Somebody please help me make sense .. convinced got bowel cancer

[Sunshinegirl82]

Thanks guys for all your advise.. today my stool wasn’t so bad it was loose but wasn’t so thin and ribbony. But I’ve jumped on scales and I’ve lost 2 pounds since yesterday 😩 GLITTERY - I just read through your posts and yes my symptoms are very similar to yours, my fissure wasn’t so painful either. I’m just getting a bit vigilant about these things now as I’m 36 so no longer in safe zone.

[glittery]

36 is STILL IN THE SAFE ZONE. You are not 50 yet. Do any of your close family members have bowel cancer? If not, then 36 is still safe.

Do not google. I have read stories of 17 year olds getting bowel cancer, which is extremely rare.

[Sunshinegirl82]

No no history of bowel cancer in family, I think it’s this fear instilled in me and I can’t get rid of it

[BlueIris]

The best I can offer is to fake it til you make it. Pretend you're not afraid, do whatever you can to ignore it and keep busy. It's tough, but it will help.

[Sunshinegirl82]

To be honest symptoms of both are so similar 😩 I’ve had my tummy check and have had rectal exam and no issue there I’m not going to the toilet that often i remember before my health anxiety kicked in I used to go Atleast once or twice and not it’s probs 3 or 4 so nothing dramatic there. No blood that I noticed, In the past few weeks I’ve had a anal fissure and and anal skin tag so I do get a lot of discomfort in the anal area but however has gone a lot better. Colofac and lansprozole have sorted the pain out ... the only issue I have and is bothering me is the consistency of my stools.
I’m just thinking either the doctor thinks I’m too young or they putting all my symptoms down to HA or IBS and I have a fear they’ve missed something vital

The best I can offer is to fake it til you make it. Pretend you're not afraid, do whatever you can to ignore it and keep busy. It's tough, but it will help.

Yes thank you that’s what I’m doing, my doctor to be honest thinks all this is very normal and with me having a full blood count and crp in mid jan coming back as Normal and also my digital rectal exam and abdomen exam was fine as well, she’s not going to push for more test I don’t think. I think rationally I need to re train my brain to IBS like I mentioned before, being diagnosed at 14 and not remembering having any major flare ups or not having major concerns about my health this has now just thrown me and the symptoms to bowel cancer is so similar that it scares you. Previously five years ago I’ve had a abdomen scan and a camera down my throat and nose and that came from it was an acid reflux situation and apparently I have one kidney didn’t know until the scan 🤦🏾*♀️

[Sunshinegirl82]

UPDATE - went to doctors she said all this is very common IBS symptoms but because I was diagnosed years ago and there’s nothing officially on my records she can find even though I’ve had cameras down my throat and abdominal scans and stool tests. She would like to start the testing all over again , I’ve alresdy had full blood count crp and pelvic scan done rectal and abdominal test no masses.so the only thing left to do is h- pylori test and feacel calproctin tear she said if that comes through as clear then it would be up to me if I wanted a colonoscopy for my reassurance she said that would be completely up to me but she’d suggest I shouldn’t do it if all other test come clear as it is a pretty invasive test and it will irrate bowels that all already irritated.
However after the stools test we can definitely say what it it is if it’s clear.

[lavender]

You have answered your own question really, you have health anxiety, even the slightest thing will upset you. IBS is just another symptom, with everything you have posted so far, please try not to worry about it.

[andrea15]

Hi. Just read through your posts and it sounds so familiar. In 2013 I was completely convinced I had Bowel cancer (nodules found in lungs on a CT for a long lasting cough which I paid privately to have) and that it had spread to my lungs and was therefore terminal. Over the space of 6 months or so I poked, prodded, examined poo, made myself go more than necessary and became totally obsessed. I spoke to numerous drs, Beating Bowel Cancer website, Cancer Research nurses, Macmillan nurses, an American dr on a cancer forum, chinese drs on a health forum (cost me a lot of money for pitiful amount of reassurance) and drs at the hospital, all of whom said it was unlikely to be bowel cancer but this was the only place I had any issues (probably just piles now I look back). One of the symptoms I had whilst in a state of severe panic and fear, was thin stools and I remember passing a couple that WERE ribbon like. Thanks to Dr Google I ended up with a picture in my head of a tumour and where it was and 'KNEW' it was flattening my stools!! Because of the lung nodules I DID end up having a colonoscopy and watched terrified on the screen waiting for the tumour I had pictured so clearly to appear before my eyes......it didn't!. I cried through the whole thing, in fact I did little else for months. I lost over 2 stone through fear and not eating normally. Symptoms I have had over the years and during this episode were all down to other things, anxiety or my imagination. Dr Google said multiple nodes was metastatic cancer and I believed it. I had no bowel cancer, I have had none of the cancers or brain tumours I have been convinced I have over the last 25 years or
so. I WAS diagnosed with IBS and Diverticular Disease which isn't a problem unless it flares up (hasnt done that in 6 years since found)

Made me smile about the kidney! That's just bizarre but proves you do just fine with one.

Best wishes
Andrea x

Sorry for waffling, I just wanted to highlight what we as HA sufferers are capable of doing both to our bodies and our brains!

[Sunshinegirl82]

Just has results from my feacel calproctein levels which as it says in the message is 172 need to discuss with the doctor tomorrow !!! Really scared anyone had levels like this and would 172 indicate ibd or dare I say something more sinister. I have been on lanzaprozole so I don’t know if that effects the levels.

MODS if you wish please like to my previous threads

[nomorepanic]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your thread was merged with another of your threads.

Please when posting on similar topics add it onto your previous post rather than starting a new one.

It is nothing personal it is just to make it easier for people to follow your story and to give you advice as a whole.