I was wondering if anyone else has ever dealt with a GI bleed. I think I have a possible slow bleed, and have had for a few months. Just a quick background: I have a St Judes mechanical valve in the mitral position. I recieved a Bjork Shiley mitral valve 32 years ago, and had it replaced with an adult sized St Judes valve 21 years ago. So I have been on Coumadin for 32 years. I was 2 years old when I started on it, so I don't notice any side effects, because I don't remember life any other way. that being said, I don't worry about Coumadin much. Most of the things I've read on here, I've never been told and never thought twice about. For instance, I eat brocolli and salads, and I shave with a non electric razor, and so forth, and I've been pregnant four times, miscarried twice, and carried two to term. I know it's not the way most on Coumadin do things, but it's how I've always done things. My doctor isn't worried about me.
Anyways, I get a certain pain in my neck/shoulder when I am bleeding internally. (only happened after delivering both of my babies) I have had it a few times in the last year or so. Yesterday I had the pain again, so I started looking up internal bleeding symptoms online. One of the things mentioned was black, tarry stools. I have had them often in the last year or so, but not in the last few weeks. I didn't know why they were like that, and never researched it. It wasn't that big of a deal to me at the time. Online, my symptoms also pointed in a GI bleed. Since my stools don't look like that now, I'm not going to go to the doctor for a scan. If they start looking like that again, I think I will go in. I got my INR drawn today, and am still waiting on the phone call for results. Basically, I was just wondering if anyone else has dealt with a GI bleed and what they did for it.
I bled internally after both of my C-Sections, and had to be transfused. My last C-Section was 17 months ago, and I think this may still be related to that. I was left with my incision open and had to have my husband pack it with sterile gauze twice a day. I had two hematomas that I had to let my body reabsord, but the bruising from them was still there a year later. It is still slightly discolored, but they say sometimes when you have that much bleeding, the skin stays discolored, so I don't know. Wow, that was long! haha
Anyways, I get a certain pain in my neck/shoulder when I am bleeding internally. (only happened after delivering both of my babies) I have had it a few times in the last year or so. Yesterday I had the pain again, so I started looking up internal bleeding symptoms online. One of the things mentioned was black, tarry stools. I have had them often in the last year or so, but not in the last few weeks. I didn't know why they were like that, and never researched it. It wasn't that big of a deal to me at the time. Online, my symptoms also pointed in a GI bleed. Since my stools don't look like that now, I'm not going to go to the doctor for a scan. If they start looking like that again, I think I will go in. I got my INR drawn today, and am still waiting on the phone call for results. Basically, I was just wondering if anyone else has dealt with a GI bleed and what they did for it.
I bled internally after both of my C-Sections, and had to be transfused. My last C-Section was 17 months ago, and I think this may still be related to that. I was left with my incision open and had to have my husband pack it with sterile gauze twice a day. I had two hematomas that I had to let my body reabsord, but the bruising from them was still there a year later. It is still slightly discolored, but they say sometimes when you have that much bleeding, the skin stays discolored, so I don't know. Wow, that was long! haha
and thanks for the kind words. They put my mind at ease. 
