Hi all, 23 Female here, seeing a gastro this Thursday and very nervous but also anxious to have it over with.
I have a history of lower GI bleeds, doctors have never been able to really pinpoint it so it was suspected I had hemmoroids, at one point had a NSAID induced bleed but no ulcers were found so I was put on Omeprazole and sent home and within a week all was well.
Around late March started having a bleed, this was an extremely stressful time in my life, lots of relationship issues and I was getting headaches like crazy so taking a lot of NSAIDS. Now in the past when I took NSAIDS for more than a few days I'd get a little bit of a bleed but I'd stop and it would go away within a few days. I have been NSAID free since this began and its still ongoing.
Usually, it's never a ton of blood. I'd say it's about a teaspoon each time, maximum a teaspoon and a half, sometimes clots. Usually doesn't change the toilet bowl water any colors.
I've also had semi-constipation issues in the past, I would say twice to 4 times a month I'd have especially hard stools, rarely would they hang around too long as I usually would drink a cup of coffee and be done with it within an hour. Last time I had constipation was around a week ago so my new bowel issues haven't effected that too much, although now when I gotta go I can't hold it anymore, it hurts to hold it. Once the bullet is in the barrel it's gotta get shot out or it will hurt like hell.
When I go, nothing is too odd about the actual poops. I have always had very varied stools, a hard one in the day and a softer one at night. They've started changing up now, soft 3-4 times a day, harder ones in the morning usually, rarely its a little more towards diarrhea, but I attribute this to my diet changing so rapidly since I'm constantly in the process now of putting things in and taking things out of my diet (going Vegetarian, Vegan, Pescatarian, Gluten-Free, back and forth to see if anything changes.) Have not lost a pound during this, despite many attempts in the past to lose weight, I have been 160lbs since I turned 20 and have not wavered up or down ever since.
There is mucus sometimes, and most times its just blood. Always bright red, rarely it will be a little more of a maroon color, usually if I haven't had a movement for a while. If its a softer movement I often get away with no blood/only a little blood on the tissue. If its harder often the stool will have streaks of red on it.
Disgusting, I know, but sometimes I'll take a long skewer and poke at it to see if there's anything unusual inside the stool and there never is. Idk if that means anything.
After poops, especially if it was a large movement or a harder one, I'll have rectal discomfort for a while. Its not horrible, but noticeable. I can feel it now as I had major diarrhea thanks to a combination of green tea, fiber supplements, and good ol' menstrual poops, I was in the bathroom all morning and felt pretty great after, but my rectum is feeling it. I can't tell if there was blood or not since, again, I am currently on my menstrual cycle.
Besides the blood in the toilet, I feel fine. I actually feel healthier now thanks to the force in my change of diet than I ever have before, back when I ate what I felt like and proceeded to feel like garbage the rest of the day. I can actually run now and not feel out of breath as quickly, I've had blood tests for Anemia and they come back perfectly normal, I've been tested for everything you can do a blood test for in regards to the bleeding, and nothing, CT scan came back fine, ER doctor sent me home with Omeprazole and told me it looks like I just have a sensitive stomach, and that was all she wrote.
Went to an Urgent Care doctor and he told me it seems like hemmoroids, but I had been doubting it at that point because I didn't know Hemmoroids could cause such frequent and intense bleeding, but now I have hope that's all it is after being terrified to the point of paralyzing myself and missing weeks of work over the fear of it being cancer. I was ready to do something drastic to myself over this fear since I was so miserable and scared, but since finding stories similar to mine and them turning out to be hemmoroids I have hope.
I'm mentally exhausted with everything, so I guess I'm just looking for some advice to calm down before seeing the gastro. Hoping beyond everything that this is a simple fix, or that I can at least be diagnosed finally and begin the journey of recovery.