What Causes Blood In Stool?

Posted on Mon, 13 Jul 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 13 Jul 2015 Answered on

Mon, 3 Aug 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : Sure, I am a 47 yr old healthy male...had bright blood in last 2 stools...no pain or straining so it makes me think it's not a tear of tissue...I have been taking a ton of antacids along with a large Magnesium supplement that i started 5 days ago. .Could this combo be the cause.. I am going to stop w/the magn. and antacids for the most part and see if improvement shows...If not,,to the ER i guess correct?

Answered by Dr. Chobufo Ditah (12 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Ho much blood is this?

Detailed Answer:
Hi and thank you so much for this query.

I am so sorry to hear about this blood ins your stool. I understand it is a disturbing observation for everyone. However, there are no red flags at this time and there is nor reason for us to panic or become aggressive. One possible cause of painless blood in stools are hemorrhoids. I do not know if you have ever experienced this before.

If the quantity of blood is small, stop the combo and see whether this gets resolved. If the volume of blood is much, I recommend you consider seeing a doctor as soon as possible. In the case of small volumes, I will recommend a regular doctor’s visit over ER as ER visits are very expensive and not always very thorough compared to your regular doctor’s visit.

I hope this helps. I wish you well. Thanks for using our services and do feel free to ask for more information and clarifications if need be.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar