Blood from Rectum-Can barely function

[travelgirl77]

So, earlier this week I was upset over a twitch in my finger...I would take that any day over this recent event. First of all, I am 41 and my grandmother passed from colon cancer at 70. I went to the bathroom today, not straining, rather loose, and wiped blood and there was blood in the toilet. It was bright red. I do have a fistula that is ano-vaginal but we are leaving it as it does not cause problems. From having that I have had a proctoscope and know that I do have hemorrhoids.

But, this is the first time this has ever happened and like I said, I was not straining and it was not just a smidge of blood. I know that most of you will say "oh bright red is likely hemmies or a fissure," but after scouring the boards, I did just read where another member very recently had very, very, very similar symptoms and was eventually diagnosed with CC.

I am spiraling and tomorrow is Friday. I doubt that my doctor will be able to get me in. Should I go to urgent care? Do they even check your bottom? Should I wait to call? I. AM. TERRIFIED. Especially after reading that other member's story. I was almost believing it could be hemmies until I read that. I have not had a colonoscopy before.

And, just to note, I am never constipated...I have pretty loose stools. Often it feels like my stools are burning me (like diarrhea I suppose). I also have a lot of instances where I use the bathroom and exercise or go for a walk and it becomes uncomfortable and when I get home and wipe there is blood. That has been that way for awhile. The only other time I bled like today was after the proctoscope that I mentioned above....but that had a very obvious cause.

How am I going to sleep? Eating-that is for the birds. What if it bleeds tomorrow too?

What do I do right now?

[Scass]

You’ve given a lot of reasons why it’s not serious. But yes, call your doctor in the morning and see if you can get an appointment. I’m sure that will help to prove it’s not serious.



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[Worrywart84]

Sorry you are dealing with that. I went through a similar experience this past November. My mom was diagnosed with colon cancer in October and I freaked out thinking I surely had it too because I had experienced bright red bleeding from time to time. Honestly the only thing that was able to put my mind at ease was a colonoscopy and they found nothing. I was relieved and now I am told I should go every 5 years due to family history.

But yeah, I can totally empathize with you on the fear and how reading one thing online or on a post can become king in your mind despite all the other pieces of information supporting it NOT being cancer.

I would call and see what they advise. Your age is on your side—it is very uncommon to get colon cancer at 40.

[jojo2316]

I know who you are referring to, and yes she was diagnosed with colon cancer but she is doing very well (and seems much less anxious than before her diagnosis). She and her doctors are optimistic for a full cure. Also her case was very unusual. Your bleeding is almost Certainly caused by one of the common - and benign- issues that you mentioned.

That said, it is always a good idea to get symptoms like this checked out. Colonoscopies are low risk straight forward procedures that will entirely rule out bowel cancer. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[Shadowhawk]

So, one more bleeder chiming in...


I have been down this road, so i know how you feel. I have had blood (and not just a dab on the tp.. but streaks everywhere), combined with "thin" stools and abdominal pain, i thought i was a sure ringer for cancer (despite being 34 with no immediate family history). Did the colonoscopy.... and i had a small hemorrhoid and fissure, and was completely fine otherwise. The pain is likely a combo of IBS and anxiety, and the bleeding more likely from the fissure.



I know its stressful, but really don't jump right to the worst. way more common things can cause the problems you are worried about.

[Mostu]

I know your health anxiety makes you feel the way you feel, but consider that - you CERTAINLY have hemorrhoids. What do they do? They BLEED. It's totally normal to have rectal bleeding when you have hemorrhoids. Also, it's not like they bleed all the time. I have an internal hemorrhoid too, and it bleeds like every couple months, and I'm not even straining. Don't lose sleep over this, your worries would be justified if you DIDN'T have piles.

[NervUs]

You don't need urgent care. This is not something that needs to be handled today. Make an appointment with your doctor and go from there.

[nomorepanic]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your post was moved from its original place to a sub-forum that is more relevant to your issue.

This is nothing personal - it just enables us to keep posts about the same problems in the relevant forums so other members with any experience with the issues can find them more easily.

Please also read this post:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=213239

[travelgirl77]

Thank you for the replies. I made an appointment for Monday with a GI doc. I didn't sleep at all last night and can barely work. I am doing the bare minimum. I just don't know why else this would happen except for CC. My hemmies have never given me issues like this where there is blood on the paper and in the bowl after a loose movement. And, just reading over that other member's story is paralyzing because it feels so similar. I am angry that I only had a proctoscope last year with my fistula rather than asking for a colonoscopy. I just hope it is in earlier stages.

[nomorepanic]

I get a lot of blood and I mean I can sit on the loo and it drips out.

The cause - piles.

Get checked out but don't jump to conclusions yet.

[jojo2316]

I understand how you are feeling. But as a previous poster said- hemmies bleed; it’s what they do. I’ve had blood after loose bowel movements too. When hemmies burst they do produce quite a lot of blood. You are right to get checked out but the odds are MASSIVELY in your favour.

[WiseMonkey]

I get a lot of blood and I mean I can sit on the loo and it drips out.

The cause - piles.

Get checked out but don't jump to conclusions yet.

A bad case of proctitis can cause this too and there's often clear mucus along with the blood. This is also a benign condition but a pain in the butt !!

[nomorepanic]

Thanks WiseMonkey - I do have IBD so could be that. I will ask my Crohn's consultant when I see him next week.

[travelgirl77]

Well, I fretted all weekend, barely slept, and barely ate. I read numerous stories on here and elsewhere. I want to be positive, but the only thing I am positive about is this is not good. I may have believed it was ok if I was younger and did not have family history. My dr. appt is tomorrow and I know he will advise a colonoscopy, which is fine, but just puts off the inevitable of finding the C. I also started my period so my mind and mood are all over the place right now.

[nomorepanic]

Do not think cancer - be positive!

[Worrywart84]

Any chance the blood you saw the other day was the start of your period? It just made me wonder when I saw you type that.

[BlueIris]

It's really not inevitable - far more people get haemorrhoids/fissures than colon cancer.

[Toby2000]

Hi, I’ve also had very similar worries and am in fact still experiencing them.

I know it’s hard, it’s absolutely terrifying having to live with a symptom until you can get it checked out, when you’re absolutely positive of the worst but just focus on the fact that it almost certainly isn’t cancer.

There was a user who made a post on here saying he had all the symptoms of CC pretty much and he didn’t have hemmies or a fissure or anything, and the colonoscopy found absolutely nothing. Other than mild gastritis.

It could be something as simple as that. Try and focus on the more likely causes rather than the least likely causes. I say that as I focus on the least likely cause myself and send myself into overdrive but it’s easier to dish out advice rather than take it in yourself.. oh well. Just hang in there.

And when I went to the doctors they said bleeding was only a huge concern if it bled non stop. So I assume that if it was anything serious then your bleeding would continue for w while.

But yeah.. just hang in there. Try to relax

[travelgirl77]

Just back from the GI. He didn't examine me...just scheduled the colonoscopy. I cried the whole way home. He said it was 1 in 1000 that it was cancer which means nothing to me, as I feel in my bones that I am the 1. They were very matter of fact about everything. He thought that I would be more concerned about the procedure. I basically put my hand up and said, "I could care less about the colonoscopy, I care more about what you find." So, that is scheduled for next Friday. I have no idea how I am going to make it until then. I am barely eating now and my husband is stationed out of state, so it is just me with the kids.

I just keep picturing my husband shaking his head after the colonoscopy and they tell him they found something suspicious. His ex-wife's new husband actually passed from CC and I kept thinking maybe they could remarry. And, my poor babies need a mama. This is a nightmare. I have to work, I have to take care of my kids, and this impending doom is just hanging over my head. I can almost touch it. It is like I brought this on to myself after all of these years wondering what cancer I would get...well, here we are.

---------- Post added at 17:20 ---------- Previous post was at 17:19 ----------

Oh, and no, it was not blood from my period. I checked there first!

[jojo2316]

Just back from the GI. He didn't examine me...just scheduled the colonoscopy. I cried the whole way home. He said it was 1 in 1000 that it was cancer which means nothing to me, as I feel in my bones that I am the 1. They were very matter of fact about everything. He thought that I would be more concerned about the procedure. I basically put my hand up and said, "I could care less about the colonoscopy, I care more about what you find." So, that is scheduled for next Friday. I have no idea how I am going to make it until then. I am barely eating now and my husband is stationed out of state, so it is just me with the kids.

I just keep picturing my husband shaking his head after the colonoscopy and they tell him they found something suspicious. His ex-wife's new husband actually passed from CC and I kept thinking maybe they could remarry. And, my poor babies need a mama. This is a nightmare. I have to work, I have to take care of my kids, and this impending doom is just hanging over my head. I can almost touch it. It is like I brought this on to myself after all of these years wondering what cancer I would get...well, here we are.

---------- Post added at 17:20 ---------- Previous post was at 17:19 ----------

Oh, and no, it was not blood from my period. I checked there first!

1 in a 1000 is pretty good odds. And the fact that you think you are the 1 means nothing because everyone with an anxious mind thinks they are the 1 - and 999 of them are not!! Your babies are going to keep their Mama. And you don’t have long to wait until you can believe that too (odds are 999:1 that I’m right :yeses:)

[Worrywart84]

Great anxiety minds think alike I guess because your thoughts you describe above are exactly what went through my head—despite being told by the GI doc it was incredibly unlikely that I would have CC at age 34, I was just CONVINCED I would be that rare unlucky person. I pictured my husband and mom being told “she’s just waking up from surgery but we need to tell you that we found a mass.” I envisioned my kids growing up without a mom. I thought oh this is REAL this time—this is the real moment where I actually fear something and it becomes reality. Like you, they booked me rather quickly (a week) because they could sense my anxiety (maybe bc I cried the entire consultation?) and the night before while alone with my “prep” in the bathroom I just let my mind go to the worst places. CONVINCED. CONVINCED. CONVINCED. I walked in there thinking I would be walking out as a cancer patient. I could barely hold it together getting wheeled back into the room. Then they told me they were going to give me the Propofol and I would be out and.....deep sleep. Finally my poor mind got a rest. I woke up and immediately snapped back into HA mode and just started babbling “Did he find anything? What did they find what did they find?!”

THEY FOUND NOTHING. Not even a polyp. I had to ask them 20 more times before I could believe it. I am not a psychic and I can’t predict your future, but I feel really really strongly that you will have the same outcome. Your mind can make you believe a reality that isn’t there. You are letting it believe your worst fear right now and you have to just take a pause and try not to let it keep sucking you in like this. Hang in there.

[travelgirl77]

Great anxiety minds think alike I guess because your thoughts you describe above are exactly what went through my head—despite being told by the GI doc it was incredibly unlikely that I would have CC at age 34, I was just CONVINCED I would be that rare unlucky person. I pictured my husband and mom being told “she’s just waking up from surgery but we need to tell you that we found a mass.” I envisioned my kids growing up without a mom. I thought oh this is REAL this time—this is the real moment where I actually fear something and it becomes reality. Like you, they booked me rather quickly (a week) because they could sense my anxiety (maybe bc I cried the entire consultation?) and the night before while alone with my “prep” in the bathroom I just let my mind go to the worst places. CONVINCED. CONVINCED. CONVINCED. I walked in there thinking I would be walking out as a cancer patient. I could barely hold it together getting wheeled back into the room. Then they told me they were going to give me the Propofol and I would be out and.....deep sleep. Finally my poor mind got a rest. I woke up and immediately snapped back into HA mode and just started babbling “Did he find anything? What did they find what did they find?!”

THEY FOUND NOTHING. Not even a polyp. I had to ask them 20 more times before I could believe it. I am not a psychic and I can’t predict your future, but I feel really really strongly that you will have the same outcome. Your mind can make you believe a reality that isn’t there. You are letting it believe your worst fear right now and you have to just take a pause and try not to let it keep sucking you in like this. Hang in there.

Thank you for sharing. You have expressed exactly what I am feeling. My mom asked me yesterday if I wanted her to come down, but I told her that I figured she would have to come down after the diagnosis anyway. And, my doctor also told me it was extremely unlikely to which I said, "But not impossible." I am trying to get through day by day. I am petrified to go to the bathroom each day for fear of seeing more blood. Thank you for your story, I do appreciate it. AT the same time, I think, "well, she was fortunate. I know I will be coming back here and say that I was not as fortunate." Thank you though...very much.

[travelgirl77]

I am just in a state over this. I keep waking up, heart pounding, convinced I am dying of CC. I just feel sick over what is going to happen on Friday. My stomach is in knots and I just cry all of the time. I cannot speak to my husband nor my parents. You guys, I am so scared.

[Scass]

I know what it’s like to feel that kind of fear, and the only thing I can suggest is to keep busy. Don’t google, don’t torment yourself. Keep busy. It’ll be ok x


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[Worrywart84]

Believe me, I know that feeling. Hoping Friday comes soon for you and can’t wait to come back here and read your relieved and happy update! Hang in there.

[jojo2316]

Good luck travelgirl. Roll on Friday
Xx

[travelgirl77]

Good Morning,

I just wanted to update the thread re: the colonoscopy. The GI did find two small polyps, but he was otherwise really happy with the colonoscopy and said that it was no big surprise that I had polyps, given my age and family history. We do not know if they are pre-cancerous yet, but even if they are I am now on track to get colonoscopies every 5 years and he was super positive about that interval and never having to worry about CR cancer. All in all a good outcome.

Now, for what is really a problem. I pretty much started crying and hyperventilating the moment they called me back. They all thought I was nervous about the procedure and I kept lamenting, "What if he finds cancer. I am so scared." Crying and crying. They could not even take me back into the procedure room because my heart rate was so high. The anesthesiologist gave me a sedative before the actual drugs to put me to sleep. I figured everyone felt the way I did when they have to go in for either diagnostic or preventative tests, but I could tell by the nurses' and doctors' reactions, that I was the anomaly with my anxiety-riddled reaction. Once the doctor gave me the news and I felt like I could eat for the first time in days, I was happy for about an hour. Then my kids came home and I immediately began worrying over them getting brain tumors (my standard HA worry). I thought my husband was going to kill me as I went from a basket case over CC in the morning back to brain tumors right after getting the pretty much clear colonoscopy. He and my parents begged me to get help.
I am realizing that I am getting older and things with my body are pretty much going to go a little haywire moving forward. I have to figure out how to deal with that without losing my mind. None of my worry or crying would have changed the outcome. Anyway, I need help and I promised my family to look into therapy this week, as my anxiety is now really impacting them as well.

[BlueIris]

Congratulations on being clear, but also on recognising that the anxiety needs dealing with. It's not an easy road to take, but it's very much a worthwhile one.

[jojo2316]

That is wonderful news about the colonoscopy. But the thing with anxiety disorders- as you know and are experiencing- is that extremely high anxiety doesn’t just dissipate with reassurance; it frequently just transfers to another “threat”. In your case it’s brain tumours in your children. Certainly therapy is a good idea to help interrupt the cycle. Have you had CBT before?

[Scass]

I want to weep for you because I know how frustrating it is to be given good news but then to just worry about something new. It’s so hard, and that’s why a lot of us are here trying to work through it together. Brilliant news though x


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