Getting really stressed

[Pigeon]

Hi All

I deleted a post a few days ago because I was embarrassed about my constant reassurance seeking and my latest symptoms. Chickpea sent me a really reassuring reply which I really appreciate. (Sorry Chickpea, it must be frustrating for you) But now I'm getting really stressed again so thought I'd re-post.

I've had lots and lots of stress this year and had sort of guessed that I would at some point find myself with HA. My brother had bowel cancer last year so I wasn't surprised that my symptoms would be around this area. I often get indigestion like symptoms in upper stomach but round about September I started having bouts of diarrhea and stomach pain too - i wont go into detail as it's in my last posts. I went to GP who said she thought I had IBS but did a blood test for her own reassurance. They said they would contact me with any concerns but haven't done so assuming all ok. I'm going back in a couple of weeks to review how I'm going with my anxiety problem.

But last week, after straining to go to the toilet, I found fresh, bright (not dark) red blood on toilet paper. Definitely none in stool (I could tell as they were quite pale) or toilet bowl and as I wiped, it got less and less.

I know I have piles and my common sense says it's this that caused it but I'm still worried. I have had very slight bleeding before but not this much and it was ages ago. I keep thinking it's all too much of a coincidence that these symptoms have come together.

To top it all, I was talking to my brother in law yesterday who told me his own brother has to go to hospital after finding blood in toilet and GP thinks it's serious. One of my problems is that I jump onto other people's health bandwagon - so in this case my brother, Linda Bellingham and now my brother in law's brother. I just keep thinking it must be me next.

The diarrea/pain have been stopped for at least a week now and there have been other periods in the last couple of months when I've not had symptoms. Does anyone know, would this happen if I had bowel cancer?

[chickpea]

Hey,

There's always the possibility of cancer, but a/ there's also many other possibilities, and b/ reading how many people post with similar concerns, we can't all have bowel cancer! Looking at those posts, I can't find anyone who hasn't come back and said it's IBS or whose symptoms haven't gone when their anxiety is under control.

Regarding your brother in law's brother - GPs know mostly nothing about things like Crohn's or ulcerative colitis. However, rectal bleeding is a red flag symptom so any decent GP should refer for further investigation.
In my own case, I went to the GP with weight loss, passing blood (on its own, not on wiping) and diarrhoea up to 20 times a day and night. My GP referred me for reassurance and told me I had severe IBS and anxiety. It took a few months to see a consultant, and a further 5 months to have a colonoscopy and be diagnosed.

Blood on wiping is common - piles or an anal fissure will cause it.
Blood in or on your stool is more of a concern, BUT not necessarily cancer.
Crohn's and UC are not nice, but are manageable.

If you are still concerned, ask your GP for a faecal calprotectin stool test. It can differentiate between IBS and inflammatory conditions and is more accurate than a blood test. If it showed inflammation, you would then be referred for further investigation, such as sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy.

---------- Post added at 12:53 ---------- Previous post was at 12:52 ----------

Ps Please don't feel you need to apologise. I understand your worries, having been through it myself.x

[lily1]

Hi,

I too have had this worry.

I would have thought if it was something bad it would persist not stop then start again.

I had a blood test, calprotectin stool test and my gp kept a check on my weight and all seemed okay.

A couple of years or so ago I had blood on wiping, and back then I didn't have bad HA so thought it was piles. Haven't had the bleeding since.

I too had loose stools.

The more stressed you are the more it affects you.

My mum always worries me she has had blood in her stool and pain, weight loss for 14 years and she was too scared to have the colonoscopy done 10
years ago.

[susie1]

You hit the nail on the head. We jump of other people's band wagons. I take on other's symptoms as if they were my own, add them to the list, add 2 and 2 and make 5. Why do we keep doing it even though we know what we are doing? Bright re fresh blood is almost certainly from a pile or a tear. I know how scary it is. I really do, Please don't ever worry about needing reassurance.x

[Pigeon]

Thanks everyone. It's all the coincidences that get me. I just keep going back to the thought that piles haven't caused me problems before and the blood just freaked me out completely

But then I think (TMI alert) I only went to the loo to see if i could get rid of stomach pain, once I got there I felt incredibly itchy (in that area) and was scratching like mad, and then I had to strain myself to go and it took quite a while. If it was me talking to someone else, I would say that i had made the piles worse due to going to the loo a lot when I had diarrhea in the weeks before, then the scratching and straining that day caught a weak spot and caused the blood. It was so obviously fresh blood and completely separate from the poo.

But its as if I have to torture myself with the thought it may be cancer. Why?