IBS or something more serious?

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Luke.D
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2017 8:15 pm

IBS or something more serious?

Postby Luke.D » Fri Apr 14, 2017 8:50 pm

Hey Everyone,

First off I would like to wish you all the very best of luck in whatever your situation may be.

I'm a 28 year old male in what I'd like to think as pretty decent health, I've have had health anxiety issues in the past and probably still do but here's my situation.

About 6 months ago I had my first occurrence of a really large and hard stool which caused fissures, the hard stools were on and off but as recent as 2 to 3 months ago happen everyday, I usually go once a day so there has been no change in frequency other than the odd day or so with out going at all but each time I do go without a doubt it will be rock solid.

The doctor put me on stool softners(movicol) and this has helped a lot but every now and then I notice small clumpy bits of dark red which appear to be potentially blood, it may very well be food but sometimes it looks quite convincingly like blood.

Other symptoms I have include frequent burping to ease a feeling of nausea, mild occasional abdominal discomfort(particularly to the left of my belly button) and also what feels like a tight muscle strain feeling just above my right hip.

I've tried everything from increase in water and fibre intake to elimination diet and almost anything else that had been recommended by doctors.

It may also be worth mentioning I was a heavy drinker in the past and up until a year ago cut down a lot and have attempted to go cold turkey many times, I now drink occasionally.

Blood tests all came back normal as well as a stool sample tested for blood but like I said the sign of blood seems to be intermittent.

The last doctor I seen last suggested stools for two months which I have now completed and upon stopping them I go straight back to hard stools and have now been referred for a colonoscopy publicly which may take some time before receiving.

My question is does this seem like something I should be fast tracking by somehow getting a loan to go privately and therefore being seen a lot sooner or do my symptoms sound more like IBS?

Any info or advice would be much appreciated.

God bless you all!

PainInTheAss
Posts: 673
Joined: Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:08 am

Re: IBS or something more serious?

Postby PainInTheAss » Sat Apr 15, 2017 12:11 am

Luke.D wrote:Hey Everyone,

First off I would like to wish you all the very best of luck in whatever your situation may be.

I'm a 28 year old male in what I'd like to think as pretty decent health, I've have had health anxiety issues in the past and probably still do but here's my situation.

About 6 months ago I had my first occurrence of a really large and hard stool which caused fissures, the hard stools were on and off but as recent as 2 to 3 months ago happen everyday, I usually go once a day so there has been no change in frequency other than the odd day or so with out going at all but each time I do go without a doubt it will be rock solid.

The doctor put me on stool softners(movicol) and this has helped a lot but every now and then I notice small clumpy bits of dark red which appear to be potentially blood, it may very well be food but sometimes it looks quite convincingly like blood.

Other symptoms I have include frequent burping to ease a feeling of nausea, mild occasional abdominal discomfort(particularly to the left of my belly button) and also what feels like a tight muscle strain feeling just above my right hip.

I've tried everything from increase in water and fibre intake to elimination diet and almost anything else that had been recommended by doctors.

It may also be worth mentioning I was a heavy drinker in the past and up until a year ago cut down a lot and have attempted to go cold turkey many times, I now drink occasionally.

Blood tests all came back normal as well as a stool sample tested for blood but like I said the sign of blood seems to be intermittent.

The last doctor I seen last suggested stools for two months which I have now completed and upon stopping them I go straight back to hard stools and have now been referred for a colonoscopy publicly which may take some time before receiving.

My question is does this seem like something I should be fast tracking by somehow getting a loan to go privately and therefore being seen a lot sooner or do my symptoms sound more like IBS?

Any info or advice would be much appreciated.

God bless you all!


Hi, there. That's a lot to be dealing with at your age. We are not doctors, so I would not advise you to fast track or not fast track, but I would advise you to follow your doctor's lead if he does not seem overly concerned unless you're talking about waiting six months. If it's just a month or so, then I would suggest you get a second opinion about doing one sooner and go with the consensus.

You may find this recent exchange I had on this topic helpful. My daughter has IBS and probiotics, fiber pills, stool softeners and laxitives do not completely eliminate her symptoms:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=57689

It's unlikely that it's cancer, especially causing constipation. A colonoscopy is definitely in order.
47yo single mom of 4 (24, 21, 18, 16) at Dx
6/13 - RC T4b IIIc 5LNs on PET CEA 5.4
8/13 - Finish chemorad
10/13 - APR/hyst+ovaries/perm colostomy 2/12 nodes+
6/14 - Finish Xelox 6 rds
1/15 - CT clear CEA 0.2
10/15 - CT/MRI clear CEA 0.7
4/16 - CT clear
10/16 - CT/MRI clear CEA 0.6
5/17 - PET clear? Follow up MRI to verify inflammation

DarknessEmbraced
Posts: 3816
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2014 4:54 pm
Facebook Username: Riann Fletcher
Location: New Brunswick, Canada

Re: IBS or something more serious?

Postby DarknessEmbraced » Sat Apr 15, 2017 12:29 pm

I hope it's not a really long wait for a colonoscopy.*hugs* That's the only way to know for certain.
Diagnosed 10/28/14, age 36
Colon Resection 11/20/14, LAR (no illeo)
Stage 2a colon cancer, T3NOMO
Lymph-vascular invasion undetermined
0/22 lymph nodes
No chemo, no radiation
Clear Colonoscopy 04/29/15
NED 10/20/15
Ischemic Colitis 01/21/16
NED 11/10/16
CT Scan moved up due to high CEA 08/21/17
NED 09/25/17
NED 12/21/18
Clear colonoscopy 09/23/19
Clear 5 year scans 11/21/19- Considered cured! :)

TXLiz
Posts: 249
Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2016 3:31 pm

Re: IBS or something more serious?

Postby TXLiz » Sat Apr 15, 2017 1:12 pm

Ok. Here I come with advice that I know will scare and or upset you.

I was diagnosed with IBS around 2010/11. I constipation or very bad diarrhea. None of the IBS meds worked for me. I saw a few docs who all agreed it was IBS. I pushed for a colonoscopy and was found to have a precancerous polyp. It was removed during the colonoscopy. I was awake and watched while it was removed.

Now, 2016- Stage 3 colon cancer. I was supposed to have a colonoscopy again within 5 years. We moved as my spouse retired from the military. We were so busy I kept putting it off.

I know your symptoms are troubling and your mind goes to the big C. People have symptoms such as you have and do not have cancer. You could just have IBS.

As stated above, I am not a doc. I am new and not as cancer/GI savvy as many people here.

However, if you want to get a colonoscopy, push for one. That's the best way to get your answer.

Good luck and take care.
Vomiting and blockage 9/19/16 46 y F
R hemi colectomy 9/20/16
Stage 3 B CRC, located in cecum
3 out of 16 lymph nodes positive
perineural invasion/lymphovascular invasion
infiltrating, mod differentiated adenocarcinoma with a mucinous component
separate tumor nodules present in pericolonic adipose tissue
MSI-high
Baseline PET scan clear 9/16 CEA 0.5
FOLFOX 10/16- 3/17
April 16th, CT scan clear. CEA 1.1
Lynch "inconclusive"
Colonoscopy 10/5/2017 clear

Luke.D
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2017 8:15 pm

Re: IBS or something more serious?

Postby Luke.D » Sun Apr 16, 2017 6:26 pm

Thank you all so much for your replies, I think I'm going to do everything I can to get a colonoscopy asap, it's been worrying me for quite some time now and I don't fancy waiting further months and months to find out what's going on, the stress and anxiety it causes is horrible! I'm not so scared about the procedure itself but I have heard a fair bit of radiation is involved which can apparently do you a lot more harm than good seeing as though you are introducing it to your organs internally first hand, of course this may not be the case but it's another thing that weighs on the mind in terms of future repercussions if it were true, any thoughts on that subject?

Kindest regards

User avatar
LPL
Posts: 651
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:49 am
Location: Europe

Re: IBS or something more serious?

Postby LPL » Sat May 27, 2017 7:01 am

Hi Luke.D,
I hope by now that you have had your colonoscopy and that everything was fine.
You wrote:
I'm not so scared about the procedure itself but I have heard a fair bit of radiation is involved ...

Hm.. are you saying that your Dr had prescribed a Virtual colonoscopy?
Colonoscopy vs. virtual colonoscopy: Get the facts
https://www.mdanderson.org/publications ... scopy.html
Kind Regards /L
DH @ 65 DX 4/11/16 CC recto-sigmoid junction
Adenocarcenoma 35x15x9mm G3(biopsi) G1(surgical)
Mets 3 Liver resectable
T4aN1bM1a IVa 2/9 LN
MSS, KRAS-mut G13D
CEA & CA19-9: 5/18 2.5 78 8/17 1.4 48 2/14/17 1.8 29
4 Folfox 6/15-7/30 (b4 liver surgery) 8 after
CT: 8/8 no change 3/27/17 NED->Jan-19 mets to lung NED again Oct-19 :)
:!: Steroid induced hyperglycemia dx after 3chemo
Surgeries 2016: 3/18 Emergency colostomy
5/23 Primary+gallbl+stoma reversal+port 9/1 Liver mets
RFA 2019: Feb & Oct lung mets


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