Blood in poop?

[Robin_]

Hello everyone. I'm sorry if this is TMI, but I've been worrying about this all day, and I have no idea if I can sleep well with this on my mind. Anyway, I used the bathroom earlier today and while the poop was pretty normal, though a bit hard, it was sort of tinted with areas of pink and a darker color, between red and purple. The only thing I had in my system during the time was a purple grape Pedialyte drink, which also had an ingredient of "beet powder coloring." I've heard that beets can change the color?

Now, I should also mention that I went to the hospital last night for something unrelated and had a full blood test (CBC, hemoglobin, liver function) and everything came back perfect. I even had a normal stool not even 24 hours beforehand. Could this just be because of the Pedialyte? I would probably be a little less scared if this had came out brighter, but now I'm just super worried that this is some type of tumor :weep:

[Akoto]

Hi,

I'm not a doctor, nor is most anyone here, so we can't really advise you on what might be up. We can only hazard a personal opinion or experience and (best tip) advise you to see an actual doctor about it. :)

I do know that beet juice can sometimes color the bowel movement. Not sure if beet powder coloring would have the same effect or not. The only time I've seen blood in stool, and it was not my own, it was dark black. Blood that's bright red or pinkish on the paper can often be from hemorrhoids or fissures (little tears in the anal tissue often caused by having a constipated/hard bowel movement).

It is encouraging that you just had some testing done and it looked good. If it has only happened once, I wouldn't panic and think you're doomed. Tell your doctor about it if it's troubling you a lot or if it continues beyond the once, would be the choice I'd make for myself.

[Robin_]

Hi,

I'm not a doctor, nor is most anyone here, so we can't really advise you on what might be up. We can only hazard a personal opinion or experience and (best tip) advise you to see an actual doctor about it. :)

I do know that beet juice can sometimes color the bowel movement. Not sure if beet powder coloring would have the same effect or not. The only time I've seen blood in stool, and it was not my own, it was dark black. Blood that's bright red or pinkish on the paper can often be from hemorrhoids or fissures (little tears in the anal tissue often caused by having a constipated/hard bowel movement).

It is encouraging that you just had some testing done and it looked good. If it has only happened once, I wouldn't panic and think you're doomed. Tell your doctor about it if it's troubling you a lot or if it continues beyond the once, would be the choice I'd make for myself.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I have the odd anal fissure every once in a while, but usually that's bright red as opposed to this darker red-ish color. I do have an appointment with my GI doctor on Friday anyway, but I'm hoping this won't happen more than once. I'm honestly kind of terrified of using the bathroom again.

[Akoto]

That's good timing for you! If you're worried, then you can tell your GI doctor. They know poop better than anybody else out there.

I can relate to sometimes dreading the bathroom. When you have IBS, it's a surprise every time. ;) I really don't think you need to be terrified, though. Don't let your mind get ahead of what's actually happening.

[Annaboodle]

Pedialyte can change the colour of your stool and so can anything with beetroot colouring. I've had the beetroot "scare" myself in the past and a friend's baby was having what she thought were almost black stools from Pedialyte.