Partner has blood in stool

Hi everyone, just hoping to get some advice. My partner (31M) had what looked like red blood streaks in his stool, so I prompted him to do the faecal occult blood test. It was found to be positive and our GP gave us another container to do a second sample. I am worried the second sample will come back negative as I couldn’t see any blood there, because if that’s the case I doubt the GP will want to refer my partner to a GI specialist for colonoscopy. I know it’s most likely to be haemorrhoids but in my mind it’s better to have it checked thoroughly - am I being hypervigilant? My partner is really chilled about it and isn’t fussed whether or not he will end up getting referred for colonoscopy. Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks!

To me, if the second sample is negative for blood then that more than likely points to hemorrhoids doesn’t it? That would be good news! At 31 they may be unlikely to refer for colonoscopy unless they feel it’s truly necessary.

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Originally Posted by glassgirlw

To me, if the second sample is negative for blood then that more than likely points to hemorrhoids doesn’t it? That would be good news! At 31 they may be unlikely to refer for colonoscopy unless they feel it’s truly necessary.

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Hi, thanks for your input. Yeah I wasn’t sure if that would be the case as I have also read somewhere on the internet that bowel cancer may also cause intermittent bleeding? But of course you are correct in that the age factor makes it unlikely for my partner to have the dreaded worst case scenario :) Thanks again.

I just posted a question about this test. So if someone has a bleeding haemorrhoid the test is positive? I thought they only look for old blood the naked eye can’t see?

Hi, yes it can detect any blood, including fresh ones you can visibly see as well as microscopic ones that can’t be seen with the naked eye. My partner’s blood was the visible kind and the doctor suspected it was internal haemorrhoids due to his age, the fact that he doesn’t have any other gastrointestinal symptoms, and past history with haemorrhoids. Also, his second stool sample was found to be negative, and I think their rationale is that something sinister like cancer or even Crohn’s would cause more bleeding.