Could I get some input on these blood lines/streaks in my stool?

[NervousMess]

A few months ago I started noticing little mucus boogers on the outside of my stool as well as bright red drops of blood on my tissue after wiping constantly after either having diarrhea or the day after eating super spicy food. My doctor believed that it is internal hemorrhoids because of how it occurs after these incidents. Last time it happened about 2 weeks ago I ate all bland food no spices and I was good. Then for about 3 days I ate spicy Buffalo sauce thinking I was good but then had a mild case of diarrhea and the day after I noticed the blood came back and it hasn't gone away. 4 days later I saw actual blood lines in the stool itself and notified the doctor right away. She referred me to get a colonoscopy just to rule out cancer just in case and I've been anxious non stop since. I've read online that you can get lines like that with hemorrhoids but I'm just wondering if anyone's had any similar experiences. Any input would be appreciated, thank you. And I do apologize for the gross picture. I was also on phentermine for a couple of weeks and right away noticed that it made me constipated and caused me to have small stools. She told me to stop that medication which I did today because it was also messing with my anxiety very bad.

[GCCA-Survivor Administrator]

Hi NervousMess,

Thank you for posting with us. I hate to hear about what you have going on but I’m glad to see you are not ignoring symptoms and are searching for answers. I think the colonoscopy is absolutely the gold standard to getting answers about what may be causing your symptoms. The colonoscopy is just not to determine if you have cancer. I hate your doctor put it that way. Blood in the stool could be caused by many different things. It may just be internal hemorrhoids that are causing the blood that gets aggravated by spicy foods. It could be IBS or diverticulitis. It could be many things. But I think you are definitely on the path to getting some good answers.

I do wish you the best in finding out what’s going on. I believe the colonoscopy will just do exactly that. I definitely would not be worried because you’re gonna get some answers. It will give you something to focus on to get better. In the time being, I would focus on doing your colonoscopy prep right. I just had mine yesterday. Also, please let us know what you find out as is that type of information that can be helpful to others on this site as well.👍

Thank you,

~Tom, GCCA Survivor - Colon Cancer Connected Site Administrator.

Just a reminder - this group is here to offer support, share experiences, and offer our thoughts - but this is not medical advice, and you should always consult your medical professional(s). Additionally, for all emergencies, seek urgent medical care, never delay.

[NervousMess in reply to GCCA-Survivor]

Thank you for your reply, I'm feeling better today after sleeping it off. I also see 0 blood in my stool now, it was pretty soft but I've had that before after being constipated. My doctor did say it could be a lot of things including ibs or something called colitis if I remember correct. Will give you guys an update but from the sound of it it'll be about 2 months from now which I'm not too happy about.

[Martin3488 in reply to NervousMess]

Keep us updated

[Shanlissanna]

I have got something similar. I have been told I have a small external hemorroid but I am being sent for a colonscopy to be on the safe side. I did have one 18 months ago and everything was clear. I do have chronic constipation as well and have to press at times for bowel movement.

[NervousMess]

UPDATE Had my conoloscopy a couple of weeks ago and just got the pathology back this Monday. I had a small polyp and a larger polyp (14mm). They were both precancerous and the larger one was concerning with it being a penduculated tubulovillous adenoma. Thankfully they came back as negative for high dysplasia or malignancy. Being that they were precancerous I'll need another colonoscopy in 3 years instead of the usual 10 years. Surgeon believes the bleeding was coming from the larger polyp which would make sense since large polyps can get irritated and bleed when stool passes through and they get irritated. I have not seen blood since he removed the polyps either. Doctor said I was the poster child for getting a colonoscopy when noticing that something isn't right. Said if it would have waited a couple more years the polyps could have turned cancerous.

[Carl33150 in reply to NervousMess]

Hi,glad you were able to have your colonoscopy 👌

what color was the mucus?

and was the blood in the stools present every day?

how often did he come back?

[NervousMess in reply to Carl33150]

Yes it was pretty much with every bowel movement. It was especially noticeable if I had a tiny diarreah movement. The mucus was clear and the blood was inside the mucus. I actually only saw streaks like in the picture one time which is when I posted a day after a strenuous ab/tight workout. I'm guessing I irritated the polyp.

[Carl33150 in reply to NervousMess]

How many months does your bleeding last?

[NervousMess in reply to Carl33150]

Around 4-5 months then the polyps got taken out then it stopped.

[EmmyCG]

so glad you had the colonoscopy. I had a 2cm tubulovillous polyp with high grade dysplasia. I have to be scanned again next month and then yearly for a while