Hi I'm sorry to hear about your symptoms. You did the right thing getting it checked.

I thought I'd tell you about my experience as I remember being very worried and it would've helped hearing other people's experiences.

I also had rectal bleeding. I noticed it one morning when there was a lot (blood filled on toilet paper, had to wipe a few times, toilet bowl water turned red) and was scared and then I realised there were previous times I had bleeding but it was a tiny but so I didn't take much notice.

I'm 23 and was also sooo worried about not being taken seriously.

The first GP I called said it was nothing and to give it a few weeks. The second said 'uhh you should probably come in tomorrow, do you want a female dr?' and I said yes but was then so scared I'd have one who wouldn't take me seriously. She turned out to be amazing. As soon as I walked in, she said it upset her hearing about my symptoms. The appointment felt very productive. 

So if you don't get taken seriously, you should call/ go to a different doctor if your symptoms persist.

My rectal examination found no haemorrhoids or fissures like yours. I was so scared that the appointment would then be over and then she said the problem must be internal so asked me to give a stool sample, FIT test and come back for a blood test.

Have they asked you the same?

My FIT test came positive with a high result so they referred me for further tests. The waiting list was very long and I had new symptoms (faecal incontinence and weight loss). I called the GP again and she referred me on the 2ww referral which I was so relieved about.

I had a sigmoidoscopy (looks at the left side of the colon) and found out I do have haemorrhoids but they're higher up. I'm so relieved. I am still waiting for biopsy results but hope they'll be okay.

Hope you turn out not to have anything serious.

Hi I'm sorry to hear about your symptoms. You did the right thing getting it checked.

I thought I'd tell you about my experience as I remember being very worried and it would've helped hearing other people's experiences.

I also had rectal bleeding. I noticed it one morning when there was a lot (blood filled on toilet paper, had to wipe a few times, toilet bowl water turned red) and was scared and then I realised there were previous times I had bleeding but it was a tiny but so I didn't take much notice.

I'm 23 and was also sooo worried about not being taken seriously.

The first GP I called said it was nothing and to give it a few weeks. The second said 'uhh you should probably come in tomorrow, do you want a female dr?' and I said yes but was then so scared I'd have one who wouldn't take me seriously. She turned out to be amazing. As soon as I walked in, she said it upset her hearing about my symptoms. The appointment felt very productive. 

So if you don't get taken seriously, you should call/ go to a different doctor if your symptoms persist.

My rectal examination found no haemorrhoids or fissures like yours. I was so scared that the appointment would then be over and then she said the problem must be internal so asked me to give a stool sample, FIT test and come back for a blood test.

Have they asked you the same?

My FIT test came positive with a high result so they referred me for further tests. The waiting list was very long and I had new symptoms (faecal incontinence and weight loss). I called the GP again and she referred me on the 2ww referral which I was so relieved about.

I had a sigmoidoscopy (looks at the left side of the colon) and found out I do have haemorrhoids but they're higher up. I'm so relieved. I am still waiting for biopsy results but hope they'll be okay.

Hope you turn out not to have anything serious.

Thank you so much for this reply. It's so helpful to hear of someone in a similar situation. Good luck with everything, I hope your tests come back okay x