Bright red blood 3 years ago

[irishudson98]

Hi I'm a 22 year old female, I experienced bright red blood on my stool 3 years ago when I was 19, there was a lot a lot of blood i thought I was on my period, the bleeding only happened during bowel movements, was mixed with the stool, had lasted for about 3 days of bleeding that coated the toilet bowl bright red with the stool. I experienced no pain at all, thereafter the bleeding just stopped on its own and i haven't had a relapse for 3.5 years.

I saw the doctor then and explained my usual bowel habits to the doctor to which he diagnosed that I probably had irritable bowel disease (IBS) even prior to this bleeding episode, no additional checks were really done to diagnose the cause of the bleeding he prescribed me antibiotics and probiotics to take concurrently and we had a follow up a month later to check if any bleeding recurred, which it hasn't.

My stool for the past three years has been pretty normal, about 3-5 on the bristol stool chart. Pretty much healthy stool according to information online. If i ever do bleed its when I pass extremely hard stool from constipation due to my IBS, where its only little bit of blood on the toilet paper.

I still think about the incident then and how the doctor didn't exactly diagnose or find out the cause of the bleeding and sometimes still worry about it, wondering if I should maybe get something done just in case? Or am I alright since the past 3 years I've pretty much had a healthy stool history

[Nicole_GCCA Partner]

Hello irishudson98 ,Thank you for posting. It sounds like this is causing you anxiety - contacting your general practitioner (or if you have a specialist like a gastroenterologist), would be a good idea. Due to COVID you may only be able to get a phone or video consultation, but that would be better than not speaking to a medical professional at all.

When you had the blood experience a few years ago, did the doctor perform a physical exam? Typically a digital rectal exam (DRE) would be performed.

There are many reasons why you could have blood when you have a bowel movement, including hard stools that cause small tears on the anus. But anytime you have blood with a bowel movement, it is best to speak to a medical professional and get it checked out.

Please keep us updated.

~Nicole @ GCCA

[irishudson98 in reply to Nicole_GCCA]

Hi Nicole, thank you for the reply! nope no physical exam was performed to diagnose the bleeding as I had shrugged the matter off initially and only been to the GP after the bleeding had stopped for about a week or two. The doctor then told me to return if the bleeding began again which it had not, and has not in 3 years. The doctor told me since the bleeding did not continue it should be of no cause of concern, and he figured it was probably hemorrhoids, since bright red blood was passed with stool, not on its own or mixed with the stool which would indicate something else.

It has caused me anxiety especially this year I started developing health anxiety due to Covid thanks for the reply! I will visit the doctor if I were to ever get a second episode of such bleeding