Hi Jeremy85 and welcome, I have bowel and anal cancer as well as haemorrhoids and anal tears "fissures", the only time i get blood on the toilet paper is with haemorrhoids, which i have had for years, when i get a bleed from anywhere else it is always in the stool. I get little if any pain from bleeding, but the tears can sting at times but usually heal with treatment in weeks. You are 3400 times more likely to have haemorrhoids than cancer but i  know the thought of having cancer can be frightening, If you are still concerned see your GP, take care, Eddie

 Hi Jeremy85 and welcome, I have bowel and anal cancer as well as haemorrhoids and anal tears "fissures", the only time i get blood on the toilet paper is with haemorrhoids, which i have had for years, when i get a bleed from anywhere else it is always in the stool. I get little if any pain from bleeding, but the tears can sting at times but usually heal with treatment in weeks. You are 3400 times more likely to have haemorrhoids than cancer but i  know the thought of having cancer can be frightening, If you are still concerned see your GP, take care, Eddie

The bleeding has been happening for at least 4 yrs I reckon, maybe more. If anything serious was happening would I be getting other serious symptoms by now? I will probably go back to the doctor but it feels awkward as he already told me he thinks its internal haemorrhoids. The thing is last time he saw me he didn't actually do any physical check. I was 43 at the time so maybe he thought I was too young for colon cancer? (I'm 45 now).

Hi Jeremy i can't remember how long i have had haemorrhoids, at least 10 years I have prostate, bladder, anal and bowel cancer and up until treatment all i had was some urinary incontinence, People under 40 get colorectal cancer, Jeremy as it has you worried you should see you GP, tell him how worried you are and that you just need to know what you have, take care, Eddie

Okay, I know this might be a silly question but do you have any idea why the doctor didn't have an internal feel when he saw me the first time? He just had a more visual check. I was fully expecting him to do so and was always a bit surprised he didn't. But he's the doctor you know.

Ok, this is what i would do, go to your pharmacist and ask for a private chat. Explain your symptoms and how worrying it is for you and ask him for something  to treat your haemorrhoids, If it does not work then call your GP and ask for a DRE and bloods, Eddie

I am booked in to see my GP as he wants to examine me but he is also talking about all these other tests which makes me nervous as I'm wondering why the other GP didn't do the same over a year ago. He seemed pretty unconcerned as I have mentioned in my original post.

Hi Jeremy GPs all have their own idea's, experiences and opinions, you could see 3 more GPs and get a different response from all of them, The tests are pretty standard and nothing to worry about, though you may feel a little discomfort a and you should get the results within 2 weeks.               

Eddie