feel stressed out

[richard sharp]

having health anxiety ectopics etc and taking loads of pills to keep my bp in check i found when i went to the toilet there was blood on the side of my motions. off i went to the docs who arranged for a sig something or other to check the large bowel. this proved clear and i explained my health anxiety when he told me i was to go to the hospital for further checks. he said everybody feels this way but the test i had had was 80% proof of no cancer being present and the new test was to check for polyps but any cancer cells would show up although the previous results was a positive. the new test would go higher into my bowel but the tests are not able to be done until 9th of march. im concerned at the time i will have to wait but also worried what the tests will reveal.my wife went through this 2 years ago and it proved negative thank goodness but i get so depressed and find it so hard to be positive about things. she takes the attitude of one day at a time and doesnt worry about tomorrow where i cant enjoy today because im so worried about tomorrow.

[lass]

I know where you are coming from with this. My biggest worry is bowel cancer and I have had sigmoidoscopy and blood tests, which have all come back ok. I have been told that I have IBS but sometimes I can't accept this, I'm convinced it must be something worse. I'm going through a stage of this at the moment, having previously been feeling brilliant.

Do you have any other bowel symptoms that would lead you to believe you have anything to worry about? If not, then please try to rest assured that you are being very thoroughly investigated and after the next test you will have nothing to worry about! Is it a full colonoscopy you are having?

My father has bowel polyps (along with ulcerative colitis) and if you are found to have polyps, they are very simple to remove. Plus they will then keep an eye on you and remove any in the future. Polyps are sometimes an early stage of cancer cells (but most polyps are benign) but they remove them all if they find them "just in case". I guess they've probably told you this already?

I would give anything to have an attitude like your wife - my husband is the same. "Why worry about something til it happens?" If only it were that easy!

Also, I get the ectopics too and mostly these don't worry me, but lately when my anxiety was much improved, and my bowel problems had all but disappeared, my ectopics and palpitations increased and this worried me too.

I guess I have to accept that I will go through the rest of my life worrying, but I would love to be able to keep it in perspective.

Try not to worry (I know that's not easy) - but if they were very concerned about you then you would not be waiting 6 weeks for your test!

Caroline

[richard sharp]

thanks for the reply caroline why did you have the tests which resulted in you finding you have ibs was it because of bleeding?

[lass]

Mine was because of a change in bowel habit, plus abdominal pains (although I don't get the cramping described by lots of IBS sufferers). Plus the fact that I was beside myself with anxiety and my doctor said she knew I wouldn't rest until she'd proved to me that there wasn't anything nasty there.

I have also had a couple of episodes of bleeding, but just small amounts, and my doctor has not been concerned about these. She just said it often goes with IBS, especially diahorrea (sp???).

Is your passing of blood ongoing, or was it just a one-off?

[richard sharp]

it has happened about 3 or 4 times in the past 7 weeks or so where a small amount of blood appeared on the side of the stool or on the toilet paper. my wife is telling me not to be too concerned as the symptoms i have could be many other things than something serious and agrees with you that i would have been sent to the hospital sooner if it was necessary but im finding it really hard not to be absolutely freaked out by it all and cant concentrate on anything. all i can see is the worst possible news.

[lass]

As an on-looker, I would agree with your wife that it is very unlikely to be serious. However, having been there myself, I totally understand what you are going through.

I spent the best part of last year in a complete mess, worrying myself silly that I had bowel cancer. To be honest, although most days I accept my diagnosis of IBS, there is still something at the back of my mind when my mood is low that causes me to worry they have missed something.

Lots of people have posted on here previously about bleeding, and they have been found to have piles or tears. Mine was never really explained and I think this is common too.

I found out last week that my sisters neighbour has got bowel cancer. This seems to have set off the anxiety trigger in my mind again. I really don't understand why because my symptoms are so different to hers - I should feel reassured really.

It may help to know that she suddenly got very ill, sickness and diarrohea, couldn't keep anything down for weeks, lost an awful lot of weight and is a 70 year old woman. Probably very classic signs of bowel cancer. My symptoms are not extreme and it sounds like yours aren't either.

It's funny really, if I had a nose bleed I wouldn't over-react at all, I'd just assume I had a burst blood vessel. However, when it comes out the other end I go into complete panic, it scares me more than anything.

Try to stay calm and positive, find things to distract you and hopefully very soon this will all be over for you.

I'm always happy to chat if you feel like it!

Caroline

[Sheik N Shimmy]

<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">It may help to know that she suddenly got very ill, sickness and diarrohea, couldn't keep anything down for weeks, lost an awful lot of weight and is a 70 year old woman. Probably very classic signs of bowel cancer. <div align="right">Originally posted by ckirby25 - 30 January 2007 : 10:16:41</div id="right">
</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">

And even if it came to that there is hope. My father-in-law survived bowel cancer. It was discovered nearly seven years ago and two years ago they told him not to come back for tests for another five years.



Keep On Keepin On

[richard sharp]

caroline your a star and i appreciate the time your taking to help me through this tough time
richard

[lass]

Good point Sheik - I should have also mentioned that the doctors are confident they have caught my sisters neighbour's cancer in good time and I know with treatment they have very good success rates. I guess we tend to forget the positive stories when anxiety sets in - we're too busy worrying about the "what ifs".

[Mable]

Hi Richard,

Sounds to me like you may have piles - did the DR mention that? Intermittant bleeding on the paper and side of motion, (not mixed in), sounds like piles. I have had a similar experience, my DR examined me rectorally, said he couldn't feel anything serious, and left it at that. I am 41. He did not send me for any tests, so now I am wondering why!

I am sure you will be fine. At least you can have these tests to put your mind at rest. It may be worth going back to the DR and asking him what is the likely cause, rather that worrying about the worst while you are waiting for the test.

And if the tests do show anything (unlikely) at least it can be dealt with now rather than later!

Hope all goes well!

Mable