Hi all, I am a 31 male who has had on and off health anxiety for more than a decade.
Now this isn't the first time it happened, but just a while ago, I pooped this evening and when I wiped, there was some amount of blood on the tissue paper. Not just drops, but a huge smudge of it. It wasn't dripping or anything, but it was enough to freak me out.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see the poop itself because I had already flushed it before I wiped. Believe it or not, I have developed this habit of not looking at my stool and just flushing them immediately because I have this tendency to overanalyze it from the consistency, color, texture, etc.
I've tried to make it a habit to only look at the stool if I have other abdominal symptoms.
Now I kinda regret it because I wasn't able to check if the poop was the usual brown or was it bloody or tarry black.
Anyway, I know that my issue is most likely caused by benign things like anal tears or piles, but I cannot help but think the worst.
For the record, I have done some things recently:
1. My partner and I have recently tried anal stuff in sex like fingering and putting small toys. Sorry if this is TMI, but not sure if I had bled during those times. The last time we did it was three weeks ago which I guess was already too long ago if I only noticed the bright red blood on the tissue paper tonight (tho there might be a chance I did not notice it). We haven't done it since and we probably won't do it anytime soon.
2. For almost two weeks, I've tried reducing the amount of food I take because I want to lose more weight.
3. Bowel movement has been okay so far.
Right now, I just keep reading how the big C is becoming more prevalent among younger people like me. :( I am just so damn anxious at the mere thought of anticipating my next poop, thinking ahead it might be bloody or black once I take a look. :(
If anything, I'll go to the doctors soon if I experience it with other symptoms. But right now, I do NOT have any other symptoms related to the gut or bowel movement.
It's going to be a tough week for me due to work and I don't want my health anxiety to ruin things further. :( Anybody else experienced this and it turned out to be nothing? Thank you.