened . Please, tell your friend to call 911 to be assessed in the ER. Thank you.
Yes, alcohol use can lead to GI bleeding and chronic and bad liver failure. She needs to be seen and take the advice of a liver specialist who can diagnose what's wrong and give her some advice to better care for herself.
She needs an EGD and a Colonoscopy.
The first thing that has to happen is for her to be honest with herself. If information is hidden from a physician, then it’s hard for us to order the necessary tests to figure out what the problem is. If she is truly bleeding from somewhere, she may already have liver cirrhosis and signs and symptoms associated with it.
She could be in trouble. If she is drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and reluctant to go to a hospital because she is worried about withdrawal, she could have liver disease. People with liver disease can have bleeding from the gut which may show up as blood from the butt or throw up blood so much that they die from it. Alcohol withdrawal can be treated in the hospital; easily and then she should go to detox center to get back to normal.
Alcoholics can die from GI bleeding. She needs to get help. You can't make her go to the hospital but you can be supportive and offer to help to make her decision easier. Solve her excuses for not going (who going to feed her pet, get mail, water plants, give her a rid, etc.)
Hello, I am sorry for your friend's situation. So to start with if a patient presents with a history of anemia and passing blood per rectum and has a history of heavy drinking then the next step is to do an endoscopy of the stomach and colon. That should provide the answers. Yes, vodka or any alcohol can cause inflammation of the stomach and pain and bleed, and if her drinking has progressed to cirrhosis then the bleeding can be bad. These are difficult situations and I would recommend that she be honest with her doctor, it is difficult to make the correct diagnosis with the wrong starting point.
Anemia is often the result of more than one thing at a time. Bleeding from the rectum might be benign such as hemorrhoids. Excessive alcohol use can definitely contribute to anemia. A good doctor should be able to figure this out and determine what the anemia is from and how to resolve it. The alcohol problem cannot be ignored much more.
