Colon cancer worry I’m 43

[Mrs Anxious]

Hi all I am in a complete and utter state right now and feel I can’t function at all, I have had constant Diarrhea for 6 weeks every single day at least 3 times a day I am also so tired it’s ridiculous all I want to do is sleep these symptoms along with severe lower back pain has now pointed me in the direction of colon cancer... I was diagnosed with IBS when I was 20 but always was constipated if anything I struggle to go so this change in the last 6 weeks is really scaring me, been to doctor and they want a poo sample which I will do today if that comes back clear I have to have bloods and then colonoscopy if they are clear which I am so so scared to have... my HA is really up there at the moment to the point I havent gone to work for 2 days... I just had to write it all down to try and rationalise but having Diarrhea straight for 6 weeks and really tired can’t be a good sign? :( no blood that I can see so that’s a blessing I guess and this did coincide with me coming back from
Cyprus on June 23rd, that’s when the symptoms started pretty much, sorry for waffling I just am at my wits end :( x

[jojo2316]

I understand that for someone with HA these symptoms are VERY scary. But please try not to worry. Your doctors are being very thorough and that is good, but my own guess from your description is some kind of bacterial infection. You will have met all sorts of strange bugs in Cyprus and some may have colonised your gut causing an IBS flare. My brother had the same symptoms as you after returning from Morocco for TWO YEARS! Sorry to scare you, but the main point is he didn’t have cancer just an imbalance of bacteria. And also, if it comes to a colonoscopy- please don’t fear that either. They are really not that bad- I’ve had two! Good luck and keep us posted xx

[Mrs Anxious]

Thanks so much for replying i have been checking in all day :) I am sorry to hear your brother was poorly, I never really thought of a bug from abroad especially lasting 6 weeks but seems it’s possible if your brother had symptoms for 2 years! I am taking Imodium on the advice of doctor to try and slow my bowel down a bit until we get sole results
From bloods etc, I have morbidly been reading all about bowel cancer stores and how it starts, I know it’s so so stupid and the worst thing I can do but the HA honestly makes me do it, I must stop tho it’s not doing me any good at all just making me feel 10 times worse, thanks again for reply xxx

[Toby2000]

Hey Mrs Anxious,

There are like 1000 things to rule out before even considering cancer, trust me, and out of the 1000s of bowel cancer threads there's only ever been 1 actual case of bowel cancer.

You'll get to the bottom of this soon, in the mean time, try and unwind. Check out some HA self help material on this site or on YouTube- your Doctors are taking care of you, it's very unlikely that you have bowel cancer. As JoJo says, it's likely just a bug or something caught in Cyprus that you might need antibiotics for.

:)

[Fishmanpa]

There are like 1000 things to rule out before even considering cancer, trust me, and out of the 1000s of bowel cancer threads there's only ever been 1 actual case of bowel cancer.

You'll get to the bottom of this soon, in the mean time, try and unwind. Check out some HA self help material on this site or on YouTube- your Doctors are taking care of you, it's very unlikely that you have bowel cancer. As JoJo says, it's likely just a bug or something caught in Cyprus that you might need antibiotics for.:)

As much as the irony is palpable coming from the source, the advice is sound. It does sound like you picked up a bug and its wreaking havoc on your digestive track. Please do your best to stay away from Dr. Google. Hope you feel better soon!

Positive thoughts

[Mrs Anxious]

Thanks for replies I have stepped away from google and just going to wait for results now and keep everything crossed it’s nothing sinister x

[jojo2316]

Well done for stepping away from Dr Google. Just come on here whenever you feel the urge to consult him- it’s what I do and it helps soooo much.
Interestingly, when my brother had his symptoms cancer never even crossed his mind. He assumed straight away it was a foreign bug. I always find it amazing the difference between the way us HA’ers and “normal” people think!!

[Mrs Anxious]

Definitely! It never even crossed my mind you could get a bug in a developed country like Cyprus, HA always comes up with the worst case scenario doesn’t it :( x

[jojo2316]

Yep! Right now I have a headache. And of course: it’s a brain tumour!

[pulisa]

It does sound as if you have brought back an unwanted "souvenir" from Cyprus and as jojo says, these bugs are very persistent particularly if you have an IBS diagnosis anyway (regardless of whether you have ibs-d or ibs-c). However, it's great that you have decided to sack Dr Google and wait for your own personal results..although I appreciate that the waiting is very tough when you just don't know anything at all for sure. You can see for yourself from other threads how Googling can become quite an addiction with HA and if you can stop doing it you will be far more in control of your HA and also far better informed by your own specialist/doctor.

I hope there is a simple reason for your symptoms which rules out the need for further more invasive tests.

[Mrs Anxious]

Had my stool sample results it was negative that was checking for bugs and parasites, was kind of hoping it would be a bug, however took 2 Imodium and haven’t been to the toilet for 2 days so that should be a good sign I’m hoping x

[jojo2316]

Had my stool sample results it was negative that was checking for bugs and parasites, was kind of hoping it would be a bug, however took 2 Imodium and haven’t been to the toilet for 2 days so that should be a good sign I’m hoping x

I think they are rather limited in “bugs” they can look for- e-coli, salmonella, giadia etc. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a new micro causing some interesting gut behaviour. Did they look for blood?

[Mrs Anxious]

I’m not sure I did ask when I rang up for results but the receptionist didn’t know, all I know is the pot had a blue lid not sure if that has any bearing?