My Boyfriend Has Episodes Where He’s Very Bloated, Passes A

Posted on Tue, 4 Dec 2018

Question: My boyfriend has episodes where he’s very bloated, passes a lot of gas, his breath and burps smell seriously like poop. His stomach will cramp so bad he breaks out in sweats and he has diarrhea and passes a lot of bright red blood. Before when he has this happen, he normally vomits a lot and it smells like poop too. The current episode he’s had diarrhea for the last 2 days and passing bright red blood with every bowel movement. But today he doesn’t have the gas like the last 2 days. He’s weak and light headed and I’m assuming it’s from the loss of blood. Now, about 10 mins ago he had a manly headache come on and it’s really bad. One like never before!!
About 3 years ago a dr told him he’s high risk for cancer cause of his acid reflux over the years. He does drink, and drinks everyday and I’ve noticed for several months now his ankles have been really swollen.. He also takes a nexium daily. He doesn’t want to go see the dr cause he’s scared of what they may tell him. Please tell me what I should do. The headache he has is really scaring me now. I’m so concerned for his health but feel like my hands are tied

Answered by Dr. Lekshmi Rita Venugopal (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Advice to follow up with the emergency room/urgent care

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Welcome to Ask a Doctor service.

I have gone through your question in detail and I can understand your concern.

Given the history and symptoms your boyfriend is experiencing, the situation cannot be taken lightly. The possibility of alcohol-induced liver disease is a very important and primary consideration.
Alcoholic liver disease is associated with most of the symptoms like vomiting, bloody diarrhea, bloating, halitosis(bad breath), edema(leg swelling), and headache.

Blood investigations including liver function test, ammonia levels, metabolic profile, blood counts and imaging studies (like ultrasonography) of the abdomen are required at this point to come to a definite diagnosis.

It is very important to seek medical help as soon as possible. His symptoms are not recommended to be managed at home. The fact that he is experiencing vomiting and bloody diarrhea are concerning for blood loss, dehydration, and hypotension. Please be advised to follow up with the nearest urgent care/emergency room as soon as possible. Early diagnosis and intervention are very important for best prognosis.

Hope I was able to help you
Please let me know if I can assist you further
Regards,
Dr.Lekshmi

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Remy Koshy