Stressing

[Rocknroll13]

I'm sure you all get these posts a lot and I do apologise for that.

But the last few days my GI tract has just been going a bit haywire. I have health anxiety so I do frequent google once to often and end up sending myself into a panic. I've had maybe somewhere between number 4's, 5's and lately 6's on the Bristol stool chart and sometimes it looks like there's a lot of undigested food in my stool and as if they're oily? No blood, or mucus, I thought there was blood but it was only red skins from tomatoes and bell peppers. I'm overweight, 114kg (I used to weigh 128kg a few years ago but changed my ways diet wise, after it completely messed with my menstrual cycle and my mental health. No abdominal pain, just cramps which tend to go away when I go to the loo or pass gas.

Recently I did stop exercising as it started to get too hot to walk my dog (Australia) I am looking at exercise equipment though. I always had pretty regular bowel movements at that time. I still do just go the standard 1, 2 or 3 times a day, only been 4 times on a few occasions from having either too much dairy or too much spicy food. nyway, anytime I brought up google it would always point to bowel/colon cancer and it's just freaked me out. I'm 27 and female, no family history of any cancers in my family, not really any GI diseases, apart from my brother who has a dodgy gallbladder. I have had some heartburn as well but I was eating spicy food or sugary stuff. It's only since settled down since I started eating at the breakfast table and found some decent antacids. I'm also on antidepressants and not sure if my body is starting t o hate it after being on them for a year. I also take supplements, about 4 different ones each day. I've tried to put more fibre into my diet, not sure if it's working at the moment. But again, it's still worrying me

I guess I just need a little bit of support to try and settle my nerves. ..

[GreatWhiteShar]

Hello Rocknroll13!

My best advice to give is if you have any doubts…Please schedule yourself to get a colonoscopy. That is the best thing you can do for yourself to know for certain what is going on. Google is very scary to use because it almost always points you to the worst that could be wrong. Now Google was right in my case, but I am getting it taken care of. I will be going in for my first chemotherapy, and radiation treatments on Monday. I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer last month. I am glad that I had a colonoscopy to find out what was giving my bloody stools. If I were to go on thinking it was just hemorrhoids, and to just go on without getting a colonoscopy…My cancer probably would have spread into other areas of my body. So please make that appointment, and get a colonoscopy.

[GCCA-Survivor Administrator]

Hi Rocknroll13,

Thanks for posting. You have some signs here to get some answers for and you are also getting some good advice. You are very young and I'm proud to see you are looking for answers and not ignoring signs. There are a lot of reasons that could be responsible for what you are dealing with. The best thing to do is make a visit with your doctor and start getting things checked out.

There are many tests out there that can be helpful. And I get the googling😁. It's so easy to do, but it can force you in a direction you don't need to be going. Your doctor can be a better way to get on a path to answers you need. There are some FIT tests that will check for blood in the stool and of course the colonoscopy that absolutely is beneficial in seeing what's going on and may be causing you your issues. So, please see your doctor and get that ball rolling and get some answers.

We do wish you the very best in finding answers. Please let us know what you find out as it can be helpful to others as well.👍🧡🤟

Thank You,

~Tom, GCCA Survivor - 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.

[Rocknroll13 in reply to GCCA-Survivor]

Thanks for your reassuring post. The more I thought about it, at the time my symptoms started I had consumed a lot of no sugar sports drinks which have sweeteners in them. Which I've since found out can have negative effects on your digestion. After that I stopped drinking them and also had more fibre and water during the day. Had pretty decent BM's for two days then woke up this morning and it was back to about a 6 again, I had consumed a lot of fibre since then, lentil soup three days in a row then a curry with lentils in it two days in a row.

So I'm thinking possibly it's a diet thing. I will probably discuss it with my GP though, he's great. I was thinking of seeing him anyway about some back pain, which was injured from some heavy lifting a few days ago.

Otherwise I'm feeling pretty okay, it's just my stress that still catches me out.