Blood in your stool needs to be addressed by a doctor but it can be can be caused by Crohn's/Ulcerative Colitis, burst blood vessel, hemorrhoids, etc. It can be caused by something very serious or not serious, but regardless, it's not normal.

I've been on dexelant for a few years for bile reflux and have never had bleeding issues from it. You can ask your pharmacist if that's been known to be related to the medication. That would at least rule the dexelant out.

I am guessing since you are saying you do not want to go to a GI for a colonoscopy that you do not know if you have Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis; or some other cause of intestinal bleeding. If that is the case you really need to talk to a doctor about seeing blood with a bowel movement. It could be nothing more than a hemorrhoid or straining, not drinking enough water. However blood with bowel movements can also mean that you have a chronic disease that requires medication. Like Crohn's or UC and the sooner it is diagnosed and treatment is started the better. Trust me on that! Blood could also mean colon cancer. The sooner that is found, diagnosed, and treatment is started the better also.

I don't want to exactly scare you by dwelling on the bad things that it could be, but I don't want you to just put this off and think that it is nothing. This could be very serous. You at least need to talk to your GP doctor about what is going on even if you do not see a GI doctor. A GP can tell you if the medication you are taking could be causing you bleeding. They can also do a sort of 'finger probe', for lack of better description, to sort of check for hemorrhoids. You need to at the very least talk to a GP about this.

I understand completely about not having the insurance. I did not have insurance when I first became very ill. I did not have just a little blood now and then but was drastically ill all of a sudden. I had to pay for various meds and stool sample tests out of pocket. We were trying to rule out infections and parasites first for me. Then I paid for a sigmoid scope out of pocket. Which lead to diagnosing UC by a GP and paying for more expensive meds out of pocket while trying to work while very, very ill. Eventually I had to start seeing a GI even without insurance. I even did a colonoscopy without insurance. I was expensive, but they give you a discounted price for these things when you are paying cash. They also do payment plans for most things if you set it up in advance.

I tell you this just so you know that you are not the only one to deal with something frightening without insurance. To let you know that it can be done and that it is important to be done for your health.

Good luck. I hope it is nothing more than a hemorrhoid or some other simple cause. Please do get it checked out. If it is Crohn's or UC please come to this board for support. :)

Rachel

Blood in your stool is never a good sign, but even if you don't have ins you have to get it checked out. It could be something simple or it could be something very serious that must be taken care of.
I know it's not always easy, but this is your life you are talking about. I didn't have ins when I first got sick and a couple of GI's offices refused to see me without ins,, by the time my GP insisted I go to the ER I had almost died. Are there any clinics in your area? If the blood gets bad enough just go to the ER and worry about the bill later.
Best of luck to you!!