Bleeding bum

[Calciumcarbonate82]

Hello all. This is my first post so please be kind!

I’ve had bleeding with bowel movements throughout my adult life, on and off, and have always assumed it was hemorrhoids as I have really bad ones (like falling out of my bum just walking around bad). Last summer I had some sort of fissure/hemorrhoid flare-up combination and was bleeding for about six weeks before I saw a GP - by then I was anemic so I asked her if it could be bowel cancer; she said I was too young (I’m 38) and had no other symptoms. She looked at my bum and said she could see where the bleeding had come from and not to worry; after a few weeks of iron tablets I was fine again.

I’ve just been to a different GP today as I’ve now been bleeding for about a week. Again she looked at my bum, said it looked very sore (it is!), said there was a huge hemorrhoid she could see was bleeding and a fissure that was bleeding too. She said given how raw the whole area was the amount of bleeding wasn’t surprising. She asked why I’d never done anything about my hemorrhoids (I’ve put it off as I didn’t want to have surgery) and said she could refer me to have them sorted at some point. I asked if she felt I needed a colonoscopy and she said that would almost certainly make them worse.

At what point do I stop stressing about it possibly being colorectal cancer? I keep hearing about people my age being fobbed off by their GPs and I can’t tell whether I too am being fobbed off here or it really is just my hemorrhoids. Should I have pushed harder for further investigation? She seemed very keen to sort out the piles rather than make sure they were really the problem - but if she saw them bleeding, is that reasonable?

Okay. First of all as a teacher you have excellent sick leave and no-one can stop you taking it. Any operation counts and your doctor will sign you off. Once s/he has done so, the school can't ask you to come in, and they wouldn't be insured if you did. So you can scratch that off your list of excuses.

Yes, young people can get bowel cancer. And yes you should push to be checked. While your GP is broadly right about the colour of the blood, it's not always the case. My husband's blood was red, but that was because his cancer was rectal, rather than higher up the bowel.

He was misdiagnosed for two years. So though in your case it seems highly likely that this is about your piles, you would be well within your rights to nag for a colonoscopy. But do get those piles fixed. There's absolutely no reason not to. Yes, you might have to wait,but Covid isn't a good enough reason not to at least get your name on the list.

You can ask your gp to write you a referral for a private consultant. I think all patients have the right to a second opinion and I can’t really see why They’d refuse to do a private referral

Again, thank you all so much, I am amazed that you’re all so helpful, especially to a new member!

I ought to stress that I haven’t been worried about this for the whole time I’ve been dealing with it. I so obviously had piles that I never thought it was anything more serious until last summer when it was really bad and I googled bleeding and anemia. After seeing the GP that time I put it right out of my head until now.

Yes I am legally allowed to take time off work, but I’m not in a union (I know, I know), and my worry is that taking time off will cause me to be treated unfavourably in the future (as I mentioned before, I was told to take as little time off as possible after surgery for a miscarriage). The SLT at my school are not sympathetic about this sort of thing, and we don’t use supply teachers (independent school) so the burden of my teaching falls on someone else.

At this point, however, no amount of physical discomfort, from either surgery or colonoscopy, could be greater than the anxiety I’m dealing with, so I am really keen to get one or the other done. My big fear is that by the time either of them is available, any cancer I may or may not have will be significantly more advanced. I don’t see how I can expedite either process when, as far as my GP is concerned (and on the balance of probabilities she is likely to be right), there’s no urgency.

(I’m really sorry for whining about this. I know bigger things are happening in the world but this is really getting me down!)

OP I would book a private consultation with a colorectal surgeon. I did this as I didn't want to wait. Well worth the fee (around £140) You can book the appointment yourself. He said I could have procedure done under NHS. During surgery for piles he said they usually perform a colonoscopy anyway so they can check for any abnormalities.

You cannot carry on suffering like this, it will get worse over time. Feel free to PM if you want any more info.

Elective procedures are happening to some extent.

It is overwhelmingly likely that your issue is your piles, given you appear to have had them for your whole adult life and your bottom currently looks like a war zone.

So some practical steps:

1. Join a union
2. Go to your referral about your piles - they will know if you need further investigations any way and be able to put your mind at rest.
3. Think about how you deal with sick leave. Asking you to take as little time as possible is a pretty standard thing to do - but you have to care for your health and come back when you are ready. Yes, somebody else has to do the teaching but you need to take care of you Everyone takes as little sick leave as possible except for pisstakers anyway.

And yes you can bleed to the point of needing a transfusion with piles, they aren't 'just piles' - you do have a serious health conditon, you need to deal with it without worrying about ones that you don't have the symptoms of.

I've linked to the referral guidance for adults under 50 for bowel cancer:

You need rectal bleeding PLUS one of these happening without an explanation-
abdominal pain
weight loss
change in bowel habit
iron-deficiency anaemia

cks.nice.org.uk/topics/gastrointestinal-tract-lower-cancers-recognition-referral/

From what you say, you don't have these but you do have the world's worst case of piles. Please get them fixed.

My beautiful daughter died of small bowel cancer in September 2019. She was 35, it took ages to get a diagnosis because she was 'too young'. Doctors need to think outside the box and listen to patients concerns.

@Calciumcarbonate82

Having thought about it the problem with the “get the piles fixed then worry if you’re still bleeding” strategy is that once sorted I would then worry about every subsequent poo. But I don’t qualify for a colonoscopy under the 2ww so I would have to wait for a routine one in who knows how many months time...

But you worry anyway - that's why you've posted in the first place. The longer you sit deliberating about what might happen, the longer nothing will happen. The longer you worry about getting checked for cancer, the longer you are not getting checked for cancer. Decide you want to go through the process of getting this fixed, and start. Tell your doctor you want to get your piles removed and you want to get checked for cancer, and tell them today. If you don't get the answer you want, tell them it's not the answer you want. Be insistent. If it doesn't work, talk to another doctor. If they keep insisting you have to do one thing at a time, then do that, or go private.

But do something.

@Calciumcarbonate82

Thank you EarringsandLipstick. The main reason is that I can’t take the time off work to deal with them - I’m a teacher so can’t take any sort of leave, and my school are very strict about sick days (I had a miscarriage some years back and when I asked for a day off for the ERPC I was told to take as little time off as possible!). I also have two small children (6 and 3) who need taking to school and generally running around after - I’ve heard surgery would involve a very long recovery time and there’s just no way I can lie in bed for weeks for an elective process. I’d like to give that electrotherapy thing a go but can’t afford it. So I’m stuck with them!

That's just not the case! Recovery won't be a long pe

Sorry I hit post too soon.

I haven't read the latest posts but

1. Of course you can have sick leave for medical treatment

1. Recovery isn't necessarily long but will be more so the longer you leave it.

1. You do have a choice to sort this - the diagnosed issue - instead of worrying about another issue, that's likely not a concern at all.

Please get the treatment.

You are all right, I know. Thank you all so so much for such great advice, I really appreciate it.

I contacted my local private practice and they’re not doing face-to-face consultations or non-urgent elective procedures at the moment. I don’t really want to spend £250 on a virtual consultation (I feel like they need to have a good look at me, so to speak) so I think for now I will stick with my GP’s referral - she said she’d make the referral in the next few days, so the ball is rolling. Relieved to hear they do endoscopy as part of surgery - that would sort both problems in one go!

The GP did say the same as a lot of you - how have you put up with this for so long, you know you can have this sorted etc etc. My husband has also been nagging me to do something about the piles for years so he’s delighted I’ve made a step in the right direction.

I will deal with work issues when the time comes I suppose - and maybe I’ll be able to teach from home anyway like I’m doing at the moment...

Feeling a lot more positive today - thank you all. My 3-year-old asked me to read him that children’s classic I Need A New Bum earlier and I had to laugh - maybe after all this time I will finally get one...!

Huge huge thanks to you all - I really, really appreciate it!!

ProseccoFever I am so very sorry to hear about your daughter - how unimaginably sad. You are right that doctors do need to be more aware.

saraclara I’m sorry your husband went through this and was misdiagnosed for so long. Is he okay now?

Glad to get to the end and read your last post. Your OP sent shivers up my spine as my DH also had piles but, thanks to a vigilant GP who went beyond NICE guidance because he sensed something else was going on, was also diagnosed with colon cancer at 38. He had a great surgeon and oncologist and got the 5 year 'all clear' in 2019. Now fighting fit. Good luck with it all.

Well done OP! Great update. Wishing you well 😊

Just for completeness - referral came through much faster than I expected, saw the consultant last week, had flexible sigmoidoscopy and banding on Tuesday. My poor bottom is more painful than ever but I am hoping that subsides soon; the consultant did warn me it wasn’t a permanent solution and may not make any difference to the pain/prolapsing but should stop the bleeding.

BUT...it really was just piles all along. So that’s a HUGE weight off my mind!!

Thanks again to all of you!

I'm glad! The thing is, when there is a clear and evident source of problems- piles- they aren't going to look for an unlikely second cause. If there were no piles, I'm sure they would look further.

I feel your pain, by the way OP. I'm currently suffering badly! I generally notice any symptoms and nip it in the bud with a treatment that works for me. This time it arrived out of the blue and got really bad really fast. Feel like I've been kicked up the rear by a horse!

You'll feel so much better when it's all healed up.