I’m a 25 year old female and I was diagnosed with IBS many years ago. I used to get really bad stomach pains after eating and then the pain would subside after having diarrhoea this happened for awhile on and off this made me very anxious and I was weary at what I ate I stopped eating red meat for awhile and the pains stopped I’ve had mucus and blood in my stools for years also but it has always been bright red I am making myself sick with worry I keep having panic attacks because I am convinced I have cancer. I’ve had a colonoscopy which came back clear and I’ve also had a nuclear medicine test to check for any inflammation in my small bowel also had all the checks with the finger up the bum and they can’t find any cause for what’s going on they just keep telling me I have really bad IBS and I’ve just been prescribed sertraline to try and “calm” myself down because they believe this is all due to my health anxiety which I very much have and I am getting CBT therapy for it’s all I can think about and it’s ruining my life I don’t know what else to do I do feel the bleeding is worse when I’m more stressed (constantly stressed) and constipated my bowel is very infrequent sometimes I have diarrhoea and sometimes I have constipation - I am so so unbelievably scared and ive been to multiple different doctors and they just don’t seem to understand how much this is affecting my life and how it’s affecting my anxiety. I’m so young I don’t want to die yet 
blood and mucus in stool for a few ye... - Colon Cancer Conn...
blood and mucus in stool for a few years now colonoscopy has came back clear
oh forgot to mention I also get pain in my lower back usually on the right
Did they get all the way round on the colonoscopy? I had a similar experience although many years ago and didn’t know the woman who did my first colonoscopy had given up without going all the way to the start of my colon because apparently I was complaining too much of pain. Which I didn’t remember because they gave me midazolam (without explaining what it does..). It took 2 further colonoscopies before they eventually found Crohns and that was at least 20 years later. Might be worth checking?
Yeah they did definitely get all the way around and on the report it says my bowel prep was excellent! And the diagnosis has come back normal but yet here I am still in pain and still passing blood and mucus I’m just absolutely petrified and don’t know what to do anymore
I’m glad the colonoscopy was successful - and I’m so sorry you are still looking for answers. I hope others on here can offer some suggestions/reassurance.
Get an endoscopy. May be there is something wrong with your stomach. Also get an abdominal USG too.
Hi Pamela-c,
Thanks for posting with us. No one wants you to die❤️. I don’t want you to die❤️. I do want you to get some better answers👍👏. I hate to hear you are having to go through all this. Ugh. So, what was the answer to the bright red blood in the stool? There is an answer. I was going to suggest a 2nd opinion but you’ve already been to many doctors and none have been able to help. CBT and sertraline are not the answer😞. The blood is coming from somewhere. Did you get an endoscopy to look onto the stomach. I was once bleeding from an ulcer in my stomach.
Is there any family history of certain diseases in the family? That should lead to some further testing if there is.
Do you think you are geing treated this way because you are so young🤔😲? Symptoms are symptoms no matter what the age and they need answers no matter what the age.
If you want to put your mind at ease right away pertaining to you being convinced you have cancer, there are tests that can detect cancer cells in the blood. It’s called a liquid biopsy. If there is cancer, the cancer would be depositing its dead cells in the blood stream as waste. The technology is called Grail. This should be discussed with your doctor and from there it can be ordered. If your doctor can't determine the source of blood, tell them you want this test to competely rule out having cancer.
If your doctors are having issues with diagnosing the source of the blood in the stool, the tests should continue until you can determine the cause. My opinion is that it’s ridiculous the source of the blood hasn’t been found.
Also, if knowing you do not have cancer would help your anxiety in this situation, get the liquid biopsy and know for sure. It’s a blood test. It will put your mind at ease.
I do wish you the very best and hope you get answers SOON about the source of the blood in the stool. Please keep us up to speed when you find out new information or plan to take further testing. There is a cause. They just haven’t found it yet.
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.
thank you for replying. The answer to the red blood and mucus in my stool was IBS how am I supposed to believe that when it is not common at all to bleed when you have IBS my doctor says no it isn’t common but it does happen in apparently roughly 18% of people who suffer from IBS have bleeding. I just won’t have it I believe it needs to be investigated further. My anxiety is taking over me I had to stay off work today (I work in my GP surgery) I couldn’t sleep last night I rang 111 today and was potentially going to attend a&e today just to get some other opinions the pain is bad in my back and my stomach and it’s travelling down my legs I understand this pain could be linked to my anxiety because I feel like it’s much worse recently and that because I’ve been so stressed. My mother is planning on going private. Hopefully that will be soon.
Maybe Colitis.... Just a thought. Perhaps get an endoscope test to rull out or find out anything. I'm not a Dr. just to let you know.
I also would like to add on that my FC test measured 584
My calprotectin test was 2065 then down to 1015 now at 600 I've had full blood tests and my protein levels are low and iron and calcium I've had 2 colonoscopies had 5 polyps removed and 9 biopsies and a 22mm sessile polyp removed result easily bad proctitis I've not had a proper bowel movement since that was almost 2 years ago just blood and watery mucous everytime I stand up it comes away from me. I'm on mesazelene suppositories and have had steroids but nothing has helped. My bowels were normal every morning before the colonoscopies im certain they caused all this as the first one was very traumatic
I’ve had the symptoms you describe for over 20 years. Colonoscopy done around 22 yrs ago. At that time I was diagnosed with IBS, I also had internal hemmroids and I think they said that explained the occasional blood. I also had (have!) health anxiety and was on sertraline for a decade. I think it actually helped more than I realized. I had a long span of time where my IBS wasn’t bothering me much and it wasn’t something I had to think about every single day. I went off it about a year ago and have been in the thick of it with symptoms again. But, now, at 54 years old I am even more worried that something else more serious has developed which I’ve ignored and written off to IBS. 🙁 I’m hopeful the sertraline may help you. I plan to get back on it. I’d also suggest that you stay on top of all your screenings in the years to come so you don’t end up in my position at a later age of having more to be anxious about!
fit test positive 
Positive FIT 400 
what do you think?
New and a bit scared 
35 years old and very scared right now.
