Blood on toilet paper. Does anyone know what it could be?

[Dan1123]

I am in my early 20's and for about the past 4 months have seen streaks of blood on the toilet paper after a bowel movement. There are no other symptoms (normal bowel movements, no gastrointestinal pain, no change in appetite, no fever, no headaches, etc.), I have never had problems in the past and I have not seen blood on the stool or in my underwear ever. The streaks on the toilet paper are almost always present, bright red and fairly large. Does anyone know what this could be caused by? Any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[tr0g]

Im no doctor. But I am going to make a bold statement to all who have responded to this young man (Im only 36 myself). From my research and chats with my Upper GI specialist your problem is most likely hemmerhoids(sp) but it could be something more serious. You could have ulcerations in your lower intestinal track. Being you are only in your 20s I doubt its cancer. its like 1 per 100,000 people to have stomach or rectal cancer before age 35. and its usually African Americans or Pacific Islander/Asians that get it. so if you're Caucasian or hispanic its more like 1 per half a million. but remember there are 300 million people in the usa and that means 60 people under the age of 35 get rectal cancer. So dont totally rule it out.

I just had a Colon and Sigmoid scope dont on me. I was told i have no polyps, no ulcers, no bacterial infection and no cancerous legions and yet My Rectum is bleed alot more then light red blood. Its about a teaspoon and I was hoping to see if hemeroids are the cause of that much blood being i just was tested.

But again from what I understand is if your stools are black and tar colored then its a stomach issue. perhaps blood from ulcer or cancer.  if the stools come out like maroon or red then its lower bleed. Maroon usually means bleeding polyps or cancer and if its red its more then likely hemeroids. But then again im on here looking for more answers. Its pretty scarey to wipe and see nothing but blood on your toilet paper. Before i had my scope done i heard a dripping sound when i stood up and saw blood drops all over the toilet seat. I was really scared about having cancer of the "Cornhole".. hehe sorry just wanted to add a little humor there. Cancer is a scarey word. Hope i never get it. :(

PS  go get a colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy done. Its the only way to know. and they knock you out pretty good on happy juice.

[Baseball_Mom]

I agree with the above, sorta.  You probably have hemmrhoids.  It would be wise to increase the fiber in your diet as well as take Metamucil or Citricel or Fibercon and perhaps even Colace which is a stool softner.  This should make it so that you don't strain so much when you have a BM.  Also it is very important to drink plenty of water.  Best of luck to you.

[Bsaenz]

A related discussion, Bleeding from Rectum was started.

[individual]

Sorry Dan, the questions are always all filled up before I get here.
Baseball mom, I had my surgery. Everything went as planned, but I have some questions for you. 1- how long did you have to take pain killers? I realise that rectal surgery is one of the most painful surgeries, but it's been 10 days. I almost died when I started my period yesterday. 2- When did you regain control of your bowels? I'm afraid to go out for mother's day on sunday.
Happy mother's day!

[individual]

Thanks, it's helpful having a frame of reference. Every other surgery I've had I've been off of pain med within a week.

[Baseball_Mom]

There are many types of rectal surgery.  I have had quite a few of them.  I have had surgery for a perianl cyst, fistula repair, rectal seal replacement, hemmrhoidectomy (at the same time), and the last surgery being a sphincteroplasty/perineoplasty.  In answr to your question on pain killers, it depends on the type of surgery.  I believe the average time for any of the surgeries was about two weeks of pain killers every 4 hours.  Then I weened myself off of them to just take them at night for about another week and then when I needed something for pain and to help me sleep at night I took Excedrin PM.  Sitz bathes are very soothing for whatever kind of surgery you had.  My bowels were pretty wacky with all my surgeries for a few weeks, but things have gotten much better. The best word of advice that my Colon/Rectal Surgeon gave me was to head to the bathroom right after I ate especially if I was out in public.  Your bowels will get more predictable, I promise.  Just make sure you drink plenty of fluid and take citricel or medimucil and maybe even colace if your bowel movements are a little harder than you would like them.  Lord knows you don't want to rip something down there.  Let me know if you have any other questions.  Have a GREAT weekend and Happy Mother's Day to you too!

[mlmount]

you have hemmiroids i not sure how to spell that but that is what you have dont strain yourself and take stool softener and your problems will be gone