My friend has been having several health problems which include stomachaches, weight loss, throwing up blood (easily after a meal), bloody nose, headaches, extreme pain on the right side around/ below her hip, and sleeping problems, which may or may not be a part of the health problem.
After reading through some health books, I thought it could be ulcer's, because it listed many of the symptoms that she is experiencing. Her mom's side of the family has been known to have "stomach problems", too.
She has already seen several doctor's, but they couldn't tell her anything because their "not as advanced in medicine" in her country.
Would anyone else be able to suggest something? Because I would like to try and help her as soon as possible, since its been a problem for awhile.

Not trying to scare you, but could also being colon cancer or some type of digestive cancer.

This is serious.

Is she taking any prescription drugs?

Has she been on antibiotics? Steroids?

Is there a medical history?

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Let Food Be Your Medicine And Medicine Be Your Food.(Hippocrates)

Yes, she's on some prescription drugs, but I'm not sure what sort of medicine it exactly is. I believe they're just painkillers. She also takes aspirin for her headaches, but I know if you have ulcers you can't do that.

When she was here (US), she did some tests but they couldn't tell her anything, only her parents, and her parents won't tell her (probably not to worry her).

All of these problems started happening after she rolled out of her bed and hit a pile of books on the ground, and her rib sort of "stuck out" for awhile.

Are her parents nuts or something? How old is she? She needs to demand that her parents tell her anything that they may know so she can take appropriate follow up.

a fractured rib would not be doing this and what else would make a rib stick out?

The combination of bloody nose and stomach bleeding is interesting... and not common to colon cancer. But leukemia could be something to look into.

I would start looking for some blood irregularity, some kind of disease in the blood or bone marrow. Sleeping problems could be as simple as the stress of it all. The pain in the hip could be reflexive pain from an organ or merely a strained muscle. Stomach ulcers should be ruled out.

Very hard to determine from this point of view but due to weightloss do not take too much time trying to figure it out. Seek out another doctor perhaps with more diagnositic resources.

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Painkillers cause bleeding, thats what they do. They can also cause ulcers, and same goes for aspirin.

Perhaps she cracked a rib or broke a rib or two, and punctured a hole in the intestines or large bowel.

I'm not a big fan of x-rays or MRI, but in this case I would suggest both.

Thank you for the replies everyone.

Sorry for all these extra, last minute, details. I'm remembering them as they come.

Sometimes she spends several minutes throwing up blood, and it was several times throughout the day. She has frequent nosebleeds, too, but it's either the nosebleed or throwing up blood.

She's old enough to be given information, but it's probably just the fact that they don't want her to worry at all. She has already asked them to tell her, but to no avail.

You said that stomach ulcers should be ruled out, and may I ask why? It seemed like her symptoms were real similar to those stated in my Medicine book, and it mentioned how it gets worse eventually over time.

She has been to two doctor's since her time in that country, and she did not get information from any. Basically, the medicine isn't as advanced, so she has "given up". Therefore I suggested my friend give me her list of symptoms and I'd ask my doctor and on various websites.

I would say it's time to think about worrying. There's a lot of red flags in there.

The biggest "red flag" is her parents have obviously had a serious report from a US doctor(s) and dont want to worry her. They are in serious denial and need to be shaken out of their mental state and arrange to get her some proper medical treatment. How old is she? It seems odd that the US doctors are not informing her of the diagnosis directly.

Its very unusual for a doctor to give a diagnosis and not recommend a course of treatment. If the parents still wont tell her whats wrong, then she has the right to ask the US doctor who diagnosed her to tell her directly, under age or not, as the parents could be putting her life at risk.

Well some pain medicines can cause stomach bleeding and others dont. Aspirin certainly does as Ibuprofen, naproxin and a few others classified as anti-inflammatories. These drugs can cause stomach ulcers and stomach ulcers can cause extreme pain, vomiting of blood and even death if left unattended, over time. Most narcotics do not cause stomach bleeding, which if she is in a fairly primative country she may be taking without a prescription as they could be over the counter, such as Belize, Guatamala, Honduras, and other central American countries, and likely the same around the world.

To rule something out means to look at it as a possilbe cause and prove that it is not the cause if possible. It it is the cause then you treat. If not the cause then you start looking at other possibilities.

What country is she in?

She is in serious trouble and needs to put all else aside and seek good medical help, even if it means leaving the country.

Somebody ought to knock some sense into those parents. Do they have a death wish for her? If you can you ought to give them a piece of your mind.

She lives in Poland.

I've tried to convince her to go to a different country, such as Germany or Czech, since they're "relatively close", but she said she doesn't want to go so far because medicine is probably going to be the same.

I wish I could knock some sense into them too, because I'm not going to lose my best friend because of their terrible decision.

Thank you everyone for their responses. She said she'll try and go to a different Polish hospital and see if she can get a better diagnosis, not just "we don't know what's wrong".

Germany has one of the best healthcare systems in Europe and as Poland is now a member of the EU there are reciprocal treatment arrangements with Germany for other EU 'tourist' nationals including Poland. All she will need to do is get an EU healthcard from the Polish Health Service,which is valid in any EU country and make sure she is treated at a state hospital or doctor, otherwise she may be treated as a private patient and have to pay a higher charge.

Frankly, from the attitude of your friend I am beginning to think she is frightened about what may be wrong and doesnt want to know. The story about her Mother not caring seems a bit funny as well. I could be wrong, but either way if she continues with her present symptoms and her attitude she may leave it too late for treatment.

Yes, Germany is the best place to go. Your friend is in denial and better wake up pretty soon or it will be too late.

I agree. The choice of what kind of treatment to use is a different question, but this needs to be taken seriously, urgently.