Symptoms for years! LG

[LGworried]

Dear Doctor,
     I am a 26 year old female.  At the age of 20, I began having some rectal bleeding.  It wasn't often and happened sporadically (not often at all)over the years.  The blood was bright red and in the toilet and on the paper. There were two times within a year of eachother that the blood appeared after the bowel movement not with. It was never in the stool.  My bowel movements are normal.  I had mucus in the stool maybe two times over the years, mostly when I was pregnant due to constipation from pregnancy. I defintely have hemmoroids (hemorrhoids) (burning, itching, see them).  I haven't bleed since last August when I was pregnant.  I never thought much of it until reading about colorectal cancer symptoms.  Noone in my family has had polyps or colon cancer.  I recently had a physical and bloodwork(all normal) but no colorectal screening.  Could this be serious? It has been going on for six years (very few times over the course of the six years) and I have had no symptoms in almost a year. I am worried!
Thx.
LG

[Kevin Pho, MD]

Hello - thanks for asking your question.

The most common cause of rectal bleeding in your age group would be hemorrhoids.  Other potential causes would be inflammatory bowel disease, diverticulosis or an anal fissure.  

Given the fact you have mucous in the stool, I would err on the safe side and consider a flexible sigmoidoscopy to evaluate for inflammatory bowel disease.  

Colon cancer would be unlikely given your age and lack of family history.  

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Thanks,
Kevin, M.D.

[surgeon]

at your age, it's almost certainly the hemorrhoids. You describe a pretty typical pattern for hemorrhoidal bleeding and symptoms. Were it cancer, and had it been there for six years, you'd be in major trouble by now. The fact that the symptoms are not progressing, and in fact are less lately pretty much proves the deal. To be safe, you ought to see your doc specifically to address the bleeding.

[shubunkin]

I have a question for you. I am 29 years old. My great grandmother died of colon cancer, my grandmother had colon cancer but was treated. And my dear mother died May 25 2002 of colon cancer at the age of 46. It had alreday spread to her liver lungs and brain. My question is at what age should I have a colonoscopy and about what do they cost. We do not have insurance and are already in a great financail bind. Thankyou for all you great insight! Danielle

[surgeon]

with your family history, you need to get started earlier than the standard recommendation. You could have sigmoidoscopy, which is much cheaper than colonoscopy, just to get an idea of you are forming polyps (pre-cancerous growths) already. I'd think it's not too early now, for that. If the sigmoidoscopy were perfectly normal, probably you could put off colonoscopy. You should get recommendations from whoever would be following you. In your special case, I'd think by age 35 you'd want to have full colonoscopy, if the sigmoid were ok now. Colonoscopy costs around $1200 in my area. Sigmoidoscopy (which looks at the lower 1/3 of the colon, where by far the most cancers occur) is considerably less.

[LGworried]

I was just wondering:
Do you answer all questions in this forum?
What area of surgery do you specialize in?
It is really thoughtful for you to devote your time to the forum.
Thanks alot,
LGWorried

[ConcernedGB]

Hi Surgeon,
I concur with LGworried.  Your comments are very much appreciated on this forum.  You have a really good way of communicating with people on here.  Keep up the great work!
Sincerely,
ConcernedGB

[surgeon]

I am a general surgeon, which means I care for people in a fairly broad range, from breast cancer and thyroid disease, to gallbladder, stomach, colon problems,  etc, and various hernias, with some trauma thrown in. I'm not affiliated with this site. I just chime in when I think I can help.

[tessa0825]

Between you (surgeon) and Dr. Kevin this is the most informed site on the web....Your caring natures shines through....Tessa

[newby]

i am 18 years old and for the past month i have had a worrying problem. there has been blood and mucus on the toilet paper when passing stools. i am too embarrassed to visit a doctor...what is the likely cause of this.

[tessa0825]

Noone can tell you without doing an exam and evaluation...It is never normal to have blood in the stool, please see a Dr. and dont be embarrased, that is what Drs. are for. Believe me, they hear worse!....good luck, Tessa

[danny73]

i am also 29 with problems that seem to get worse.
my situation has been going on for 2 yrs now; i'm having a lot more blood and alot of mucas.  now i am having excessive gas before a bowel movement, if i have one.  it seems that i feel like i have diarhea (diarrhea), but just seems to be mucas and gas.  i have had i believe an endoscopy with everything looking normal.  no pulps were found.  all i was told is that it was a rectal tear.  i was told to change my diet and try fiber powder.  my mom had me on natural supplements and some others tell me that it is only stress and diet.  i believe my wife has me scheduled to see the third doctor, a surgon in "gastroenterology".  

could the blood be coming from the small intestine or something else other than a rectal tear and stress ??

[justme76]

I have some symptoms that are worring me a lot lately.  I often have blood on the toilet paper after a bowel movement (not dark red) but I find it almost always comes when my stools are hard and uncomfortable and it is accompanied with external pain (like hemmorhoids..etc.) or pain just inside my anus (fissures?).  I wasn't too worried about this until about a month ago I had blood dripping into the toilet after a VERY uncomfortable b.m.  It was still just red (not dark) and it was accompanied by a tremendous amount of external pain (I could barely sit down afterwards!).  I'm just assuming that all of this has to be due to fissures and/or hemmoroids (hemorrhoids).  I'm only 27 so I wouldn't think it's colon cancer, especially since it accompanied by so much external pain and always follows uncomfortably dry and hard stools.  However, about 4 months ago I started having sharp pains in my lower left side.  I went to my doctor about this awhile ago and she sent me in for ultrasound tests (internal and external) and nothing was found.  Since then the pain has returned as a dull ache.  Should I be severly worried about this?  This pain is just above my hip bone and is pretty consistent.  I haven't found it to coincide with my menstral cycle at all.  Do I need to be worried that the bleeding and side ache could mean cancer?  Isn't this pretty rare at my age?  I have a regular checkup scheduled for the end of next month (July).  Is it okay to wait until then to talk to my Dr. or should I make an earlier appt.?  Is it certain that she will send me in for a colonscopy or sigmoidoscopy?  I'm freaked out by the thought of those procedures!!  I'm constantly scaring myself by doing research on the internet and keep thinking of the worst case scenario.  Am I being paranoid?

[tessa0825]

Its unlikely that either Dr. Kevin or surgeon will see your post since it is quite a ways down....It is never normal to have blood in the stools, but at your age it would be unlikely to be cancer, not impossible but unlikely...I would make a call and inform your Dr. about it, just to be safe...As for the sigmoid or colonoscopy....The hardest part of those tests is the worry you do beforehand....The prep for them isnt that great but is really no big deal...Ive had both and by far the easiest to tolerate is the colonoscopy so if advised for a sigmoid I would ask if they can do a colonoscopy instead....They start an IV and inject it with versed and pain medication and you dont feel or remember a thing...My Dr. says I am awake and that I can communicate with them but I have no memory of it afterwards.....So please dont stress over this test..I will tell you a bad combination for anyone on any day...A sigmoidoscpy followed by a barium enema with air contrast.....That is about a lost cause and is very uncomfortable....It will definitely put you in a bad mood for the rest of the day.....I agreed to that combo once but never again....Good luck.........Tessa

[Rich076]

Hello, my name is Richard and im 14, i am from the united kingdom. I will not see a doctor about this matter as i am terrified. I was on the toilet one week ago, and when i wiped there was light red blood on the paper. I then used the toilet again today and the same thing happened. Please Help. What could be wrong with me? I heard it could be Colon Cancer. But at my age and also with it being Red i don't think its possible? As i heard Colon Cancer makes it Dark Blackish colour.

Please post a.s.a.p. (I haven't had this symptom for years i just felt this was the best place) Thank You!!

[Hospital Phobia]

I'm 35 years old, and just spent yesterday morning in ER. I was on the toilet, and had a significant amount of bright red watery blood into the bowl. They performed an NG, which did not show signs of blood in my stomach, and my blood count was o.k., so they sent me home. They recommend a colonoscopy, and i'm just trying to decide if it's necessary or not. I have noticed that my stools are more narrow than usual, and that I feel full, yet can't really move my bowels very much. I don't have any history of colon cancer that i'm aware of. Any feed back would be a comfort right about now!