Every day for about a week now, I am bleeding a lot when I poop. The toilet is bright red with blood and it sticks to bottom of the toilet. In May, I had the same issue of pooping blood for two weeks straight and could only do a virtual visit with a doctor that advised me to drink Metamucil and wait a week to see if the bleeding stops. It did stop after a week or so but now it's back after less than a month. I'll be honest and admit that I did stop drinking Metamucil but I started again the moment I started bleeding again and 6 days later, I am still bleeding a lot when I poop.
The doctor guessed that it could be internal hemorrhoids but so many medical articles say that should never be assumed and should be checked out so I'm just frustrated with the idea of paying another $200 for a virtual visit, only to have the same thing said again.
I don't have any pain in or near my rectum buty spouse did mention that my anus had what looked like lumpy loose skin around it.
Has anyone had any experience with this. I am worried that COVID19 is going to cause me to be misdiagnosed and/or result in a late diagnosis of colon cancer if that is the actual issue.
I am a 38 year old male. My diet and exercise could be better. I'm 5"3 and weigh 210 lbs.
Thank you
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keysuna
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I'm going through more or less the same, I suspect its hemmoroids after looking back at what was happening in my life shortly before this began (its been about 4 months of this nonsense and FINALLY this week I'm seeing a Gastro after getting the money together. Thanks American health system and my own lack of insurance!)
I was using K health, it's $50 for a year of unlimited telehealth visits, but the docs can only do so much over the phone, they prescribed me Bentyl which slowed the bleeding significantly but soon as I was off it it started again. I endured a month of believing I had cancer and I was so overwhelmed I missed weeks of work just paralyzed in bed checking my symptoms on the internet over and over and crying myself to sleep thinking just now when life is getting good, now I die of cancer. But after looking at others who have nearly the same symptoms as me I'm pretty sure its just hemmoroids, not to mention I have the classic discomfort thats down there, so I'm hoping thats it.
Obligatory Not a Doctor, but if your spouse says they see lumpy loose skin down there, I'd be willing to bet anything its also hemmoroids. Sometimes even the internal ones can pop out and I'm told that the dried up ones will look like skin tags.
Only one way to know for sure though, see a Gastro as soon as you can. But don't worry yourself like I did my friend, it will only make things worse!
Thank you for taking the time to respond and thank you for the reassurance. I know I shouldn't automatically jump to colon cancer and that this is most like a bad case of hemmorroids but it's hard not to when your doctor isn't allowing in office appointments without "significant" symptoms due to Covid19.
I'm sorry you're going through this as well and it sounds like it's been going on for longer. I hope your appointment goes well and they can figure out how to stop the bleeding.
I called a different clinic and explained my situation and they also advised that it was likely hemmorroids and that I would need to wait a few more days to see if the bleeding subsides. I plan on calling back Wednesday to ask to be seen as I don't think my case of hemmorroids should be "treated" over the phone.
If it is just hemmorroids, I need some treatment to stop the bleeding as I'm worried that I'm bleeding to much and could become ill because of it.
Indeed, the best thing will be to get seen by a gastro for us both, though at this point I'll accept just a reassuring phone call from a gastro with plans to see me in the near future (which sounds like what they're going to give me.) Another possibility is Ulcers, so I made them test me for an H. Pylori infection, which has yet to come back as positive or negative, though with the discomfort I'm having in my backside I'm willing to go with hemmoroids.
Please keep us up to date with anything you learn, I know with hemmoroids they can stick some bands on it and you'll have relief same day. Lets hope its that simple for us both!
Hello Keysuna, I'm sorry to hear about the discomfort and bleeding you are experiencing. I recommend trying to get in to see a specialist face to face so that they can examine you. There are many causes for bleeding but it is important to get a specialist to examine you to rule out colorectal cancer. Advocate for getting a colonoscopy - it can give you (literally) pictures of what is going on inside your body and hopefully give you answers and next steps to resolving the issue.
I wanted to give an update since it's been a little over a month. The bleeding did stop a couple of days after I made this post. I checked back in with the doctor's office and since I wasn't still bleeding, I wasn't able to schedule an in office appointment at the time but will be able to schedule one now since the bleeding has returned. I do think the bleeding is my fault this time around since I had allowed myself to get constipated for a few days and didn't address the issue immediately as I should have.
The bleeding just started this morning and so I am finally able to go in office for an examination and hopefully will get further treatment/examination as a follow-up.
I have been trying not to stress and eat better but I haven't always been the best with my diet and I suspect that this caused my constipation which caused the bleeding to return.
Another Update - I had a rectal examination and the doctor stated that they could see scarring and an anal fissure. She said it takes two weeks to heal, even though I explained that the bleeding has been going on and off since May.
She also tested my blood and said my hemoglobin was low and so I have to schedule another follow up appointment with Family Medicine to discuss that.
Thanks for your update. It is so common that people will have bleeding but by the time they get an appointment, the bleeding has stopped, and the doctor wants to see you when you are actively bleeding. If you do start bleeding, I would recommend contacting that same doctor immediately because it can be really important for them to see the issue while it is active.
Please keep us updated on how your blood work comes back and what is advised for next steps.
I had my follow visit with my Family Medicine doctor about the low hemoglobin and he took another blood test and my hemoglobin had gone up almost 1 point since 3 days ago. He said based on the full bloodwork the most likely cause was blood loss from rectal bleeding resulting in anemia.
He did a rectal exam and said he could see external hemorrhoids and an anal fissure but that they both looked healed and that the blood was likely because of internal hemorrhoids. He asked if I would like a colonoscopy done just to be sure and I said yes so he put in a referral and a specialist will be calling me sometime next week to schedule one. I'm glad that on initial examination, they aren't seeing anything too serious but I am even more glad that I can get a closer look at what is going on and hopes a treatment plan once the colonoscopy is completed so that I can begin to get better and stop losing blood.
I had the colonoscopy. The preliminary impression is internal hemorrhoids and they found one 10mm pedunculated polyp in the sigmoid.
It was removed and I am now awaiting results. I was praying for not having any polyps and now I'm totally afraid of the follow up results. But I will continue to keep everyone updated
I'm nervous because I am not even sure what the results will even mean. Does the polyp mean I might have colon cancer? If they removed it, did they remove the colon cancer and am I okay now or do I have to get further treatment?
They haven't said how often I should get a colonoscopy. I guess that depends on the results of the test.
They said I just need to eat more fiber and manage my diet better for the internal hemorrhoids for now.
Keysuna, I'm sorry that it doesn't sound like they gave you a lot of information about what it is exactly that you you are waiting on hearing. And I'm so sorry, anxiety for waiting for results is hard.
Please keep in mind that on this site we are not allowed to give medical advice so anything I say you need to confirm with a healthcare provider. I DO think that having a polyp in general is not something that should cause great anxiety. Most polyps are benign, some are pre-cancerous, which means that over time they could turn INTO cancer, some polyps contain cancer.
Here's a link to a GI society that put out some information on polyps/colonoscopy that could be useful to you:
I *believe* you should be able to breathe somewhat of a sigh of relief because I *believe* once the polyp is removed, even if it were pre-cancerous or contained cancer, they would increase how often you get screened, but you wouldn't have any treatment.
Once you hear from your doctors it may be good feedback to let them know (after they give you the results) that you were terrified that you might have cancer and require further treatment... and that perhaps they could have explained it better to you as to what you were worried about vs. what they were looking for.
I highly recommend when they give you the results of the polyp removal, that you ask for a copy of the pathology report, but also ask:
What does this mean?
Did I have cancer?
Or was it pre-canerous?
Or was it totally benign?
How does this polyp impact my future colorectal cancer screenings?
I'm really sorry that you are experiencing this anxiety over what I am thinking is probably nothing that will requrire any additional follow up at this time.
The best thing we can do as patients is to become our own health advocate, asking as many questions as possible. And when we remember a question (as we all do on the drive home from the doctors,... call them and ask!).
We're thinking of you and I hope you can distract yourself and get a little relief from the anxiety until you hear definitively from the doctor.
The biopsy came back and was labeled at 1 advanced adenomatous polyp. I am pretty scared about them finding one already at my age and it recommends I return every 3 years for a colonoscopy to remove polyps. I am trying to remain positive because they removed it and caught it early but I was definitely hoping for better results.
Wow. Thank you for all the information! I had my procedure in a Friday afternoon before Labor Day Weekend and I was coming off of anesthesia so I wasn't really able to ask clear questions amid my after procedure anxiety and they had a lot of other patients so I didn't get much time to follow-up
They gave me a one page reading about types of polyps but I didn't find it very clear with all the technical terms and then the fact that they told me to await further results gave me incredible concern as they definitely didn't make clear what exactly I was waiting for.
Thanks for clarifying as I've felt my life has been at a standstill as I await the results. I will most certainly be willing to get regular colonoscopy to ensure that any polyps are removed regularly as I am going to be a father soon and want to be around for my child for a long time.
Thank you so much for the resource, information and definitely for the peace of mind.
In my case I recently had a normal colonoscopy and no polyps, but I continue to bleed and have constipation. Anyone know what this could be? The doc didn’t mention I had hemorrhoids or anal fissure, but would he be able to see these in a colonoscopy anyway? Still worried with no peace of mind yet until I get to the bottom of the cause of this bleeding and constipation.
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