Question: Hello - I am a 37yr old Asian male. I consider myself to be in good athletic shape with my only health issues being I take 50mg of zoloft for GAD daily and I have high cholesterol. I usually go to the gym 2-3 times per week and I mix my time between weights and cardio.
Here is my concern: Last Monday I came down with the flu. Sore throat, congestion, fever, body aches, fatigue...the usual mess. I immediately started taking mucinex cold every 4 hrs to hopefully combat any congestion and break up my phlegm. In addition, I took cherry tussin to help combat my cough. Throughout, I continued to take mucinex and some Advil. I finally went to the doc on Wed and he gave me a ZPACK and stated I could continue with the mucinex, cherry tussin, and Advil. The following Friday I switched up to the 12hr Mucinex D hoping the pseudoephedrine would help better with my congestion. Anyway, that Sunday, I woke up, started my day and sometime mid-morning, I developed a bad bloody nose. I attributed it to the mucinex and thinning out the membranes in my nasal passages. What concerned me most was that on the same day I had a bowel movement and I noticed blood in the water of the toilet bowl. Not so much in the stool, but more in the water and in the toilet paper. It was a bright red. It looked as if it had dripped from my rectum. I have had 4 bowel movements since then, but no more blood in the water and/or stool.
-The nose bleed lasted approximately 10mins and then ceased. No further bloody noses since and it was the first and only incident. It was a decent amount of blood, but nothing crazy.
-The doctor knew I was on the Zoloft (been using it for 9 yrs. now)
-No rashes, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach ache. Just fatigue and headache from flu.
-Bowel movements seemed normal. No extreme pushing or any weird pains, etc.
*I immediately stopped taking any cold/flu medication (Mucinex) or Advil since the blood in my stool. I continue to take my zoloft.
*No incidents of bloody stool water since the initial incident.
All meds taken last week: Mucinex day/night; Mucinex D (2 TIMES); Advil; Zoloft 50mg; daily multi vitamin; immune booster (herbal); cherry tussin (2 TIMES); ZPACK (2PILLS FIRST DAY 1 PAY FOR 4 DAYS AFTER);
My last CBC was conducted approx. 5 months ago and aside from my cholesterol, all numbers were within range. I just ultimately want to know if the blood I saw in my stool and in the water, on the one occasion, is something I should immediately see my doctor for and something I should genuinely be concerned about or is it something that I can just monitor for now.