Are Hemorrhoids an Early Symptom of Pregnancy?

Hi K.,
Although I've only had one child, so I only have that 1 experience to go by, I would say no. Hemorrhoids are generally caused by pressure or pushing too hard when you have a bowel movement and if you're so early into your pregnancy that you wouldn't even know you're pregnant, I would guess there can't much pressure if any.
I would suggest that you add more fiber into your diet to reduce the symptoms of the hemorrhoids and bleeding, but if that doesn't go away, you should call your doctor.
As for the cramping, are you nursing or have you recently stopped nursing? If you recently stopped, your body might be adjusting to that. It takes a while for everything to get back to normal when you stop breastfeeding.
Have you taken a pregnancy test?

If your starving, you may be eating things that your body just isn't used to and that could be causing it. I get fissures (which cause slight bleeding) when I don't get my coffee (which is a laxative) or I eat popcorn (which cuts up my intestines).

Drink more fluids - drink apple juice (again, a laxative) to help your poor bum.. and 'sitz' baths or just plain baths help.

well constipation can be a sign of pregnancy, your body slows down digestion to get max amount of nutrients out, and the constipation might cause hemorrhoids especially if you experienced them with your first pregnancy. Have you been trying to conceive? If not, since your baby is only 5 months, your body may just be going through adjusting to get back to "normal". They say 9 months on 9 months off for baby weight and I find it to be true for all the other hormonal changes you go through with pregnancy. the way I carried my daughter and her vaginal birth left me with some pretty rotten hemorrhoids, and it took about a year for them to really not bother me anymore.
good luck!

Hi K.,
I would have to say yes it happened to me! The hormones changes in my body during early pregnancy caused me to have an upset stomach with gas and pressure , which caused some extremely painful hemorrhoids. A few days later I found out I was pregnant. The only other time I have had them was right after childbirth. So it was an early symptom of pregnancy for me.