Flat stools, hemorrhoid's for 2 years

[Worrymint]

Good evening everyone,

I have quite an embarrassing thing happening and I am very scared of hospitals, here it goes.

About 2 years ago I was under a lot of stress due to unrelated reasons, about this time I was having loose stools one day and constipation the other, I was under a hell of a lot of mental stress and I but that down to anxiety (my stomach would be going over all the time).

2 years on and I have usual consistency stool but it is flat one side (like it has been squashed), I went to my doctor and he but his finger up there and said that I have internal hemorrhoid's, I have read online that internal hemorrhoids cant cause flat stool and I am getting worried that I may have something else going on.

My diet is terrible and I dont exercise at all (i'm 26), could this be causing hemmoriods/flat stool?

I had a colonoscopy booked over a year ago but I chickened out due to my intense fear of hospitals, This is driving me insane and is really affecting my mood.

Any help/advice would be much appreciated

Thanks

[Drisque]

Your situation is so similar to mine that I thought it may have been my post for a while. Everything from your age to the time frame of your symptoms, and even chickening out of a colonoscopy a year ago, is identical to my situation. I still have flattened/oval stool even when it's of a harder consistency. I still worry about it on occasion, but for the most part I have just accepted that this is the way my stool looks. My doctor told me the shape is not of concern and that they mainly worry when the stool becomes watery on a consistent basis.

[Worrymint]

Thank you for the reassurance. My thoughts are that it has a lot to do with anxiety. Does your BM change in size when stresses. I definitely get flare ups

[Pepperpot]

I chickened out of a colonoscopy last year too lol - however I have one next week :(
I have internal piles, and my stools are all over the shop x

[Worrymint]

Ahh good to know. Please come back to this thread to let us know how you got on. Could help a lot of people

[Pepperpot]

Ahh good to know. Please come back to this thread to let us know how you got on. Could help a lot of people

I will post a new thread cos I will forget to come back here haha - keep an eye out next weekend

[Worrymint]

Ok. Also if you subscribe to this thread I'll throw another message in next week, If I can't find you!

[Drisque]

Yeah, I definitely get flare ups. When I'm really stressed they become quite soft and almost paper thin, but when everything is good psychologically they are harder and more of a thick oval shape. The problem with me is that I've gone this entire year worrying about it, therfore I've had a lot more abnormal stool than "normal". It's a cycle, and a relentless one at that.

[Worrymint]

I am exactly the same. I've just got used to my stools being slow to evacuate (no straining) and always oval. But when somethung stresses me out in life it gets worse.... And this leads me to sit on the loo Googleing "flat stools".... This makes it ten times worse. I then have aboit 2 weeks of stressing before I put it to the back of my mind... Until the next time. Anxiety is a strange thing

[Kuatir]

My diet is terrible and I dont exercise at all

Please try and make a change. Diet and exercise really help with anxiety etc.