Been bleeding from colon for 10 years..

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James360
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 9:44 pm

Been bleeding from colon for 10 years..

Postby James360 » Tue Aug 22, 2017 9:50 pm

Hi I've been bleeding off and on from my colon for 10 years. I'm 30 and it started when I began to diet and try to lose weight. I was taking many kinds of laxatives at the time too. Through my 20s I struggled with weight and used laxatives and bled much from my colon. It wasn't until recent that I noticed barely no blood in stool but so much blood on toilet paper. So I'm definitely concerned. Do you think this is a sign of colon cancer? I have an appointment next Friday and I'm hoping they set me up with a colonoscopy to see what's going on but should I be alarmed? :oops:

Stewsbetty
Posts: 170
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2016 7:08 am

Re: Been bleeding from colon for 10 years..

Postby Stewsbetty » Wed Aug 23, 2017 6:35 am

I guess it can't really be normal to be bleeding but there may be other reasons for it. It certainly won't hurt to do a scope and then you will know for certain. It is good to address your concerns proactively but it won't help to become consumed with worry. So schedule the appointment and maybe try to stop unnecessary use of laxatives.

Best of luck, beth
42yo At diagnosis. Female in BC, Canada
Dx: CC ascending
Right Hemi colectomy 06/16 clear margins
Adenocarcinoma 6cm High Grade
pT3 pN2a Stage 3
10 out of 16 lymph involved
MSI-h, Kras mut, Braf wild
Finished chemo Feb. 2017
PET scan showing active area April 2017
July 2017 CT showing LN mass and spread to other LN
Stage 4
Aug 2017 failed Fofiri
Sept 2017 keytruda scans every 3 months showing shrinkage and stability
November 2018 CT shows only 1 small tumour left
September 2019 clear CT finally NED!!!

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

Re: Been bleeding from colon for 10 years..

Postby DarknessEmbraced » Wed Aug 23, 2017 7:38 am

I'm sorry you're going through this and am glad you're getting a colonoscopy. Hopefully it won't be long to wait.*hugs*
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! :)

veckon
Posts: 131
Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2017 7:44 am

Re: Been bleeding from colon for 10 years..

Postby veckon » Wed Aug 23, 2017 9:48 am

James360 wrote:Hi I've been bleeding off and on from my colon for 10 years. I'm 30 and it started when I began to diet and try to lose weight. I was taking many kinds of laxatives at the time too. Through my 20s I struggled with weight and used laxatives and bled much from my colon. It wasn't until recent that I noticed barely no blood in stool but so much blood on toilet paper. So I'm definitely concerned. Do you think this is a sign of colon cancer? I have an appointment next Friday and I'm hoping they set me up with a colonoscopy to see what's going on but should I be alarmed? :oops:


This is the kind of post that keeps me up at night. Ten years of bleeding? Please go to a GI now and get checked out. I had a couple months of bleeding before diagnosis. I hope you are simply glossing over your medical history and you haven't kept this bleeding to yourself all of this time. Forget cancer, there are a litany of other gastrointestinal diseases that you should be concerned about first.
27 yo male
Metastatic rectal cancer diagnosed 12/16
Liver metastases and peritoneal carcinomatosis
Lynch syndrome, MSI-H
Failed liver resection 3/17
FOLFOX6 12/16 - 05/17
Keytruda 5/17 - present
@Memorial Sloan Kettering

benben
Posts: 324
Joined: Fri Apr 28, 2017 3:18 pm
Location: Washington State

Re: Been bleeding from colon for 10 years..

Postby benben » Wed Aug 23, 2017 1:46 pm

Hi James,

Try not to get overly anxious about things. Many things can cause blood on the stool or toilet paper.
That said whatever the cause may be - it's obviously lower in colon if you're seeing the blood.
Like sigmoid and lower. Otherwise it most likely would not make it down to toilet paper.
There is a big list of things it could be, and yes cancer is one of them. But don't fixate on the outcome.
It's more likely to not be cancer at your age, but regardless get scoped. I saw blood in stool for about the same time frame as you.
Had anoscopy, which revealed some irritated roids and a small fissure. So they thought given my age about 35 at the time - that there was no need for scope.
Wish I had forced scope at the time, may have just been polyps at the time - at 44 got 3b diagnosis - surgery and undergoing mop up chemo.
Praying for no recurrence.

Get scoped, find source, develop plan to heal - whatever the source is.
good luck.
----------------------
3/29/17 diagnosed CRC - 44 y/o Male
4/17/17 ULAR - Straight anastomosis - no ostomy.
Path: low grade T3n1m0 - moderate diff.
KRAS - NO, MLH1/PMS2/MSH6/MSH2 - Normal.
5/3 med port install
5/22 folfox - first treatment.
3rd treat, delayed - low ANC - reduced to 90% OXI
zarxio all treats
Treat 7 - 75% OXI
Treats 8-12 - NO OXI, Luke & 5FU
10/20/17 CT- NED
3/18 Scope - Clean
11/8 PORT OUT!
7/22 CT - NED (5 years!)

James360
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 9:44 pm

Re: Been bleeding from colon for 10 years..

Postby James360 » Wed Aug 23, 2017 5:22 pm

Ok
Last edited by James360 on Thu Aug 24, 2017 10:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

Basil
Posts: 275
Joined: Thu Mar 16, 2017 12:33 pm

Re: Been bleeding from colon for 10 years..

Postby Basil » Wed Aug 23, 2017 7:42 pm

Everyone here is going to advise you to get a colonoscopy, largely because most were in some variation of your shoes at some point (although not for ten freaking years). I will point out two things, and take them or leave them; I'm not a doctor and not qualified to give you medical advice:

1. Likely not cancer because if you had a had a tumor advanced enough to bleed ten years ago, without any treatment, you would probably be dead by now. CC is generally a slow grower but I've never heard of a ten year bleeder that never metastasized at some point down the road.

2. I'd listen to your gut. I'm by nature a pretty logical fellow and don't put much faith in intuition but the body and brain are complex and work in ways we may not understand. I only had bleeding for a month or two before dx but I had this bad feeling that something was wrong well before that, about six months. My PCP wasn't really concerned about the bleeding but my bad feeling pushed me to request the scope. Could have been paranoia and coincidence, I will never know. But if after ten years you are now concerned enough to end up here, I'd definitely err on the side of caution. Your brain may know something it cannot communicate to you directly.
40 y/o male (now 46), kids 11 & 14.
Dx 3/16/17, rectal cancer s3,t3,n1,m0
PROSPCT trial (FOLFOX in lieu of chemorad)
FOLFOX 4/5/17 - 6/26/17
LAR 7/31/17, temp ileo
pathological complete response
Adjuvant chemo cancelled (IDEA Study)
Ileo reversed 9/25/17
NED
1 year scans - clear
2 year scans - clear
3 year scans - clear
4 year scans - clear
5 year scans - clear (considered cured)

veckon
Posts: 131
Joined: Thu Jul 27, 2017 7:44 am

Re: Been bleeding from colon for 10 years..

Postby veckon » Thu Aug 24, 2017 6:46 am

James360 wrote:Well God bless all of you and you'll all be in my prayers..I hope God heals you all. I'm in formation right now to join the third order Franciscans of the Catholic Church. It's been an extremely exciting and prayerful time. I definitely will pray for all of you and I believe this colon issue will be healed by God and Jesus help. I think I'll get through this. Thanks so much for your love, support and care..God bless...-James


Sigh. Please go to the doctor ASAP. If necessary, I can find a priest (or hundreds) who will advise you of this too. This is no joking matter.
27 yo male
Metastatic rectal cancer diagnosed 12/16
Liver metastases and peritoneal carcinomatosis
Lynch syndrome, MSI-H
Failed liver resection 3/17
FOLFOX6 12/16 - 05/17
Keytruda 5/17 - present
@Memorial Sloan Kettering


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