HELP! Am I dying?

[Anxiety Jim]

Hi

I'm so scared. Over the past few years I've had small patches of blood in my stool. But today after i wiped, there was a LOT of blood on the paper, and when i looked in the toilet the water was bright red!

Do I have bowel/colon cancer?

Please someone get back to me,

Oh yes, i've been on Citalopram for about 1 and 1/2 years, currently on 40mg.

Thanks

Jim

[Newin]

Hi, Jim.
First of all DO NOT afraid.
You have to go to a doc. but you can read this article:
http://www.uptodate.com/patients/content/topic.do?topicKey=~Uxx/s.JucR2JQr (http://www.uptodate.com/patients/content/topic.do?topicKey=%7EUxx/s.JucR2JQr)

[nomorepanic]

Piles and or a fissure.

Go and see doc so they can confirm it and give you some cream

[Anxiety Jim]

Hi

Thanks for the quick replies. I assumed piles or a fissure for the last few years, but after today there was a massive amount of blood on the tissue and in the toilet, and I didn't feel a thing! I didn't notice until I saw it on the tissue.

I've read that cancer makes your stools black, which recently mine have been quite dark!

Jim

[Anxiety Jim]

Oh and one more thing, I'm always extremely tired, I fall asleep 2 or 3 time during the day for an hour or more, even though I have at least 8/9 hours of sleep at night!

Thanks

Jim

[nomorepanic]

Mine is like that Jim - I thought I was bleeding to death once there was so much blood in the loo.

If you get it a lot then you need to see doc to find out why you are getting it so often

[charly]

You cannot rule out what the anxiety is doing to you however bleeding from there is not normal and you know this. you have to see the doctor but there are so many things it could be and not the cancer. Take a stool sample with you to cut out on time waiting for results.
xx

[RLR]

Okay, "frank", or bright red, blood detected on tissue would not be consistent with occult blood that we more often encounter in the instance of a bowel disease involving cancer.

Hemorrhoidal tissue often can contain what seems like copious amounts of blood and the circumstances are most often exacerbated by difficult bowel movements or constipation, wherein straining becomes common.

It is wise to simply bring the matter to the attention of your primary care doctor and through cursory examination, it can be determined what steps to take in order to bring relief.

Your claims of being tired would not necessarily be associated unless the blood loss is significant to the extent that mild anemia is present.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)