I haven’t posted for a while as I’ve managed to keep my health anxiety in check but before things go too far I would be grateful for a few other views on the matter. I’ll try and not ramble too much .
Ive been having bowel issues more frequently since September. I was on holiday and had one occasion where I had to rush to the loo one night with diarrhoea then things were ok again. On returning from holiday it happened again twice in the first week back, again a couple of visits to the loo then I was ok again and it didn’t happen again for 6 weeks then it happened again. in those 6 weeks I did sometimes have a bit of a gripey stomach but nothing happened. So I tried to forget about it.
i have been keeping a diary of what I’m eating when I have the loose stools to try and figure out if there is a trigger and I can’t for definite say that there is anything in particular that sets me off but when it happens it is usually a couple of hours after I’ve eaten. Except twice when it was in the middle of the night. All in all since the beginning of September I have had loose stools 10 times and as I mentioned have had weeks in between where I have been ok, although sometimes a bit gurgly and crampy.
I have lost about 14lbs in weight since September but I have been dieting and exercising so this was intentional but I haven’t put any weight back on over the Christmas period which is unusual considering the amount of chocolate I consumed. But then again when I’m anxious I lose my appetite anyway.
I had to go to the doctor anyway for the results of a recent heart scan (I have a minor heart condition that is monitored) so I told the doc about it. As a result I have had a blood test and two different stool tests. I have also just had a flexible sigmoidoscopy as part of the normal over 55 bowel screening in this area. That was clear. No polyps and reported as normal. It’s taking quite a few days to get back to normal since that procedure however! Still not quite right. I also don’t have any bleeding which I suppose is a positive.
However, I find myself falling back into the health anxiety rabbit hole again. I am back to the docs next week to find out the other results but I can’t get it out of my head that this might be something serious. My aunt (dads sister) who is in her seventies has cancer which started as a polyp in her bowel and this is on my mind. I can’t even remember if I mentioned this to my doctor ☹️.
Im not asking for a diagnosis. Just other perspectives on the situation. Is anyone else like this?
I’m already in the system and the ball is rolling but could this just be ibs or random food intolerances? I have been up and down with anxiety over the past year. One thing after another that I have been seriously stressing about (family stuff) and I know anxiety can play havoc with the digestion, but I’ve always been anxious and never had symptoms like this before, or at least they never lasted so long.
So on the positive side, the flexi sig was normal, I’ve no bleeding and the diarrhoea is not constant but on the negative side this has been going on for nearly 5 months, family history, softer than normal poos, gripey gurgly stomach at times.
Thanks for reading. Any thoughts?