AIBU? Mucus when wipe my bottom

[MummaHud]

my husband said I’m being unreasonable wanting to demand a colonoscopy at the GP

but I’m worried, today I went to the toilet and mucus wiped from my bum and now it feels like pressure down there.

I’ve had haemorrhoids in the past and I’ve had no blood / other symptoms.

I guess I just want to know if anyone else has experienced this and if so, what was it? Was it just normal?

I’ve got a doctors appointment but it’s the weekend so it won’t calm my health anxiety waiting but would be good to know if anyone has had similar

A small amount is normal. Probably the pressure is from the anxiety. I wouldn’t have thought you needed to see the GP for it, or are you going for another reason?

Just the once?

I had it a few times in the past, but this time it scared me- seemed to be a lot and came when I wasn’t even on the toilet

I get this - I was told it was because I have IBS.

I don’t think I’d be too worried about one off occurrences that are spaced out to be honest. I’d be more concerned if there was a pattern of it happening over a number of days or weeks. My son has Crohn’s Disease and it was one of his symptoms. But there were lots of other symptoms too.

If it keeps happening this week I would ask for a stoolsample testing kit.

Thank you, I suffer with health anxiety ( I am seeking help for this, it was caused by my sons premature arrival last year and lots of time in the NICU )

so I’m really worried about bowel cancer 😭

I’m really sorry you’re suffering with health anxiety. I have suffered with anxiety in various forms my whole life and I know how easy it is to catastrophise. I’m no expert, but I would say that bowel cancer is very far down the list of likely causes. I think having children ramps up the anxiety with all the thoughts of wanting to be there for your child. Hope your son is doing well now

99.9% IBS but definitely needs full investigation

Gluten intolerance in my case.

I don’t think ‘demanding’ any procedure is the right approach. Explain your symptoms and ask if he/she thinks a colonoscopy or other investigation would be advisable. ‘Demanding’ could antagonise a doctor and you need co-operation.

I had this as one of the first symptoms (which I ignored) about 10 years before I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.

It would be unreasonable to 'demand' a colonoscopy, yes. It wouldn't be unreasonable to go to the GP and talk about your concerns.

I had this many years ago. Had the colonoscopy and it was proctitis - a type of ulcerative colitis but only in the last part of the rectum. I had a course of suppositories (which admittedly wasn’t fun) and it all cleared up. No further issues and that was probably 15 years ago.

Google to relieve your anxiety:

When to Seek Immediate Emergency Care
Go to an emergency department or call emergency services (like 999 in the UK) immediately if mucus discharge is accompanied by any of the following severe symptoms:
A lot of blood or blood clots in your stool, or very dark/black stool.

Severe or increasing abdominal pain or very bad tummy pain.

Signs of a strangulated rectal prolapse, where the rectum is stuck outside the body, swells, and loses blood supply, causing severe pain.

High or very low temperature, or other signs of sepsis (a life-threatening response to infection).

Vomiting that lasts for more than a day, or the inability to keep liquids down.

Signs of severe dehydration, such as not peeing for 24 hours or feeling dizzy/faint.

A very fast heart rate, heart palpitations, or chest pain.

Shortness of breath or very pale skin.
A swollen or distended tummy combined with an inability to pass stools (bowel obstruction).

Otherwise there are many normal reasons to have mucus.

Bowels create mucus to lubricate the system. Occasionally there is a bit more than usual. If there is an excessive amount or blood then by all means see the doctor but you do not need to "demand" anything. The chances are it is entirely normal.

If you're concerned then there's nothing wrong with making a GP appointment, but it does sound a bit like piles/constipation to me.

I was going to say the same I get this frequently with flare ups

Not unreasonable to ask no, more likely diverticulitis or IBS as others have said than anything serious

@MummaHud I had this on and off my whole life, usually paired with constipation and abdo pain. For 40 years I was told it was IBS.

A recent blood test showed I have coeliac disease, confirmed by an endoscopy. If you have any of these symptoms, I would ask for a coeliac blood test.

I have this with dairy. I had to cut it out from my diet

I have this. Doc tells me it's probably IBS but more likely gluten and lactose related.
I did have blood tests and gave stool samples to rule out anything nasty.

A friend had this and it was a massive colon polyp, gave her ibs symptoms too but all cleared up when polyp was removed.

I thought this was normal if it's occasional?

If this a new symptom they you should get it checked out. I get this due to IBS.

I get this occasionally and have never really thought about it tbh.