Hey all,

Over the past 3 days, I have been bleeding a lot more during BMs. I did discover my hemorrhoids acting up and so my GI prescribed me some Proctosol-HC 2.5% cream, which I am now using with my Nifedipine/Lidocaine. I'm just confused as to whether or not the bleeding is from the internal/prolapsed hemorrhoids or from the anal fissure itself?

I still have the same amount of pain during BMs, at about a 7-8 on the pain scale out of 10. I definitely have what you guys call the "plug effect" since this all started. First couple of pieces of stool come out in small pieces and seem hard (the most painful part), and the rest come out normal and are soft.

My big question is, how much blood is normal? And what does the blood typically look like? Sorry, I know this is kinda gross, but I figured this is the only place where I could talk about this and I would be grateful for any input.
I wasn't bleeding too much after BMs originally when this all first started a few weeks ago, even though my pain was/is still bad. Maybe a few streaks on the TP. But now there seems to be a lot more covering the stool....and seems almost somewhat clumpy/gel-like? The water doesn't turn red or anything...just all over the stool. Is this normal or could this be more serious like a blood clot?

Also---does this mean I'm getting worse rather than healing since I'm bleeding more than when I first started???? - which is my biggest fear of all.
I hope everyone is doing well today and I thank you in advance for all your support and advice.

You can bleed from hemmies. Pink blood is close to rectum, wine colour is slightly higher up. Both not too much to worry about, though if it is continuous claret wine colour mention to your doctor. Tar colour=consult your doc. The blood that they look for in stools is called Fecal Occult Blood. And there is a test for this (FOBT) and cannot be seen by eye.

I think it may be an irritated skin tag! It seems to shrink when I'm in less pain and be enlarged when I'm in more pain but I can't be sure. It feels like internal hemmies when I feel pressure inside but the one outside, both my GI and my CRS (who I saw yesterday just for a consultation) seem to think it's an inflamed skin tag. Thanks for the input! :)

I've had extremely large amounts of blood at times. Almost like an open wound that would drip out during a bowel movement. This is how my first AF appeared six years ago...BM's with massive amounts of blood.

What I've found, and this seems to be consistent amongst those of us with AF's, is that blood content is inversely proportional to pain threshold. In the past, my most painful AF flareups had almost no blood at all, but the most pain free flareups have had massive amounts of blood.

Hi Jay1975, this is good to know! The bleeding seems to have mostly stopped since I posted this but as you know it is completely terrifying to see blood in your stool, especially when it's a lot. I see that you had a drastic improvement in symptoms. I hope you are continuing to do well and thank you for your reply.

Hiya, how are you feeling now?

Glad to hear that it has improved, SD! it is really nothing to worry that much about if the blood is pink. I quite often bleed (as my mother did before me) from internal hemorrhoids that I have no intention of ever having removed.

Keep healing!!!

Shania213 - thank you for your concern and reply! I don't want to jinx anything, but I have been feeling a bit better the past few days and the bleeding has stopped since I started up on the Miralax. I am keeping updates over here: anal-fissure-story-severe-anxiety-attacks-and-losing-hope-t10040.html#p118856

SavaIci - yes, the blood was right red and I did have a slight retear on Friday night, but that was my own fault I think. Otherwise, no more bleeding for now. Although I am sure that I am hardly out of the woods yet...THANK YOU<3