desperate for some rationale opinions

[worriedem]

ok i finally have an appointment thru for my bleeding with bowel movement supposedly from a fissure i am terrified!!!

Anyway i have been on nitrate cream for just over 2 weeks, first week had mostly just a spot or small blob of blood on tissue since last tuesday i have had nothing other than a blob on monday when i went.

my hubby seems to think its a sure sign its only a fissure, however i am still so worried as for the past couple of weeks my stools have been vvvv soft wud be diarrea if any softer, this is another sign of bowel cancer :( i havve been taking lactulose and prune juice but have been doing this for a long time so i dont know why they would suddenly become so soft and loose

any opinions im reallt starting to lose my mind with this worry :(

[Ddcoo]

Have you changed your eating lately i.e. been eating salads or anything similar, as that always alters my bowel function. Also the fact that you are getting wound up about your appointment will affect you.

[leah22]

Hi ya,

i am just as stressed out as you! i have had pile for over a year now i have had them regularly checked by the doc who offered to refer me in the summer but i bottled it and thought i'll just get on with it. i very rarely get blood with them so thathas always kept me calm altough in the back of my mind i have always worried the cause of the piles may be cancer. anyway i decided to be brave in january and decided to be refered to the hospital to get them seen to as im getting married in may, since the day i was refered to hospital by my doc i have had v v v loose bowels i got my appointment at hosp 4 weeks later and saw the surgeon he saw that i have internal piles but said because of the loose bowels he wanted to give me a sidmoidoscopy, he said he doesn't expect to find anything but wants to discharge me being totally 100% everythings ok he said he would rush it through for me within 4 weeks because of my anxiety problems and with my wedding being so near, well it has been 4 weeks tomorrow and still no appointment yet!!! i am so scared i even check my poo for blood sorry for TMI but thats how obsessed ive got. 2 days ago i went to the toilet and there was quite alot of blood on the tissue paper but none since but i have check my stools since and am conviced there in blood in them i am driving myself insane, i have got docs later i have even kept a sample to show her!! ( she's gonna love me!!!) lol
i even try to avoid eating red foods, i'm turning into physco woman!! lol

but all jokes a side i know how stressful it is for you so sending you (((hugs))

[Wee-Mee]

Aw sweetheart,I am so sorry. I can undertand how frightened you are.

I hope everything goes alright.

Please let us know.

Do you have Ibs?

[viremarthius]

I have bright red stuff there on a regular basis. It's just irritation. My doc told me its nothing to worry about unless you are pooping pure blood. Three of my friends have it as well (dont ask me how we got into this conversation playing poker) Or having very black stools, which indicates old blood. Could be irritation, could be hemheroids, could be stress (most likely), I once found red poop and got terrified, turned out it was red pepper...FYI Bowel Cancer has many other symptoms, Night sweats, weakness, Jaundice, Black Stools etc.etc.etc My friends father had it and he said it was like being kicked in the stomach by a pro soccer player on a regular basis (FYI: It spread all over, but he still survived after some treatment). Your stomach is a weird thing and it could be a number of duifferent (very curable) problems. It's probabbly stress. Look at the number three symptom for anxiety, stomach issues, right behind heart palps and breathing issues. I know we all think every little thing is Cancer (just this moring I thought a fart pain was sure death!), I am as guilty as anyone when it comes to HA. We should just try and remember to think rationally. Remember, you control your thoughts and your thoughts control you.

[worriedem]

thanks everyone :)

I am trying to stay rationale, none of my family seem in the slightest bit worried which worries me even more cos i am so convinces i have it im dreading telling them :wacko:

Since using this cream the blood had really slowed down as was having it everyday now only once this week, the docs all say fissure and i think from feeling i have two down there which would make sense why i am not bleeding when having really loose stools, still have had a few occasions of bad stomach cramps too so i still feel sick with worry :weep:

[Darwin73]

I can really relate and (unfortunately!) am a real expert on anal fissures. I suffered for a year with rectal bleeding and severe pain that would persist after going to the loo. Convinced myself it was cancer. Eventually plucked up the courage to see my GP who said it was a fissure and prescribed GTN ointment, which I applied for weeks and didn't work. Eventually was referred to colorectal surgeons, but the fissure cleared up of its own accord a week before I saw them (after 11 months!). I gave birth 4 months ago and it has recurred again, sometimes with lots of bright red blood. Also now suffering from a fistula as well which is even worse, but am too scared to go back to the doctor about that. Although painful and scary, fissures are quite common so please don't worry.

[worriedem]

oh poor you hope its not too bad for you this time, the reason im sooo worried is i dont really have severe pain just like a tight sharpness as the stool passes and blood on the tissue at first creams worked but not anymore i am using the gtn cream at the moment and have little/no blood for week or so but i think thats cos of my stools being so loose!

[Fingerz]

Hi worried Em. I really think you have nothing to worry about at all! A few years back I was excreting nothing but blood and it was a dark colour! I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis! If the blood is light red then its merely coming from your anus and not further up. If you are not doubling over in pain from abdominal cramps and losing weight, fatigued etc then youll be fine! Email me if you are worried!

[Dooges]

Worriedem,
I went through the exact same thing. I got the exact same advice from the Dr's. Now I can feel when there is going to be blood on the toilet paper. It depends on the size and texture of the stool. So put that to bed as best you can.
So why are your stools so soft and runny. I'm guessing it's because of the stress and anxiety relating to the blood. When I'm freaking out about something, which is a lot of late, i do what i like to call a nervous dump. And every time it's soft and runny. It's the fight or flight response. It's a natural thing your body does when it is in a state of fear.
I was so scared myself, went to the specialist, had a camera down my throut and up my bum ( the prep for that is terrible, talk about diarrhea you havent seen anything..lol ) and they found nothing except that i maybe a little lactose intolerant.
So if you can accept whatthe dr's have told you about the blood, the rest will come good. It did for me.
Brad

[Trixie]

Too much lactolose cause loose stools. My cat is on it at the moment and it happens to him sometimes. It says on the instructions that it can cause loose stools.


If you were very constipated and the stool was rock hard this can contribute towards a fissure.



Most anal fissures are caused by stretching of the anal mucosa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucosa) beyond its capability [/URL]after difficult bowel movements, and in infants following [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constipation"]constipation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anal_fissure#cite_note-1).

[worriedem]

thanks everyone, well still v loose stools but still no blood if its not one thing its another!!!

im scared to try and make them harder in case the bleeding returns, its like ill have a sort of formed stool then there will be loose diarreah bits at the end, anyone else get this???

[bex1970]

Yup - delightful conversation - but I do! Also, my husband has ulcerative colitis - which they initially thought was cancer - and please trust me on this, his symptoms were completely different.... severe weight loss, terrible fatigue, runny stools with brown blood - not bright red (about 30 times a day) and real pain - to the point where he was screaming on the loo and high fever...

Piles or fissures can cause the bright red blood - really common and horrible - but there is no doubt that you would have many other symptoms if it were cancer or something more sinister...

There is nothing more frightening than finding blood anywhere where it shouldn't happen - I know because I'm permanently checking for it in my saliva - it becomes an obsession and causes such anxiety when it's found. But your doctors would have sent you for many more tests if they thought it was something scary.... try and trust them, I know how hard it is but, most of the time, they do know what they're doing!!

[worriedem]

thanks for your response, sorry about the grossness of the conversation!! worry takes over any embarressment!! i suppose i sud be pleases that i dont get any blood with the soft stools with kinda supports the doctors fissure diagnosis!!i just have to wait for my appointment and pray at somepoint this worry will be over!!pleeeeeease!!
glad things were not as bad as thought for your husband xxx

[worriedem]

well i didnt take lactulose yesterday stools werent quite as soft this morning, just after i finished going started to get that weird cramp like feeling in my bum not as bad as when iv had it once before but still uncomfortable! no blood and no sharp feeling today tho.

if anyone has ever had this cramp pleaseee let me know x

[worriedem]

anyone?? the cramps feel like a muscle cramp inside brought on by going to the loo then standing up to wipe! sorry for tmi just really worried :/