Hello fellow members. For a number of years, I've been experiencing periodic blood in my stools and wanted to find out more on whether this is being caused by anal fissures, hemorrhoids, or another condition.

I eat a plant based diet that is high in fiber with no meat or dairy and drink a lot of water. I generally have two bowel movements a day, though with the first one in the morning, the beginning of the bowel is usually harder and dryer and causes some irritation when coming out. There have been times where the stool that follows has some blood on the side, a few drops of blood in the toilet water and on the toilet paper. The blood on the toilet paper looks similar to having a nosebleed. I do not experience any burning or irritating sensation after I finish the bowel movement. The bleeding might occur again the next several days then stops. I have been noticing and correlating that I experience blood in my stools after experiencing stress and frustration.

Have any of you experienced something similar to my situation? Does it appear that this is due to anal fissures, hemorrhoids, or something else? I appreciate your feedback and suggestions on how to deal with this!

I suggest seeing a doctor, preferably a colorectal specialist. Blood in the stool could be caused by several things, and you should get it checked out. The most likely explanation is hemorrhoids - but see a doctor.

If it is actually in the stool then you should see a doctor asap. If it is just a drip of blood/blood on the toilet paper then could be from fissure or piles... but you should still see a doctor so you can get a proper diagnosis and treatment.
Remember they have seen it all before so try not to worry too much about going :-)