beers, work and blood.

[RigRoughneck]

I work 21 days of the month on a drilling rig.  When im working everything seems to follow suit.  But (literally) when im on my week off i tend to drink a few beers and make bad decisions.  I have only once seen droplets of blood in the toilet bowl, but frequently see it on the toilet paper.  And some times i dont clear my sysyem completely in one go.  i find i have to return for a second and sometimes a third sit down to empty myself.  I also find that i get bloated.  I am in excellent shape and am only 25.  somebody please give me some insight.

[CalGal]

Your system may be reacting to a change in your habits. If you're not eating correctly when you're off the rig, and you add a few beers to the mix, you'll tend to get dehydrated from the alcohol. To maintain balance in your system, your body will steal fluids from your GI tract to try to maintain your blood pressure. When that happens, your stool will get harder and you may have to push to move the contents though and you may end up developing hemorrhoid and/or small tears which will result in blood.

The less moist stool won't be as 'bulky' as normal, and the bulk is what stretches the walls of the colon signaling the need to go, and moving the contents forward. Without that bulk you may not move the entire contents along at a single time.

Make sure you stay well-hydrated and see if that helps.