Soft stool- TMI

[Button1]

Hi everyone.

I know that I am always posting about bowel anxieties and I'm sure everyone mus get so frustrated with me. I am going through CBT at the moment (for the second time) so I am trying to get help but I still have bad moments and I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to still reply to me.

So as you might know I had to have a termination in January when I was 21 weeks pregnant due to severe abnormalities detected at the 20 week scan. I already have an 18 month old and I have an extremely supportive husband and family so I thought I was doing pretty well all things considered. I was put on some pretty high doses of vitamins and supplements and sent on my way. I bled for 6 weeks and subsequently discovered that I had an infection and was put on a strong dose of antibiotics. I finished them a week ago but they've left me with an upset stomach and thrush : ( The upset stomach is clearing (less gurgling and no diarreah) but my stools are very soft. Some times are better than others and they are formed but a bit smaller and alot softer than normal (I should also say at this point that I was diagnosed with IBS a few years ago). My bowel cancer anxiety is now through the roof again and I am spending hours on cancer websites and obsessing about going to the toilet. I can't remember how long my stools have been soft for and am panicing that I've left something for too long...

I don't know what I want anyone to say, I just really needed someone to talk to. I'm pretty much at the end of my rope and I don't know what to do, I'm just so scared that I might be one of the unlucky people who gets bowel cancer in their 30s.

thanks for reading, sorry it's so long x

[emlica]

Hiya,
If you're already an IBS sufferer, then a strong dose of antibiotics is very likely to screw up your guts, as you've found. And unfortunately IBS (and anxiety, for that matter) also means your guts will take longer to get back to normal afterwards. They have got better, remember - it's not diarrhoea anymore, which is an improvement! - and soft stools are pretty normal for a lot of people with IBS. In fact, a lot of people with IBS would be grateful for something they could define as formed but soft! :) What you've described is really similar to what my guts did after a stomach bug - not quite the same as antibiotics, I know, but actually I think the effects are pretty similar, basically messing up your internal balance and whatever. I had diarrhoea with the stomach bug which then came back on and off for a few weeks afterwards, and then I had softer stools (but like you say, 'formed', and with less gurgling in my stomach) for several months. Looking back, things were improving, but really really gradually. We're talking perhaps noticing a tiny improvement from one week to the next, no obvious difference day to day. I had all the tests under the sun and they were all clear. Bowel cancer is massively unusual in your 30s, and you're not really having the warning symptoms of that as far as I know. I guess if things start getting worse again, or if you get other symptoms like blood or whatever, then it's worth getting checked out just in case, but if not then I'd honestly say it sounds like an absolutely classic IBS reaction to antibiotics that will just take a while to sort itself out!

[unsure_about_this]

Hi Button

Sorry to hear this about you have had severe abnormalities. When did you last see your GP about your bowel movements etc. I used to spent hours and hours on cancer websites, looking up symptoms, doing the crime of daily mail etc, trying to reduced this now.

I was 30 in December, and even though I had a few scans, MRI scan, CT scan, ultrasound and a nuclear scan of my abdominal nothing was found back in 2013 I have a fear and have been scared of cancer since 2012 and have felt not like my self, it is causing friction in the family with me worrying about my poop, health.

I was 1st told it could be IBS back in 2012 by one GP, this moved on the specialist saying because in my notes it says I do have NF, or a small pouch on the small bowel etc.

I have anxieties by my poop. Even though my scans have been clear, I am not 100% sure whether these are my test results/scans.

[Button1]

I know that the antibiotics were strong and I know that they cause stomach problems for 1 in 10 people. So in my head I can accept that there is a logical explanation other than cancer for my issues. There are no other symptoms, no blood, no increase in frequency or dramatic constipation...I developed a bit of back pain/ tailbone pain when I was pregnant but that is now improving a bit. I get an occasional pain under my left rib cage. I've had clear blood tests and my gp and examined my tummy but that was all fine.

As for the other tests I've had, I've had lots of blood tests, all clear. I had an x ray and ultrasound in 2011 and they were also clear. My gp won't do anything more invasive as she thinks it will be detrimental to my anxiety and she doesn't think she can justify it based on what I'm presenting with. I've been on and off sertraline since 2011 (interrupted by pregnancies) and have now had 30 sessions of CBT...

[emlica]

Oh I get the left rib cage thing too! That's another typical IBS thing from what I've read - there's a sharp bend in your intestines under your left rib (I think it's called the splenic flexure) so sometimes you can 'feel' gas or solid/liquid matter passing through and it causes a bit of pain/twinging feeling.

I honestly don't think soft stools alone are any cause for concern - and I reckon you don't either when you can think about it logically, right? If you had anything seriously wrong you'd have more symptoms than just soft stools. You could try probiotics - meant to help get the balance back again - but I don't think they work for everyone. It just takes time. I was completely despairing of my guts but they're pretty much back to normal now.

[Button1]

Thanks emlica, that's really helpful. I suppose on some level I must think I'm OK otherwise I'd be even worse than I am now. I just think that I feel like I've gone from thinking that awful things don't happen to someone like me to realising that they do so why not cancer so young?

[emlica]

Yeah I often used the 'it can't be serious because it's not getting worse'. I reckon that's true, though, I really do. Particularly when it's actively getting *better* (soft stools are better than diarrhoea!). I do know what you mean though - a year ago I'd read some Daily Mail sensationalized horror story or whatever and just think 'oh those poor people, thank god it's not me', whereas now (or at least, a couple of months ago - slightly better now) 'oh god what if I have cancer of the XYZ like those people?'. Ridiculous really, but it's like you say - you go from thinking, hey, I'm too young for anything bad to happen, to thinking, oh no but bad things really do happen to some people, why not me? I'm also in my 30s, by the way - wonder if it's an age thing :D

[Button1]

I think losing the baby, especially the way it happened burst my bubble a bit. You never expect those things to happen to you, even if you do have anxiety and then it did and I just feel a bit like "what's next?" Suddenly cancer doesn't seem that impossible at all. On bad days I even feel like I must have lost the baby so they could discover and treat me for cancer...

[LE]

I have this problem too with the soft stools.

I was diagnosed with ibs 10 years ago altho I e never really thought about having problems as pre health anxiety I didn't worry of stools were softer etc.

Anyway I've too have noticed this and most often the stool isn't formed. It's not diareah though and I only go once per day. But what I have noticed is that normally when I wake up I lay in bed for a few minutes and I worry. I often check this site and another ha one and reading people's worries I can feel my stomach starting to flutter. So then I need to go to the loo and it's often soft stool! I think it's anxiety related as it coincides with me worrying. Plus I've had tht element all my life where if I am worrying about something (no health realated), I need to have a bowel movement and usually it would be diareah from worry.

My gp says there is a massive link to the brain and gut and how you feel affects the gut...

I don't know of you think this could be happening to you?x

[Button1]

LE, it's very possible I suppose. My HA and stress levels generally are sky-high. I'm pretty down alot of the time too so if this is linked to bowels then it's maybe not helping. My GP certainly thinks there's a link. I just have enough to deal with at the moment and really don't want this to start taking over again..

[Althea]

Button, there's a lot of interesting work being done now on microbiomes--the whole ecology that lives in our guts, mouth, etc. I totally agree with emlica that the kind of experience you had would be likely to shake yours up for a while.

It may also be worth remembering that most things your stool does don't medically matter. It's a common HA tendency to inspect and report, but most of the time it just makes us more anxious without telling us anything beyond what we already knew--that we're a little wound up.