Hi all,

I just wanted to post my story to give others some encouragement.

Around 4 months ago, I first noticed some spots of blood on the toilet tissue after I wiped. I didn't think much of it at first, as it was only a very small amount of blood. It continued for the next couple of weeks, then one day I noticed my stool was completely streaked in blood, with large amounts of mucus too. This set the panic sirens off and I called my GP to arrange a consultation. I saw him the next day, he performed a rectal exam which was OK and then sent me to the hospital for some blood tests.

Blood tests came back all normal, my GP sent me away and told me to monitor the symptoms for 3 months and then come back if it was still happening. I continued to monitor my stool daily, mucus was present 100% of the time and the blood went away for a few days then reappeared. I had no change in bowel habits or any other noticeable symptoms, except maybe a slight niggle in my lower left side and a bit of excess wind. Another couple of weeks went by and the blood and mucus were still present in every stool. I was pretty worried - so I called my GP and asked him to refer me for a colonoscopy to see if we could get to the bottom of it. The hospital were in touch the next day - I was given an appointment for a colonoscopy almost straight away. (I arranged the COVID-19 swab on the day the hospital called, then self-isolated for 3 days as per hospital protocols, and then had the appointment on the 4th day after the hospital contacted me.)

The bowel prep wasn't particularly fun, it became a bit of a struggle to drink the 2nd litre of the mixture simply because of the taste. But it worked very well - after an hour or so on the toilet the bowels were clear and I was asleep.

I opted for gas & air during the procedure. I found it absolutely fine - there were a few seconds of pain each time the doctor navigated the bends in the colon but a few puffs on the gas & air did the trick. The doctor was great at talking me through the procedure as he went through.

Fortunately, I wasn't diagnosed with anything sinister, just internal haemorrhoids (which the doc said would have been caused through my diet). Not drinking enough fluids or eating enough fiber. Hopefully my story can give others experiencing similar symptoms a bit of reassurance. I'm really glad I pushed to have the colonoscopy, for peace of mind. I'd urge others in a similar situation to do the same - the procedure is really not too bad at all and it's definitely worthwhile for the clarification on what is causing your symptoms.