Bleeding from down there

[WishIhadmagicpowers]

NC as this is embarrassing and personal, not a troll post, I’ve posted before under a different name.

I have IBS. Bloods/stool sample were both fine (taken several times, not just once) so no need for any further investigations or referrals. Bloods showed no inflammation and I tested negative for coeliac.

I have diarrhoea most days, but earlier this year I’ve started having a more embarrassing problem. I thought I was having incontenance as I had noticed staining on my underwear, and I had started to hurt down there- it’s a really sharp burning pain. I noticed a few weeks ago that actually it’s not incontenace but it’s blood. I’ve had diarrhoea with blood in it a few times before. Today, I had diarrhoea (no blood) then went for a walk and started to feel the sharp pain, so I came home and my underwear was stuck to me in a patch of blood. It’s not leaking all over my underwear, it’s only the patch that was stuck to me. It was both brown and red so I think it had been bleeding on/off for the entire time I was out walking.

I thought it might be a pile or fissure so I checked myself using a mirror but couldn’t see any blood or redness or obvious cuts. I also wiped down there but again there was no blood which I thought there would be if it was a fissure or pile? I have tried using anusol but it doesn’t really help.

I’m too embarrassed to go to a doctor about it, and I don’t know if this is just part of having IBS, but it’s happening nearly daily now and having a serious impact on my life- more than the constant diarrhoea/nausea is. I’m young (university age) and nobody is even seeing my underwear apart from me, but it’s still really embarrassing and it’s affecting the clothes I wear because I’m very anxious about bleeding randomly from down there and it being obvious. I was so worried thinking it was incontenance so I was relieved when I realised it actually wasn’t, but now I’m even more worried because I’ve realised it’s blood which is bad too! The blood is a mixture of deep, bright red and also brown- I’m unsure if this is because it’s dried blood or if it was brown anyway.

Sorry I know this is a horrible topic to post about but I don’t know what else to do. My doctor said I have to learn to manage my IBS so I don’t want to go back with this if it’s something simple I could treat at home, but I don’t know if it’s a fissure or pile or if there’s anything else that could cause this. There was no blood when I wiped and no obvious cuts or blood when I checked in the mirror. For anyone else with IBS, is this normal with it? What else could it be if not a pile or fissure?

Pilodial sinus? If that’s the correct term. It’s an inflamed hair follicle that gets infected and bleeds/leaks brown blood onto underwear. Mostly happens to men as they tend to be hairier in that area but women can get them too.

There’s a simple day surgery treatment if that’s what it is.

I have had bad piles and fissures and only had blood when going to the toilet. It didn’t randomly come out in between. I would tell the doctor this.

Sorry, didn’t see your update. Hope you get to the bottom of it.

Do you know how long the wait will be OP? Could you ask family for financial support to get a private check if very long?

Can you find the money to go private? I know you might not be able though. What about asking for help. if I was your Mum I'd want to help.
Good luck op.

Hi everyone
I know it’s been a while since I last replied or updated (sorry about that) but I thought I would just post a reply now.

The bleeding keeps happening on/off. It started again this week and it’s felt so painful down there- it -almost feels superficially painful or lower internal- I would have sworn it was a fissure as the pain feels like what I’d expect from that but when I had it checked before there was no fissure found.

I’ve tried different materials of underwear in case something is causing skin irritation but nothing is helping. It’s sore to walk and sit down- it feels like a burning pain down there and then there’s the bleeding too. I haven’t had any blood in bowel movements recently, it’s only really happened on and off throughout the day and I’ve only noticed it in my underwear.

I’m no further forward with finding out what’s going on. Unfortunately I haven’t heard from the hospital yet regarding an appointment for it- as far as I know it didn’t get referred as urgent so I wouldn’t have expected to have heard back by now, even pre covid, and with the waiting times I understand it will be a while.

I really don’t have the money to go private unfortunately, I could afford the upfront consultation but not the extra tests afterwards, but unfortunately this isn’t going away and I’m fed up of being in pain so I’m going to try and find the money somewhere.

Thanks everyone for the advice and help, it’s genuinely appreciated. I’ll update again when I’ve got some more answers

Hi OP. I have endometriosis and was often told my stomach pains and constipation were due to IBS. I think I do have it anyway but since I had an op the ins has definitely got better. I'm just wondering because you say your periods are light and irregular. That's always been the same for me. Endo can cause bleeding from the bum.

Hi Op
There's no harm in chasing your referral up.
Sometimes you have to keep pestering- I'm sorry you are being left without a plan right now.
If I were you, I would telephone:

Your hospital outpatient booking line.
My hospital books up to 8 weeks in advance, so will be able to tell you if an appointment is upcoming.
If the answer is no appointment booked in next 6/8 weeks, then you should check with GP if referral definetely went in.

Ring your GP surgery and ask reception to pass message to GP that no hospital referral yet received- ask them to confirm if this current wait time is to be expected/ ask them to confirm that the referral has been correctly made.

Various family members of my own have had instances of referrals "going missing" and so now I start chasing sooner to ensure things are definetely moving along.

I really hope you get an appointment and some information to put your mind at ease soon xx

Hey OP I stumbled across your thread and thought I'd add my experience in case it helps.

I had bleeding very similar to this 5 years ago, I ignored it for 6 months and it was on and off like yours., I ate tonnes of 'healthy' food in a bid to sort myself out: root veg soup, raw fruit and veg, nuts and seeds, brown pasta, brown rice - I really went to town! Finally saw a doctor as it just wasn't getting any better. He asked about my diet and he said I might be making it worse with so much fibre. He did an internal check but couldn't see much - some minor piles but nothing much. He sent me for a colonoscopy and blood tests. The blood tests were fine except for low Vit D (it was Jan though at the time)

They diagnosed me with Ulcerative Colitis after the colonoscopy and said I needed to eat a very low fibre diet - a 'low residue' diet they call it - basically I needed to eat things that were easy to digest until I feel better then I can go back to eating normally.

So if I'm having a 'flare up' I eat porridge, avocados, bananas, live yoghurt, white bread/rice/pasta and I find that the worst food are very hot/spicy foods and any kinds of nuts/seeds - prosecco messes me up if I have too much during a flare up as well . They also prescribed supposities for a few months. That all sorted me out and I could go back to eating my usual diet (this is how it's different to IBS - food doesn't irritate me, I just have to be careful not to eat food that's hard to digest when my digestive system is delicate).
My life is totally normal between flare-ups - I have averaged at about 1 flare-up per year which last about 6-8 weeks.

During a flare up I go back to a simple diet and the suppositories. I know one is starting up as I begin to feel bloated, I need the loo frequently, I feel like I need to go but there's nothing there - I just bleed instead. I'm sorry this all sounds pretty unpleasant but at the moment it's manageable and hasn't got worse and worse.

Basically - perhaps try a low residue diet whilst your waiting for your hospital appointment. In fact, don't wait - ring them and get it to speeded up to put your mind at rest!

Get lots of rest and eat soothing foods that are easy to digest.

Try not to worry - get checked out asap!

To update too my cameras came back fine as did most my teats. Reassuring but it was still happening. My gp then realised that my iron and folic were a bit low, not flagged as anemic but bottom end of range. Since starting folic acid and iron I have none of my symptoms! Keep pushing OP as women we often get told things are normal when they're not and people generally get fobbed off when the doctors have no idea what the cause it. There will be something but you're going to have to stand up for yourself a bit to get to the root cause. Good luck!