I just thought I would post here for a little peace of mind, or at least to hear some advice/personal experiences.

I am a 22 year old woman and roughly 6 months ago I began to experience severe abdominal cramps accompanied by changes in my bowel habits. What’s more worrisome is that shortly after my abdominal cramps began, I first noticed blood on my tissue paper after a bowel movement.

I saw a doctor who carried out a rectal exam and told me that there was a small haemorrhoid (but also told me that nearly everyone has small ones) and that the change in my bowel habits (going more frequently with looser stools) may have aggravated it and caused it to bleed. She told me I likely had IBS and prescribed me suppositories and advised me to see her again if my symptoms didn’t improve.

After 2 weeks of using the suppositories, the bleeding did not stop. I was unfortunately unable to see the same doctor, and the second doctor simply prescribed me more suppositories and brushed me off. I decided not to use the second supply of suppositories, and after another week or so the bleeding stopped entirely on its own. I also began to follow a FODMAP diet around this time and my abdominal cramps disappeared as well.

I had no more issues with bleeding for the rest of the month, so I figured it really was just a combination of IBS and haemorrhoids and went on with my life.

However, a few days ago I noticed blood again while wiping.  An hour after discovering the blood, my abdominal cramps returned and are still present 5 days later, despite still following my FODMAP diet and eating meals that hadn’t given me any bother over the last six months. I have not experienced more blood since.

I’ve booked to see a doctor this coming Tuesday and I am going to ask for a referral to a gastroenterologist for further investigations. I’m just concerned it’s potentially bowel cancer, and that it’s been left to spread for over 6 months now.

Has anyone with IBS eaten meals for months without upsetting their stomach, and then all of a sudden those same meals caused abdominal pain months later? I just don’t understand why my IBS would kick back up all of a sudden when I haven’t made any changes to my diet, and it’s been stable for months.

Many thanks for any responses!