For the past week or so, I've noticed some red blood on my toilet paper after a bowel movement. It's there for the first wipe, maybe a tiny bit on the second, and then it goes away. My stool is normal in color (not black or red) and I haven't noticed anything strange about my bowel movements.
I'm really hoping it's just a fissure because the...ahem, area, is a bit sore after this happens, so maybe it's an issue of the stool being too hard. I recently started on Weight Watchers and started exercising regularly, so I don't know if the change in my diet is to blame. I know another possibility is hemorrhoids, but I'd really like to avoid seeing a doctor unless it's necessary.
I'm a 21 year old female and I weight 137 lbs at 5'5". No bowel issues in my family history.
I'm a self-diagnosed hypochondriac, so I'm trying hard not to freak out about this. I'm trying to focus on the fact that the blood is red, so it's probably not an internal issue like IBS or cancer...right? Oh, and I should probably mention that I had some minor cramping at the beginning of the week, but I figured it was just from missing a birth control pill or two. Not sure if that might be related.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.