Blood in the toilet

Blood in your toilet bowl may not be a cause for alarm. Nevertheless, if the quantity of blood is a lot (a cup or more) or you only passed blood and nothing else, you must immediately visit the nearest healthcare provider.

Seeing blood in your toilet bowl may be due to mild or severe illnesses. Causes my include:

• You have a pile or a small tear around your anus while passing a hard stool.
• You have a stomach ulcer or other diseases that affect your stomach or intestines, such as infections or tumours.
• You currently take blood-thinning medicines like aspirin, this can be a side-effect of those medicines.
• You have an infection or a tumour in your bladder or kidneys.
• You took a drug (e.g. rifampicin) or a drink (e.g. lucozade) with red colouration.

Sometimes, a small amount of blood may not necessarily be a cause for alarm, but continuous or severe bleeding can be a medical emergency. You should seek medical care immediately:

• If you continue to bleed for more than a week or you notice that the blood in your toilet bowl keeps increasing either from your urine or stool.
• If you begin to have severe pains in your stomach.
• If you have a stomach ulcer or any other disease that affects your abdomen and intestines.
• If you start to feel confused or extremely weak.
• If it is a child that has blood in their stool or urine, take them to a healthcare provider without delay.

You can not prevent these symptoms, but you can reduce the severity by getting treated for the causes.

Self-care Tips

• Drinking about 8-10 glasses of water per day helps you protect your kidneys and makes it easy for you to pass stools.
• Take foods rich in fibre, such as fruits and vegetables, to prevent passing hard stools or getting haemorrhoids.
• Keep your environment clean to prevent your food from being contaminated and giving you an infection.
• If you are passing loose stools with blood, make some oral rehydration solution (a mixture of salts and glucose that you can buy at a pharmacy) to prevent dehydration.

Treatment Options

• Your healthcare provider may prescribe antibacterial or antiviral medicines if you pass blood due to an infection. This can be a complication of viral hepatitis.
• Your healthcare provider may also recommend surgery, especially if a tumour is causing the blood in your urine or stools.

Blood in the toilet bowl usually resolves on its own in two to three days. If this bleeding continues beyond this period, it is reasonable to suspect that there may be an underlying condition. Pay attention to any colour change in your poop or pee and be on the lookout for traces of blood. If your symptoms persist visit a healthcare provider.