Worried the doc has missed my symptoms

[Lilharry]

I'm so worried that there is something seriously wrong with me. TMI, but I have been having yucky stools that smell really bad coupled with severe fatigue. I also get blood in my stool. I am terrified I have something wrong with my pancreas, liver or kidneys. Everytime I see a doctor I tend to downplay my symptoms or we end up focusing on the wrong ones. I have had bloods that have shown nothing, but I'm not convinced they would pick up something more serious. All I want is for someone to tell me what it wrong with me, but they just kind of shrug their shoulders and hussle me out because they don't want to be late for the next patient.

Despite telling myself not to, I googled my symptoms and I'm terrified now of pancreas or liver cancer or even bowel or colon cancer. I'm pretty good at giving advice to other people about how to cope and I do well most of the time, but today it's really got to me. It just can't be normal to be having these symptoms and to feel so tired all the time. I know it's not just anxiety causing this. I'm so terrified of what this could all mean. Have booked yet another appointment with teh doctor for tomorrow. I just wish I could feel satisfied that everything has been checked out and I'm okay. Feel really low at the moment :(

[zippy]

I totally know where your coming from. I have been feeling the same and like you I sit crying everyday at home and when I see my gp I put a front on and come across that I am not as poorly as I really am. I always come out thinking I should have told him this or that.
We have been having similar issues with bowels and extremely fatigued. I am seeing my gp again today.

[Lilharry]

Glad you are going back to see your GP - I have booked an appointment for tomorrow too. I'm convinced I have pancreas cancer - seriously. I've had a pain on my left side under my ribs for years, and I never really worried about it, just thought it was from tension. Then today after I had lunch, it really really hurt and I realised that I get that a lot, but just kind of ignored it. Why have I ignored it for so long? I always mean to mention it when I'm at the doctor, but the appointments are so quick and they basically push you out the door and I didn't think it was important. You're only allowed to talk about one symptom at a time. I get all flustered and forget why I'm there. I've been crying all day and so worried that I've left this for so long and it could be the one thing that was actually serious. I just want them to test my internal organs and tell me they're all okay. At the moment I'm pretty convinced I don't have much time left. So crazy, but it's how I feel. Need to take some of my own advice and just hold fire until I've discussed it with the doctor instead of getting all worked up like this!

Hope you are okay zippy. Let me know how you get on today.

[anxietyoverload]

I do this all the time, I think to myself I will tell my doc everything so I can be reassured but when I get there I downplay it all!

Do you have IBS? When mine flares up I get an agonising pain followed my loose stools and blood? x

[zippy]

I have a pain in the right of my back and neck when I breath or burp. I am the same before I go in I go over In my head what I am going to say and when I get in i forget most of it and I come out and get mad with myself.
I see a gastroenterologist in 3 weeks and I need to see a neurologist now because my brain scan showed lesions.
Why don't you ask your gp to send you for an ultrasound? I had one over a week ago and they check your liver, pancreas, gallbladder,kidneys and spleen.

[Lilharry]

I don't know if I have IBS, anxietyoverload. Some doctors have said maybe I do, but a gastroenterologist said I definitely didn't. I didn't realise you could get blood with IBS. I've been told it's probably internal hemmorhoids, but no one knows for sure. The stool is really yucky, like the food isn't digested properly and sticky and smells really bad - sorry i know that's gross adn it's really embarassing, but it is what it is!

Zippy - I had an ultra-sound a couple of years ago and was told that my organs were perfect! He even asked me if I didn't drink because my liver looked like it was someone's who didn't drink! But now I'm wondering if they weren't really looking that hard because the doctor ordered the ultra sound to look at my ovaries and lady bits, so not sure if they took a good hard look at my organs or not. Sigh. Last time I went to the doctor about pain he said I could get an ultra sound, but I would have to pay to have it done, which really puts me off. I think I will do it though, just to put my mind at ease.

[zippy]

It's a vicious circle lilharry. Even though I got the ultrasound of all them organs because I have this pain all the time I am thinking oh well it must be my lungs or stomach then. We are never convinced. Unless my gallstone that I have had for years is causing it but it hadn't moved on the ultrasound.
I was told I had ibs, gastritis and acid reflux a few years ago.
I would have the ultrasound though.

[backfromthebrink]

Hi Lilharry, the thought processes all sound so familiar…

The the test for the colon would be a flexible sigmoidoscopy. You have to take a laxative and/or have an enema beforehand, so you're empty, and then they put this flexible pipe up you. I haven't had one. If you have unexplained bleeding, you really should have that checked out by whatever means necessary. Any bleeding from down there should have a clear cause (ie haemorroids or fissure), or should be investigated to find the cause. If nothing is found, only then can IBS be diagnosed. Sometimes doctors just slap 'IBS' on everything and it becomes meaningless. I just had a meeting with a specialist GP trained in gynaecology, and I said that I get constipated before my period and sloppy ones during it - and she wrote on the letter back to my GP that I had 'IBS symptoms' but was able to manage them. Something isn't IBS until everything else has been ruled out, and doctors seem to feel ok 'guessing' that one, often. When they wouldn't 'guess' at other diagnoses! How old are you? It would be v unusual for it to be anything too scary if you're under the age of 35-ish, so don't get too worried.

Anxiety can make stools loose and smelly and can also mean food goes through more quickly and isn't processed properly and comes out half digested. But shouldn't mean blood. Anxiety can also leave you feeling fatigued and exhausted, all that worrying is knackering, physically and emotionally.

I've also have a pelvic ultrasound, but I didn't realise they looked at anything apart from ovaries and uterus. My ultrasound dr didn't say anything about anything else, so I assumed she didn't look at organs.

[Lilharry]

Thanks everyone for your supportive comments. I just had teh best doctor's consultation I've ever had! Saw a doctor I'd never seen before at my practice and she was amazing. Listened to me and took me seriously and told me I probably have chronic fatigue, but there are lots of things we can try to help with that. Also wants me to cut out wheat from my diet, as she said that can make it worse. Also said that my HA isn't causing me to feel unwell, and that I have it because I'm unwell - which is what I've been saying all along because I didn't start having HA until I got sick! Makes such a huge difference seeing someone who listens and cares. She has sent me for some more diagnostic blood work to rule out viruses etc. Feeling a lot more positive today.

[backfromthebrink]

That's great Lilharry. It makes all the difference when you have a good doctor you trust, also makes it easier to accept the reassurance from them too.

[lgarrik]

I am glad you are feeling better. Doctors sometimes do not understand that they can also be the source of our anxiety because they don't listen to their patients.

[panickyme]

So glad you have found an understanding Doctor. Hope you feel better soon. :hugs: