Bowel Cancer scare- urgent referral

[NoraB]

My doctor said it is very rare.

Depends on how much blood you lose. Our toilet looks like Freddie Kruger's gone to town on my husband's bum at times. My brother was the same and he was also treated for iron deficiency due to bleeding piles.. (his were banded in the end)

I need to wait for the bleeding from the Haemorrhoids to stop before I can do the FIT test.

And what are you doing to treat the piles? Diet is important as straining just aggravates the piles and you've said yours has been poor?

[NoraB]

I said the same to my doctor Willous - I'm on codeine for arthritis made me severly constipated, have malabsorption, IBS, anxiety and eating hardly anything. But she just wasn't interested. Unfortunately I have googled and most of the info (NHS website etc) says iron deficiency due to blood loss. But for some reason, piles can't cause this...

That's not true..

At the moment the iron tablets have really messed with my stomach, along with all the fibre I've been eating...I daren't even look at my poo

If you did, you'd probably see that your poo is black..

Iron really messes with my stomach, so much so that I can't take supplements..

You need to keep on top of the codeine/constipation thing Jem. When I have to take codeine, I up my dose of magnesium or my colon goes on strike. Also, a kiwi helps to keep things moving..

Also, a big fibre increase isn't helpful with IBS. You might be making the situation worse..

[willous1]

I am eating and drinking well now, lots of water. This will hopefully clear it up so I can do the FIT test. Strangely I hadn't had bleeding for a while before the blood test but when I do it cam be a lot!

I am finding things very tough at the moment and have a prebooked holiday to Spain next week with my family.

[Jem1603]

You're right Nora, fibre has really messed me up, on top of iron tablets. My bowel doesn't know what's hit it.

My worry is I couldn't see blood in my stool, it came up on the fit test which means it's higher up in the gut.
But anyway, I've cleared up the constipation which is great, I realised I haven't been looking after myself and just focusing on pain and pain relief when really without the right nutrients the pain has just got worse. I think the iron is working a little, not feeling as breathless. But I have to stop taking it for a few days while I start this protocol for the colonoscopy and endoscopy. :(

[willous1]

Another doctor called today, my usual one. It was because I wanted to double check about whether or not the FIT test would notice the difference between the blood from Haemorrhoids or not. She said just to go ahead and do it but if it shows a false positive that's going to make it worse. Google thinks its likely to also pick up the fresh blood.

She seemed confused as to why the other doctor didn't give me iron tablets but did not prescribe any?

I asked about the fact I had a colonoscopy 6 years ago and said surely it's unlikely to be colon cancer. She said logic is good but they have to be certain.

[NoraB]

You're right Nora, fibre has really messed me up, on top of iron tablets. My bowel doesn't know what's hit it.

My worry is I couldn't see blood in my stool, it came up on the fit test which means it's higher up in the gut.

It's my understanding that a positive FIT test means there's bleeding occurring somewhere in the gastrointestinal tract and one of the simplest causes for this can be blood swallowed from bleeding gums/nosebleeds etc. There is a list of more likely causes before we reach serious diseases territory..

When I was Vit D deficient my gums bled a lot. If I've had had a FIT test done at that time, there would most likely have been blood found in my poo..

But anyway, I've cleared up the constipation which is great, I realised I haven't been looking after myself and just focusing on pain and pain relief when really without the right nutrients the pain has just got worse. I think the iron is working a little, not feeling as breathless. But I have to stop taking it for a few days while I start this protocol for the colonoscopy and endoscopy. :(

Good to hear that the constipation is under control! (so's mine - fingers crossed)

[NoraB]

I am eating and drinking well now, lots of water. This will hopefully clear it up so I can do the FIT test. Strangely I hadn't had bleeding for a while before the blood test but when I do it cam be a lot!

I am finding things very tough at the moment and have a prebooked holiday to Spain next week with my family.

Nice job on eating and drinking well. Your colon will thank you for it.

You can choose to go and have the best holiday, ever - despite these health concerns.

[CeeCeeCee]

Hi, sorry to jump on the post but can Codeine cause ongoing problems for a while? I didn’t know about taking magnesium. I’ve just had terrible withdrawal from being on a high dose of Codeine after an accident and my stomach is still all over the place, I have IBS.

[NoraB]

Hi, sorry to jump on the post but can Codeine cause ongoing problems for a while? I didn’t know about taking magnesium. I’ve just had terrible withdrawal from being on a high dose of Codeine after an accident and my stomach is still all over the place, I have IBS.

Codeine causes constipation. You have to counteract this with a laxative. I use magnesium citrate...

If you've been on a high dose of codeine, it will have affected your digestive system. I have IBS and I have to take codeine for my migraines so I have to be careful. Sometimes I have to be on them for three days (and prescription strength) and my IBS goes nuts but I have no choice as codeine is the only painkiller I can tolerate..

It'll take a little while for your system to settle down but it will, and you need to make sure you're having a BM everyday (so take a laxative if you need to) but magnesium is more gentle (on the right dose) than most other laxatives.

[Jem1603]

I've been on Codeine for years. They have really affected my bowels but I have to take them until I have my hip replacement, I think they are very addictive and I can feel very panicky and anxious when I havent taken them. I think you have to taper off slowly.