Im 17 years old and Just been really scared and anxious because last 2 weeks ago my doctor at the gp diagnosed me with IBS and i dont know in my head there is something saying that is not IBS. I'm really scared of being a Bowel Cancer which I dont want it to be.
I have had blood test, stool test and rectum exam and there were normal. The doctor called me on the monday to the gp to examine my stomach for any lumps or bumps and he said he hasn't felt any lumps or bumps and your stoamch is clear. I did mention my concerns to him and he stated that I dont have a cancer cause of this tests ruled out and now he has referred me for abdomen ultrasound . I am just getting scared and anxious because people say dr can misdiagnosed you which is costly later in future.
My symptoms are.
Stomach cramps, mushy stools, sometimes constipationed and diarrhea.
I havnt loss weight no loss of appetite (only when I'm stressed I dont eat) no blood in stool.
Please can some one help or explain to me.
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Hash87677
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Easy to say try not to be anxious about it but obviously you are. I'd personally be reassured that the samples tested came back normal and nothing could be felt when the doctor examined you, plus you're booked in for an ultrasound.
I can tell you however being stressed can make your bowels irritated and this will not help your symptoms.
I personally wouldn't worry but I would speak to your doctor about anxiety. Like I said earlier this can make ibs symptoms worse.
I would worry if I was losing a lot of weight in a short space of time, noticed blood in stools, vomiting, temperature, anything that makes you physically unwell. Also being very tired like even though you've slept you feel like you haven't or if symptoms persist over many weeks without let up or pain becomes extreme very quickly. These can be red flag symptoms of something that needs dealing with urgently.
1. Bowel movement such as constipation and diarrhea
2. And some abdominal cramps and pain and then it goes back to normal when I have the medication.
I haven't seen any blood, weight loss, temperature or havnt vomited. This pain of ibs has been going on for 2 months and I'm getting ultrasound soon in hospital to see for any lumps or tumors.
I remember being worried in same way when i had abdominal pains and severe constipation, convinced that at 22 i had bowel cancer. The Dr , 2nd one explaining IBS, but still sending me to have a sigmoidoscopy exam, and thinking that these must be something she wasn't telling me. I was so relieved to have all clear.
The dr has done blood test and stool test and came back normal. And also they did a rectum exam and the dr also felt no lumps and bumps. And then on monday the gp doctor called me over and had a belly examine and was examining my abdomen and he also felt no lumps and bumps and no weird noises. And now he has said that I have ibs and also he has referred me for a ultrasound for abdomen.
I have IBS from my childhood to now .I'm 36 now & this disease has terrible impacts on my life.I have fears same like you but doctors have said the same that it is IBS.NHS doctors can make mistakes .I'm thinking to go retests.It is a very dangerous disease.I would say it is a slow poison.Look after your mental health & try always be happy.Negative moods & pressure are the worst triggers of IBS along with other countless .
Hi Hash87677. Severe anxiety or worrying can make it much worse. You should talk to your doctor about this. They can help you.
As for your symptoms, those symptoms can be caused by so many many different things. What blood tests did your doctor do? Which stool tests?
The first thing that comes to mind is thyroid disease. It can cause anxiety, constipation and diarrhea. Have you had your thyroid thoroughly tested? The correct tests are done all together. If any are left out, then you have not been properly tested. The correct tests are: TSH, Free T3, Free T4, TPO/ab, and TG/ab. If you doctor has not done these tests yet, this would be a good next step.
The next thing that comes to mind is gluten. Do you eat foods that contain gluten? If so, you might have a gluten sensitivity, or you might have Coeliac Disease. Did your doctor test you for Coeliac Disease?
Next idea is a water borne parasite. There are several types and you can get it by swimming in a lake, having contaminated water splash on your face and into your mouth, or it is sometimes found to contaminate a water supply. Did the stool test include testing for parasites?
Another idea is food allergies. They can cause constipation or diarrhea. Some people react to milk products, garlic, onions, or many other foods. Have you noticed if your symptoms are worse after eating certain foods?
The last thought is if you are female, unbalanced female hormones could have something to do with your symptoms. Sometimes during a woman's monthly cycle the fluctuation of hormones can cause constipation or diarrhea. It can cause abdominal pain. It can also cause anxiety and high emotions.
I have full body count test and it was normal and I'm not allergic to anything and dont have coeliac disease. And thyroid came back normal. Is just that I have abdominal pain and constipation and diarrhea with loose Stool.
You've been very thoroughly tested. 42000 people a year are diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK. 2 in 10 people have IBS. At 17 you are incredibly young to develop bowel cancer. You have no other symptoms and all your tests have come back negative. You may benefit from anxiety medication or CBT. Remember you always hear about the small percentage of times when a Dr misdiagnosed, you never hear about correct diagnosis in the news. Misdiagnosis is almost always because tests were not carried out, but you have received all the relevant tests so please try to stop worrying x
For the few weeks I have been really lonely and also started to see a lot different such as joint pain, bowel movement such as mushy stool and also abdominal pain (weird nosies) is that common in ibs. I dont have fever, high temperature, no weight loss, no blood in stool (I havnt seen). I'm just scared cause my stomach makes gurgling noises...
My tum makes weird noises - loud noises that can be a bit embarrassing! I looked at the low fodmap diet and when I cut out lactose, all my tummy noises stopped immediately. Those noises in your stomach are probably wind and wind is the probable culprit for a lot of the pain too. When I had a colonoscopy they discovered my bowel was a lot longer than it should be, so it is very loopy! I got sharp pains as they tried to get the camera round all the bends and they were the same pains as I get sometimes with the ibs. So now I know when I get pains there my bowel is trying to push stuff through all those bends
I seem to have an issue with lactose but that doesn't mean you will. You should ask for a referral to a dietician once you have the results of all your tests and see if the low fodmap diet is suitable for you. It is quite a hard diet to follow and supervision is needed. You need to eliminate a lot of food at the beginning and then reintroduce in a controlled manner so you can identify your trigger foods. It may be you uncover an intolerance to a certain food and that when that food is eliminated from your diet, those noises stop. It may be that a combination of foods is too much for your system. It may be that you are eating too much of a certain food and if you had it in smaller amounts you would be able to tolerate it well.
In the meantime, there is an app from Monash (who developed the low fodmap diet) and it will show you which foods you can and cannot eat. You will also see that it gives amounts of each food as some foods only become high fodmap in higher quantity. I would definitely NOT recommend that you try the diet on your own as you are so young and you are still growing - not just bone wise but brain wise - and it is not a good idea to cut out foods without guidance at this stage in your life.
My symptoms started when I was 18, so I understand what you are going through. I thought my problems came out of the blue but now I can see that there were issues all along: I threw up breast milk constantly as a baby, I was diagnosed with colic aged 8 (my mum said to the GP only horses and babies get colic!), I was constipated even while breast fed... And my father and grandfather both had stomach problems and could not tolerate milk! I just never connected the dots before!
And as others have said stress is a major factor. To help you now maybe look at some mindfulness exercises. Always remember you have been very thoroughly tested - far more thoroughly than I was at your age. It took 27 years to get a colonoscopy and I only got that because I had been diagnosed with another disease that brought a greatly increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease. x
To put your mind at ease (a little bit), the tests you’re had done, would have picked something up. I was similar in your situation with my symptoms, I went on google and first typed ‘Bowel cancer symptoms’.
I was diagnosed with IBS, and started a FODMAP diet and cut out Gluten, it’s helped me massively. Stress or anxiety, can mess up your stomach/bowel movements, it seems with you having anxiety, this is not helping with your problems your having.
Please be assured that these tests are backed by years and years of science. Stool sample and blood tests are the go to for diagnosing IBS in most countries. You also have youth or your side - statistically those diagnosed with bowel cancer are far more likely to be in the over 50 age bracket.
You can start taking control of your IBS too - this will help you feel more in control of your situation. Here is some information about IBS that I have shared with others in this group in case any of these tips are of interest to you:
IBS can be due to a number or combination of factors - these can be stress (including stress from early life experiences) which impacts the communication between the brain and the digestive system. There are lots of free webinars online at the moment regarding mindfulness meditation which might help. Plus you can ask to be referred for CBT or something similar to reduce your anxiety - I would have thought online appointments are available. Exercise can play a major role in IBS in terms of reducing stress, helping your gut microbiome and regulating bowel movements.
There is also not absorbing certain types of carbohydrates called FODMAPs very well, the residue ending up in the colon and bacteria feeding off them causing symptoms. Ordinarily feeding gut bacteria is a really good thing - when you feed good gut bacteria these produce by-products that have great health effects in the gut and throughout the body. However, in some people with IBS bad bugs might have the upper hand over good - these bad bugs may cause symptoms such as excess gas, pain or disordered bowel movements. There is an interesting infographic on this here:
This is why it’s worth trying probiotics such as Alflorex (which has been scientifically studied for IBS) or Symprove to crowd out the bad bugs and make their numbers die down. If that doesn't work you can try the FODMAP elimination and reintroduction diet. This is normally under the guidance of a nutritionist via GP referral - this may not be possible at the moment so you can read about it online. If you download the Monash University FODMAP app it will tell you which foods contain FODMAPs and in what quantities. You can eliminate all FODMAPs for 2 weeks and then introduce each type of FODMAP one at a time starting in small quantities, increasing over a 3 day period and wait up to 4 days for symptoms. I go much slower than this - only introducing a small amount (1/4 to 1/3 of a normal portion size) of the same food for 3 days and then increase if tolerable or no symptoms and cut back to the previous amount if symptoms for longer and then try to increment again . I've read your microbiome can adapt to handling a new food if introduced very slowly and your bad bugs are under control with a good probiotic. Ideally you want to eat as many FODMAPs as you can since they are good for your health. Many people with IBS don't have diverse gut bacteria - it has been found that people who lack a diverse microbiome are more prone to diseases in general. In the long run, if you can get your symptoms under control, the ideal situation is to have a very varied diet - lots of different coloured fruits and vegetables, a variety of protein and carbohydrate sources including cereal fibres. This may seem a long way off, but with the right treatment all of this is possible. Last year all I could consume to control my IBS was white rice, protein and limited low fodmap veg. Using the approach above (particularly introducing Alflorex) I am now able to consume far more foods - more than I've ever dreamed of including wholewheat bread which is unheard of for me.
If you are also suffering from pain, you may be suffering from visceral hypersensitivity (functional abdominal pain) - there is info about it here:
It is where the brain interprets the normal activity of the bowel as pain - this is due to a wearing down of neurons in pain control centres of the brain which can be caused by PTSD, neglect or abuse in childhood, extreme stressful events etc. The first line treatment is nerve pain agents such as low dose amitriptyline. There is a theory that being on something like amitriptyline for 6-12 months can help the pain control centre neurons to regenerate. Note that amitriptyline can cause constipation, but this can be helpful in people who are diarrhea dominant. Unfortunately I couldn't tolerate these. Linaclotide (for IBS-C only) & Alflorex have helped me with this intestinal pain.
You may also find assistance with anti-spasmodic medication such as mebeverine (Colofac) or enteric coated peppermint.
If all of the usual IBS remedies fail and you are experiencing diarrhea, it is worth getting tested for BAM (Bile Acid Malabsorption), which can cause constant diarrhea - there is a separate test and treatment for that. Good luck.
I really feel for you and totally understand your anxiety, but please don't worry it would be highly unlikely to have bowel cancer with your symptoms and your doctor has done the correct tests to rule this out. The best way to think now is that you suffer from IBS, as such treat it using known pathways. Observe the Low Fodmap diet, take a combination pre/pro biotic and see how you get on over the next month or so. If you still suffer symptoms ask your GP for a low dose Citalopram which will calm the anxiety, stomach pain and cramps. Stay hydrated, don't drink alcohol, don't get over tired and eat smaller meals regularly, all these can be stress factors for your body.
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