Still only passing small amounts of stool (tmi)

[Button1]

Hi, I'm sorry for my constant posts, I'm just hanging on to my sanity by my fingertips at the moment.

I've had gastroenteritis and slowly getting back to normal now. I'm also on iron tablets and sertraline which I know affect digestion. My HA is focused on bowel cancer and has been for several years. I've had a breakdown about this in the past and have had to take time off work.


Just before the tummy bug hit I became more stool obsessed to the point where I became a bit constipated I think because I was so anxious about what my stool would be like each time. Now that the diarreah has passed I'm back to passing small amounts of soft squidgy stool. I'm anxious to the point where my chest is tight, my heart is racing, I'm crying...will this be influencing things? Has this happened to anyone else?


I just feel like I must have cancer : ( I've got lots of trapped wind, a gurgling tummy but no loss of appetite or weight or even pain. I simply can't go on, I don't understand my symptoms (although I do have IBS) and want so badly just to be able to be with my baby and not think about any of this.


My family are all downstairs having dinner and I am upstairs next to my baby crying- I can't join in, I can't think about anything else.


Please help : (




And sorry again about thes posts, I'm in the lowest possible place.

[Annie0904]

You have just had a tummy upset so your bowels will probably have been emptied. It is normal not to go much for a while after an upset tummy. Go and join your family, I am sure you have nothing serious wrong with you. :hugs::hugs:

[Edie]

Annie's right, you are just empty from the gastroenteritis. I hope you can eat something, because that will help push out the trapped wind. Just might be a little antisocial for a couple of days!

[Button1]

How can you be sure there's nothing wrong? Everything in my body is screaming that I'm dying. I don't want to go to hospital, I don't want to die, I just want to be with my baby : (

[Annie0904]

Your doctor has told you it is nothing serious and you need to trust him. From your other posts it sounds to me like you have IBS and the tummy bug will have aggravated it more. Also all the anxiety about it will effect your digestive system and like you say, iron tablets also upset your digestive system so with that combination I am sure it is nothing serious as your doctor has already told you. :hugs:

[Button1]

Young people are misdiagnosed with bowel cancer all the time. Why not me?

I'm so obsessed with this that when I close my eyes I can see words associated with cancer, it's like they're imprinted on my eyes.

[Annie0904]

You have been asking this same question since 2011 so I am sure it must be IBS otherwise you would have had more symptoms by now. You really must try to stop worrying about this and enjoy your life. What sort of therapy/counselling have you had? Have you had a blood test done recently? If not ask your doctor if he will do one just to try to convince you that you are fine xx

[Darbysa]

Please listen to Annie. Yes people can sometimes be misdiagnosed but for the length of time you have had this worry you would definitely be seriously ill by now with symptoms which you don't have. The chances of you having bowel cancer are practically nil. IBS flares up when you are stressed so all this worry is a vicious circle for you.

You obviously need some further help in managing this so go and see your doctor next week. Not to talk about whether you have bowel cancer but to make it clear you are not coping with your anxiety.

I know it's hard but please do as Annie says and get back down there with your family and try to enjoy the rest of your evening. I hope this will make you feel better.

[Button1]

I know. But bowel cancer grows slowly and it could be masked by my IBS. The fact that it has been going on so long makes me feel like no one is listening. In 2011 I was put on 50mg sertraline and referred for 18 sessions of CBT. I only took the sertraline for 2 months as then I got pregnant and was ironically anxiety free throughout my pregnancy when I was having the CBT.

I've had low iron since giving birth as I have had heavy periods and I'm on iron. The blood test I had then were completely normal other than low iron (not dramatically low). Obviously my brain says that it isn't caused by that but a tumour. But my doctor won't send me for a colonoscopy because of what she feels is the very real risk of me not coping with the stress of the process. In 2011 I was on diazepam to cope with the tests that I visited different doctors to obtain.


I feel that my symptoms have developed- trapped wind, the recent change in stools...I've lost weight but I have lost the baby weight through not eating and working out 4 times a week.


Part of me wants the colonoscopy but my doc is adamant she won't send me and in truth I'm really not sure I'd cope.




I hope I'm not annoying anyone, I don't mean to bang on but I don't have anywhere else to turn tonight.

[Annie0904]

I really think you need to trust your doctor, you would have a lot more symptoms by now if it was more serious. You really need help in managing your anxieties about it. I have friends who have had bowel cancer and their symptoms were not what you are describing. I am sure yours is ibs, the same as me and you are making it worse by your constant worrying.

[Darbysa]

Button

You are not annoying me, please don't think that. I would love to be able to help you. I think if you look back at your reply you will see that it wasn't ironic at all that your symptoms eased up while you were pregnant. It was because you had something else to think about and you were having CBT. If there was something wrong with you being pregnant and having CBT wouldn't have made this go away. I think you should talk to your doctor about some more therapy. She sounds like she understands your stress.

Sal x

[MightyPC]

Hi Button, I can understand what you're going through. From Xmas 2009 I had horrendous stomach pains, continous wind and I mean farting every 20 seconds, gurgling and bloated stomach, continued runs which changed in colour and weight loss. I was convinced I had bowel cancer. I nearly cracked up, had a month of work, nearly wrecked my relationship and was a constant visitor at the drs. The supported and help I had from the drs was poor. I paid for a colonoscopy and was convinced that I would be told I had the dreaded C. I was in such an anxious state that as soon as I come around from the colonoscopy I jumped out of bed which the dr said he had never seen in 20 years of practice. I was informed that I had a small diverticular but apart from that a very clear bowel. I still felt crap and paid to see a nutritionist. It was the best money spent. She done a stool test and found that my gut bacteria was wrong. A course of probiotics and my stomach settled. I still get the symptoms in fact have them now, but that's because I stopped the probiotics. I will be back on them tomorrow. Look at the symptons of leaky gut and gut bacteria imbalance and see if you have the symptons. Be warned though the majority of gps do not recognise nutritionists but it worked wonders for me. If you need more info let me know otherwise good luck and I wish you well.

[Button1]

Thank you everyone. I know in stubbornly stuck on this but I truly appreciate the time that people put in to helping me. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm ungrateful because if it wasn't for you, I honestly don't know where I'd be. I promise to work on this but it might take some time and hopefully your continued support and understanding!

Just now I can only imagine the worst and I feel like things have escalated and at any point I'm going to be rushed to hospital with a serious problem. Maybe if that was the case I wouldn't be able to be sitting here typing this, I don't know. I just know that I'm very scared, very drained and after CBT and continued increases in doses of medication, I don't know what's going to help.

---------- Post added at 04:33 ---------- Previous post was at 01:09 ----------

My whole body feels like it's on fire, I haven't slept at all, every time I close my eyes I inagine something awful : (