Hi All
I'm new here so please forgive me if I'm not posting in the right subforum
First of all I would like to say that reading the threads in this forum has been incredibly helpful in dialling down my health anxiety, and thanks to the help of my GP and psychologist, I have been able to try to think of my symptoms in a more rational fashion.
However, I do have some remaining doubts which I was hoping I could get some advice for from you guys.
It first started in July this year after about 6 months of sedentary lifestyle in lockdown and unhealthy diet full of refined carbs and no fruits/veggies for the most part. The main symptom I experienced was constipation (I went regularly/semi-regularly but had pebble-like stools), and following my GP's advice, I changed my diet and lifestyle to a healthier one that incorporates fruits, veggies, and complex carbs. After about 2 months of trial and error full of weird-looking/textured/coloured stools as well as numerous emotional breakdowns in relation to bowel cancer fears, I managed to start pooping smooth, formed stools, which made me happy.
However, twice this week I've had two strange episodes - the first one was on Monday in which I went to the bathroom twice following the urge to defecate, however very little actually came out (only a couple of 1cm pellets each time, with some whitish/yellowish mucus when I wiped my anus afterwards). Then on Thursday, something similar happened but I went to the bathroom 4 times in 2 hours, pooping more stools this time but still small in size apart from the fourth one which produced formed, smooth, slightly larger stools albeit a bit flat. Friday and Saturday, I had hard stools that were a bit bigger than pellet-sized, so I thought, oh no, my constipation is back - but this time I don't have any diet/lifestyle factors to explain it. I've been taking Metamucil (psyllium husk supplement) since Saturday and my stools have been smoother and well-formed since then.
Now, I'm aware that this forum is not a place to confirm/rule out any diagnoses but I *think* the following seem re-assuring:
- I'm 27 years old so despite the increasing prevalence of bowel cancer in this age group, the odds are still pretty small for us to have bowel cancer
- I've had two blood tests done in the last 3 months and all the numbers look fine, in fact my iron level improved between the first and second test - the only thing was that I was mildly deficient in Vitamin D
- My faecal occult blood stool tests have all come back negative, meaning no hidden blood was found in my stool (I've done 3 in the last 3 months due to my health anxiety)
- I've been ruled out of any inflammatory bowel conditions by way of a negative faecal calprotectin test result
- I don't appear to have any infections in the bowel present by way of a negative OCP/PCR stool test result
- I haven't had any unexplained weight loss - the only weight loss I've had is due to the fact that I've been on a diet and also because I've started exercising regularly
- I haven't had any changes in my appetite
My only persisting fear (which I have managed to control a bit better these days, as mentioned before) is that, if it's IBS instead of bowel cancer, then how come I haven't had any abdominal pains/cramps? This leads me to the question of whether or not I should still ask for a colonoscopy to be entirely sure that it's not bowel cancer.
My GP and gastroenterologist both believe that a colonoscopy is not warranted given my age and the fact that I don't have many of the "red flag" symptoms like blood in stool, anaemia, weight loss etc. I do tend to agree with their observation, but the tiny anxious voice inside my head says "what if it turns out to be cancer - you'd want to be detected as early as possible".
For those of you who have had a colonoscopy done and found no bowel cancer, were you glad that you did it? Or, do you think that in hindsight, it was probably not necessary for you to have done it?
Thank you and I hope that at least some of you wouldn't mind sharing some insights - thanking you in advance!