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Newbie here with questions

Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 10:57 am
by JasonXXX
Hello everyone....

I just thought I’d post and see what people might have to say.

I’m a 31 year old male and I’ve been concerned about my GI area lately. For the last few weeks, I haven’t been able to produce a solid stool. I’ve seen blood in my stools in the past. I went to the doctor last week and he took several abdominal x-rays, he said that he didn’t notice any abnormalities in the x-ray with the exception that I had A lot of stool. I was constipated, he gave me a laxative which I used for 2 weeks and I went to the restroom a lot, the same problem persists that I can’t produce a normal stool. It’s all watery or diarrea. I have some very mild abdominal pain “ I’d say a 2 out of 10” and I usually notice this pain when I’m sitting down in a chair.

I went to the doctor yesterday and it was a different physician. She reviewed my chart, prescribed me some bentyl for the pain, and took blood work. I’m currently waiting on the results of the labs.

What do you guys think I should do? I know that it’s most likely hemorrhoids because I don’t have a family history of colorectal cancer and I’m pretty young, but it’s not smart to assume. I go to the doctor again on Wednesday but it’s a new provider, I left my other doctor because he and his office were not up to par. Thanks for any and all input. You could ask me questions if you want and I’ll reply.

Re: Newbie here with questions

Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 2:35 pm
by DarknessEmbraced
I'm sorry you're going through this!*hugs* I would ask your new doctor for a colonoscopy to be certain what's going on. I hope you get answers soon!*hugs*

Re: Newbie here with questions

Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 6:56 pm
by Lee
JasonXXX wrote: . . . I’m a 31 year old male and I’ve been concerned about my GI area lately. For the last few weeks, I haven’t been able to produce a solid stool. I’ve seen blood in my stools in the past.
.


Hi and welcome. First, I don't think you have cancer, BUTT by the fact there was blood in you stools in the past, you probably should get a colonoscopy. That will give a true diagnoses IF anything is going on. Anything else is just a speculation. Blood can be caused my many things, cancer is just one possibility, hemorrhoids are of course another reason.

Regarding your constipation, maybe drink more water, avoid cheese, eat a few more greens. See if that helps.

Keep us posted,

Lee

Re: Newbie here with questions

Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2018 1:41 am
by O Stoma Mia
You might want to keep records of your food intake and your bowel output over a period of time so that you have something concrete to show your doctor when you go in for an appointment.

I think it would help to see a gastroenterologist GI specialist, because this type of specialist would be able to interpret your history of symptoms and come up with a proper diagnosis. However, they need to have good data on exactly what has been happening to you lately in order to come up with a solution. They may need to do a colonoscopy in order to eliminate some possible explanations

O Stoma Mia wrote:
DDpers wrote: ...I'd like to also be able to track food, so I can look back to see if something I ate caused a problem, would be nice to just have one app to do this...

For over a year and a half now I have been using an Excel spreadsheet to track (1)Input, (2)Output, and (2) Exercise sessions, with columns defined as follows:

  1. Date/Time - Date and time for each event.
  2. Input - One line for each item consumed by mouth. This includes everything -- Food, beverages, medicines, vitamins, OTC items, cough drops, breath mints, etc., etc., one line for each item.
  3. Output - One line for each trip to toilet, with details on what came out, how much, along with other details. Also, one line for each bowel "accident".
  4. Exercise - One line for each exercise session, including exercises done, time spent on each, etc.
  5. Comments - Notes about transit time between eating and elimination, identified triggers, unexpected events, etc.

The spreadsheet makes use of a special coding scheme with letters and symbols representing attributes that are being tracked so that there is a more-or-less accurate record of what actually happened.

The use of this Excel spreadsheet over a period of many months allowed me to eventually identify the main triggers underlying bowel control for me. Now, I no longer need to use products like Imodium, Lomotil, Metamucil, Ex-Lax, etc. Everything is controlled now by the choice and timing of foods, which is determined by analyzing recurrent patterns in my Food/Toilet/Exercise log.

Re: Newbie here with questions

Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 2:51 pm
by MrPleistocene
I would try to get a colonoscopy. It can diagnose way more stuff than just cancer. Looking back at my experience, the moment that things shifted for me (I was a couple years older, but still 30's) was when the Dr. asked if I would be willing to do a stool sample at home. I immediately said 'yes, please'. I had my colonoscopy within months. It could be sooo many things, blood tests can give a little insight, stool sample more, but a scope will give the Dr.'s as much info as is possible. Maybe offer to do a stool sample. They could catch C.Diff or several other things that cause stool issues. It'll also show that you are willing to take advanced (and a little unpleasant) action.

I'd also second the option of some documentation. You can just take a picture of what you eat (that will also capture the time stamp) and you can email or txt yourself when you are on the toilet. This can also be very helpful.