Bleeding when I poop

Hi guys. I've had what I think is external hemorrhoids for a year or 2 now. They are clearly visible with a mirror. As they've never really caused me any pain I've left them be. Over the last few months, every week or 2, I get alot of bright red blood when I poop. What worries me is that my last bowel movement also seemed to have alot of darker blood mixed in with the bright red blood, and even a huge clot on the paper. I do get grooves in my stool also, which I've heard can be caused by the hemorrhoids. Every symptom I have seems to be related to colon cancer also, which is terrifying. My only calming factor is that I can clearly see that I have hemorrhoids, so a possible, harmless cause is evident. I guess what I'm asking is if it's likely to be anything other than the hemorrhoids causing this, or could I also have those along with something more serious?

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  • As others have said, the only way to be sure if to contact a doctor, as you have presumably done by now. I hope you have had good news but just in case you have to wait for the results of tests or anything and are still worried, I will say that for the last about 5 months, I have been getting rectal bleeding and after about two months developed what I assume was an external hemorrhoid. I was sent for a colonoscopy and they found nothing except for the hemorroids. 

    As in your case, it seemed like all my symptoms led to cancer - rectal bleeding, weight loss, occasional loose stools, trapped wind... Some were probably related to the stress of the whole thing and some just coincidence (I had my thyroid removed just under two years ago and that is probably the cause of the weight loss), but there does also seem to be a certain amount of overlap between the symptoms of hemorrhoids and those of colon cancer. And hemorrhoids are far more common. If the 35 in your username refers to your age and you can actually see something that looks like a hemorrhoid or hemorrhoids, I would say that is very much the most likely explanation. I am 40 and the specialist told me that at my age, the chances of cancer were very low indeed. Admittedly, I didn't have any dark blood or clots, but I did have other symptoms like weight loss. 

    However, it is possible to have hemorrhoids along with more serious issues (which doesn't necessarily mean cancer; dark blood can be caused by other things like IBD, which would be way more likely among under 50s, as well), so it does need to be checked.

    Again, I hope you've had good news by now that makes this comment unnecessary.

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  • As others have said, the only way to be sure if to contact a doctor, as you have presumably done by now. I hope you have had good news but just in case you have to wait for the results of tests or anything and are still worried, I will say that for the last about 5 months, I have been getting rectal bleeding and after about two months developed what I assume was an external hemorrhoid. I was sent for a colonoscopy and they found nothing except for the hemorroids. 

    As in your case, it seemed like all my symptoms led to cancer - rectal bleeding, weight loss, occasional loose stools, trapped wind... Some were probably related to the stress of the whole thing and some just coincidence (I had my thyroid removed just under two years ago and that is probably the cause of the weight loss), but there does also seem to be a certain amount of overlap between the symptoms of hemorrhoids and those of colon cancer. And hemorrhoids are far more common. If the 35 in your username refers to your age and you can actually see something that looks like a hemorrhoid or hemorrhoids, I would say that is very much the most likely explanation. I am 40 and the specialist told me that at my age, the chances of cancer were very low indeed. Admittedly, I didn't have any dark blood or clots, but I did have other symptoms like weight loss. 

    However, it is possible to have hemorrhoids along with more serious issues (which doesn't necessarily mean cancer; dark blood can be caused by other things like IBD, which would be way more likely among under 50s, as well), so it does need to be checked.

    Again, I hope you've had good news by now that makes this comment unnecessary.

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