Scared I Have Colon Cancer...

[Hyperion_2002]

I’m just so frustrated with myself at this point. For the past 4 months (since the night of January 15th to be exact) I have been experience digestive and bathroom issues. It all started when I was watching TV and eating a bag of microwave popcorn. I know this is incredibly stupid but when I finished the popcorn, I usually rip the bag apart and lick the butter off of the walls, only this time I guess I ripped it weird and I accidentally started licking this weird aluminum metallic sheet that they usually embed into the bag called a “susceptor” or something like that. I only noticed after I started getting this metal taste and the roof of my mouth went kind of numb. Anyways, I washed the taste out with water by gurgling in my mouth and spitting it out, but I guess that wasn’t enough and I stupidly got a bottle of water and washed the taste down into my body. I literally felt a slight burn as the water and that metallic taste went through my digestive system for a couple seconds. Immediately I started getting gassy and my stomach was gurgling along with kind of feeling lightheaded. I went to bed and woke up in the morning and went to the bathroom and the lightheaded feeling was gone. I had diarrhea and from there on I had constipation (with soft stools), A LOT of gas, belching, stomach gurgling, cramps, and an on and off gnawing feeling in my stomach as well as the feeling of incomplete evacuation when I did go to the bathroom. I’d also had the feeling that my intestines were “swollen” or something. And sometimes when I lay on my stomach, I can feel pain in different sections of my intestines like they’re “pinched” or something. The pain is very dull and I can still lay on my stomach just fine, but it’s just something I noticed. My bowel habits completely changed. While there wasn’t a day I wouldn’t go poop during all this, it came out in really small amounts. Note that the first week this happened, I didn’t really know what to do and never really changed my diet (I kind of just ate anything and everything while feeling all this). The abdominal cramping and pain went away with eating, and sometimes it was barely noticeable, but other times it’s there and it’s really annoying. Going to the bathroom is another thing. I seem to be going between constipation, loose stool, and normal soft stool, and on a random 3 days during this whole thing, one a couple weeks after this started (sometime in January), and in February (the 28th and the 29th I believe) my bowel movements went completely back to normal. My normal poop size and normal amount. I wasn’t constipated at all (but I still had that weird incomplete evacuation feeling) and after that I went back to being constipated. It was really weird. I haven’t had that happen since. Also 90% of the time when I’m using the bathroom, I’ll be having soft stool, and then all of a sudden it turns into loose stool (not quite diarrhea, but really loose). Id also sometimes have really thin stools. Not exactly pencil like, but really thin and long. This only happened a handful of times and the timing between them is really spaced apart. The most recent time that happened was about 4 days ago. I’d never had blood in my stool at all, and I don’t think I’ve lost weight. My appetite has been on and off during all this. Like some days I’ll get random bouts of nausea that will last a couple days making it really hard to eat and then disappear all together, and sometimes when I feel that I need to go to the bathroom, it’s just me releasing a ton of gas and only a tiny bit of stool. The most I go poop now a days is twice (and the max amount I release is in the morning), but recently I’ve slowly started to go more (but still in small amounts). Yesterday I went about four times. Hopefully this is a sign that I’m getting a tiny bit better. During this whole thing I’ve also had random “spasms” in my abdominal area, and the feeling of gas moving around, as well as quick sharp pains on my sides. This whole thing is absolutely terrifying. I was completely fine the days leading up to the night of January 15th. While my physical health wasn’t the best (I am underweight for my age and I don’t really exercise that much), I still ate A LOT and I’ve started exercising more and more recently, but I’m still terrified that this is Colon Cancer. These symptoms seem to match a lot of the other symptoms. I’d like to add that the moment I realized something was wrong when I washed down the metallic taste with water, I immediately started worrying that I “gave” myself stomach cancer and started researching vigorously, in fact, that’s what I thought I had at first, and then I thought I had esophageal cancer, and then I settled on colon. I’m 18 and suffer from really bad anxiety and OCD, and I really hope that these symptoms are just from that and that the problem ended along time ago. I’m getting help for these issues, but I’m still scared that I have colon cancer. I’m only 18 years old...and I’m even more scared because I’ve heard that colon cancer is rising in young adults. One more thing I’d like to clarify, I’m not here looking for a 100% diagnosis, I’d just want everyone’s opinions on what’s going on. Everyone I talked to said that the metallic taste that I washed down had nothing to do with what was going on (even though all this literally started after I “swallowed” it). I’m just so stressed and scared. My anxiety has been through the roof and it’s so hard not to constantly think about how I’m feeling. I’m going to the doctors in a couple weeks but I’m just here because I’m curious about what all of you think. Thank you so much and feel free to ask any questions!

[Hyperion_2002]

Thank you so much for your reply!

[Wexford1968]

I think stress is causing your problems, it doesn’t sound like bowel cancer and I also think your too young for bowel cancer,but to give you peace of mind get checked out, I’m sure it’s something stress related. Good luck and god bless

[Nicole_GCCA Partner]

Hi Hyperion_2002 ,Thanks for posting in Colon Cancer Connected. Apologies for the late weigh-in here on replying to your post.

First, I'm sorry that you are experiencing such a high level of anxiety. Our GI systems are highly sensitive to stress and anxiety, unfortunately, getting stressed out can make symptoms even more severe. Please know I am not saying that you are causing this, it is just a bit of a cruel fact that stress will likely make any bowel/GI issues worse. It's easy for someone to say "oh relax you're fine!" and it is a lot harder to actually relax and believe you are fine.

I'm glad to hear that you are going to a doctor to discuss, if you've had that appointment already and you'd like to report back, please do.

Dr. Google can be a very scary place - colorectal cancer symptoms can mimic the same symptoms you may experience with a number of other diseases or conditions. Many of these are treatable with diet change, medication, or even undergoing a medical procedure.

However, because colorectal cancer is a very unique cancer in that with screening, it is largely preventable, but if not detected until a late stage, it can be a tough cancer to beat. 90% of people who are diagnosed with colorectal cancer are over the age of 50. So most people are not your age if they are getting diagnosed with the disease. However, there is no such thing as being "too young" for colorectal cancer. It is less likely, but can still be possible.

We can't offer medical advice and anytime anyone feels something is "off" with their body (any part of their body) we are going to encourage speaking to a medical professional.

Many people post in our group here and they are certain that they have the disease. Thankfully, many of these individuals get screened and it is determined that they do not have cancer. But, for many, they do end up being diagnosed with a type of gastrointestinal disorder, and so having the conversation with your primary care doctor, and then a GI specialist, can be an important step to take. We encourage you to speak to your doctor not just to rule out colorectal cancer, but to hopefully determine the cause of your symptoms so that they can be treated.

There is a strong connection between the gut and our brain/emotions and anxiety. There may be a "minor" (I say minor in comparison to your fear of colorectal cancer), disease, or condition that has grown to be much more severe due to the anxiety that you are experiencing. If you are not speaking to a professional about your health anxiety, we do encourage and have heard many success stories with people who experience a great reduction in health anxiety through therapy.

So I always caution about trusting what you read on the internet, and that's we also are very vocal that this is not a medical advice forum, but a place where people can share their experiences, but we do not, nor can we, give medical advice. So keep that in mind as I say this: I read a few articles on microwave popcorn and my key takeaways are that many of the chemicals that used to be used in those bags that make it magically pop while in the microwave, have been phased out... but questions remain about if there's any risk to the replacement chemicals that are used in these bags. From what I read, it sounds like you would need a large volume of chemicals, usually over a prolonged period of time, to get sick from a popcorn bag. It could be a coincidence that it started after the popcorn and metallic taste. Typically anytime you can avoid something that is chemically preserved, or chemically treated to make something happen (in this case, a bag with special chemicals to make the popcorn pop), you are better off with the option that has fewer chemicals. So that could be an air popper (I don't know what they are called but believe you can choose to use oil or not), which might be a good option for you.

Long story short - I hope you have had or have an appointment coming up with your doctor so that you can work with your medical team together as they investigate what is causing your symptoms.

I'll end this long post with one last note - living in a pandemic is a very odd and isolating time for so many people. So many people thought life would "go back to normal" a long time ago, yet here we are still with this deadly virus. that has taken so many lives. If you are experiencing isolation or loneliness or added anxiety because of the pandemic, please, if you aren't already, speak to a mental health professional. This time of the coronavirus is a new and uncomfortable experience for people of all ages - and the lasting impacts of being disconnected from friends and loved ones, can be very real.

If you would like to post an update, we're here for you. As I say in every post, if something feels off, speak to your doctor. If your doctor dismisses you, get a second opinion. We want you to live a long and happy life and experiencing the bowel symptoms you are, can be painful and disruptive to living your life.

Again, apologies for the late reply.

~Nicole, GCCA Staff Member & Colon Cancer Connected Site Administrator.

Just a reminder - this group is here to offer support, share experiences, and offer our thoughts - but this is not medical advice, and you should always consult your medical professional(s). Additionally, for all emergencies, seek urgent medical care, never delay.