Hello! I am new to this site so bear with me y'all. My name is Ashley and I am 19 years old. I've been worrying alot lately and I feel as though I can't really talk about this with anyone close to me, so I figured id give this a shot..here goes nothing. For the past, I think, year I have been having blood on the toilet paper when I wipe. It is not in the toilet bowl or on the stool itself, just the toilet paper. It doesn't happen all the time, its just occasional and it is a verry minimal amount. When it does happen it is mostly tiny specs of bright red blood, and I mean tiny specs. One time there was a pink smudge. Whenever it does happen I do notice that there is a burning sensation after the bowel movement t for a few hours and then it goes away. I was stupid and looked up my symptoms in Google and bam, now I'm convinced I have colon cancer and am dying. I guess I have health anxiety issues. I do not have health insurance and cannot afford tests, I did get worried one time and visited the urgent care where they did a finger rectal exam and said they felt nothing, and the X-ray showed a moderate amount of stool in my colon so they told me I needed more fiber and to change my diet. I've also noticed over the past week and a half or so that whenever I pass a stool, it comes out in balls or pellets and I have to strain. So I went out and got some dulcolax stool softener and ever since I took some of those yesterday my stool has been thin and soft. I am worried and need advice on this please.
I can understand your concern with you being so young. It sounds to me like you do need more fiber in your diet. I think you being worried about it is causing you more stress and probably adding to the concerns. If you can add like metamucil or Mirolax, something like that to your diet for a while til you get regulated it might help, and drink plenty fluid , it will help too. Hope you feel better soon,
Thanks for replying. I hate wracking my brain and not actually saying what's on my mind. I can actually do that here! Haha. But yes I do need more fiber. Do you know of anything I could eat that would help? And I just have this constant worry of colon cancer, thanks to Google! The little bit of intermittent blood on the toilet tissue irks me. I do smoke, but I have no family history of colon cancer or anything of the such. I will try the Miro lax or metamucil though.
More fibre is a good idea. As to the specks of blood - when you are passing hard or dry stools, you can actually scratch the delicate lining of your rectum and that will bleed a little. Also, straining to pass these types of stool can cause hemorrhoids to form, which also bleed. Once you have the fibre sorted, and your stools are softer, then I think that the blood will disappear.
You have done the right thing getting it checked out, but it sounds as if you can fix this yourself. Cheers, Sera.
worried and anxious :( advice? 
