Honestly, I am certainly no expert, but had some rectal bleeding and other symptoms over the summer and from what I read and heard from the doctors, I would say it could be lots of things. IBS can cause diarrhea and things like ulcerative colitis, Crohn's and polyps could cause both bleeding and diarrhea. There are infections that probably could too.

What age you are makes some difference too. Cancer is more common in older people, which isn't to say it's the only, or even the most likely, option if you are over 60. There are still plenty of options, but it's even less likely if you are younger.

I was panicked too and my result was hemorrhoids. It feels kinda ridiculous in a way. I had three months of stress and a colonoscopy for hemorrhoids. (I am in Ireland and our HSE (sorta kinda our equivalent to the NHS) was hacked by cybercriminals, which led to chaos and even longer delays than are normal over here.)

Thank you do much for your reply. I'm glad you're OK. Do they need a colonoscopy to detect haemaroids? I thought the GP could do that? I'm 59 

It depends, I think. The GP did an examination and couldn't find anything, so she decided to write a referral, even though she thought anything serious unlikely. She was pretty young and new to the practice, so I think she didn't want to take any chances and say "oh, must be hemorrhoids" even without seeing them. The fact that she couldn't see anything indicating hemorrhoids or a fissure was one of the things that worried me but one of the nurses at the colonoscopy said it's not unusual, that it depends on the grade and whether they are internal or external and so on.

Thank you for taking the time to reply, it really helps. My GP never mentioned anything else and seemed really worried which has panicked me even more. My diarrhea has stopped but I am getting very slight occasional spotting bright red maybe once a week which totally devastates me. Did you have similar symptoms.  Thanks 

Did the GP suggest it might be diverticulitis? 

Again, I am no expert, so could be wrong, but from what I've read online, it sounds as if bowel cancer is pretty unlikely if you have a FIT test come back negative.

Thanks. I feel better informed for you sharing your knowledge and experiences and it's nice not to feel so alone with my worries. I'm past the 2 week referral so hope to hear soon of a date for colonoscopy although I know there's a backlog with Covid