A little freaked again - please help

[marc99]

Past few weeks I have been having signs of IBS.  Mainly diarrhea, stringy loose stool, and very minor abdominal pain, along with sky high anxiety.  Anyway, today the diarrhea and loose stool has stopped, and I was feeling constipated.  I got all excited thinking okay I am right it is only IBS.  When I finally went, though, the first BM had about 5-6 pieces of flat stool and the second had two pretty short, PENCIL-THIN pieces of stool.  Now I am back to where I was when this all started - FREAKED out that I have colon cancer.  SOrry to be so graphic, but I am worried and would liek hear from those who have experienced similar/same symptoms.  I want to think it is just IBS or something relatively minor, but that anxiety voice in my head that always starts this cycle (and google!!!) says, "well, it could be colon cancer!"  I will be 32 this year.  I have a wife and a little girl, this cannot be happening to me.

I also have neck and shoulder tension, dry mouth, and the digestive stuff is so erratic, so typical of IBS, but you know how it goes.

I do have a GI doc appt scheduled,  but not till the end of May.  I loathe going to doctors, it ratchets my anxiety even more.  Please help with thoughts/experiences on the above paragraph.

[Mikem]

About colon cancer, as u probably know it is very common and has a very high cure rate... though the risk does increase with age even at 32 incidence are not common... a big precursor to colon cancer is colon polyps... now... there are certain things, like drinking and eating certain foods that cause the risk to increase... but normally one thing that is common to notice before scheduling appt.s w/ practitioners is often small amounts of blood in the stool... which can be a sign of colon polyps tobcontinue

[Mikem]

based on what u have said i cant honestly say that you are at a high risk... but its always good to speak to a doctor... and i wish you the best

[marc99]

i have trouble following your writing.

You are saying you feel that I AM NOT at a high risk, right?  I know anything is possible, but just confirming what you wrote.

[marc99]

so sorry to obsess and ramble on this, just looking for thoughts from folks, that is all.  similar experiences.  ibs, etc.

[Mikem]

well i guess at times im not exactly clear...  sorry... but yeah... what i meant is... that i doubt that it is colon cancer... stool consistancy and color most often have to do with diet

[petrolhead]

I have IBS and can tell you that your bowel movemens will be all sorts of weird colours, shapes, smells and sizes (Sorry!  ). I've had the whole pencil-thin thing, mainly when I was really anxious a couple of weeks ago. But as the anxiety subsided so did the whole bowel thing. I'd never really paid that much attention before so when I started to take notice, things seemed different, but in reality it's just good old health anxiety causing our minds to play tricks on us, not forgetting that IBS is aggravated by anxiety. If it doesn't let up, maybe you could try some Aloe Vera Juice - I've been told that IBS is like an ezcema of the bowel, so this should really calm it down. I considering this myself.

[sanderella]

A "change in form" of the stools is one of the symptoms of IBS. It may be a symptom of colon cancer too. But you have to remember that "common things happen commonly", and IBS is very common - much more so than colon cancer. When you consider that you suffer from anxiety, that makes IBS even more likely. If you don't have any other symptoms apart from the digestive variations and abdominal pain, then there is no reason to worry.

When your bowel movements started again after a little break, and you'd been having diarrhoea before, well this happens to me - the stuff that comes out next is actually part of the diarrhoea "batch" that was rushed through your gut. It's hung around in the lower bowel a bit longer so will be more solid, but when you consider it's part of the loose stuff, that explains its shape and form. Hope that helps.

[Mikem]

ya know, I read your symptoms, and it does look just like textbook IBS + the history of anxiety and the plus it is definitely more common.

[marc99]

what i noticed also is that my bm's, when more formed, are all small, but they take different shapes- some pencil-thin, some flat, some more stringy.  If there was a polyp would it not make sense that the form would be the same at least for a while.  See what I am saying, like the place it is coming thru is causing the same shape each time.  SInce it changes from pencil to flat and stuff, although always thin mostly, maybe it is the whole wierd contractions of the colon I read abotu with IBS.

thoughts?

[marc99]

after 1-2 weeks of free-flowing, small soft stool, often diarrhea- the last 16 hours or so it has been hard to go- and this morning, all of this straining for a very small, formed, but soft piece.  Is this common for those with IBS?  I am concerned cuz the stool was soft but tough to pass and not hard like I would expect.

Gonna get some metamucil and aloe vera this morning.  I need this to pass so I can at least get past this latest episode of anxiety!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[petrolhead]

after 1-2 weeks of free-flowing, small soft stool, often diarrhea- the last 16 hours or so it has been hard to go- and this morning, all of this straining for a very small, formed, but soft piece.  Is this common for those with IBS?  I am concerned cuz the stool was soft but tough to pass and not hard like I would expect.

That definitely sounds like IBS to me - I get this all the time. Some people with IBS have constant diarrhea every time they go, so constipation all the time, others alternate between the two. What you've just described sounds very much like the way that IBS causes you to sometimes feel as though you've not 'finished' after a bowel movement, only happening before rather than after, if you see what I mean!

[marc99]

thanks for all of the replies.  it is just amazing to me that such a condition can exist that mimics all of these other more serious things.  that said- I hope I have it!  That sounds wierd.

Anyone else with thoughts/experiences?

[LetyBunny]

My stool started looking weird once my anxiety started getting bad. For the first few months i was constipated often or I would only let our very small or skinny stools....now everytime I go my stool falls apart easily. It's always soft and doesn;t look fully digested. It can also be a lack of calcium from what I have heard that can make your stool come out soft and falling apart easily. I am thinking now that it's IBS ...I do get diarrehea often as well...and upset stomachs and pain pretty often too. The way you describe everything Marc...sounds like what I have. Oh, I also noticed a change in the smell of my stool as well (sorry for the info if it sounds yucky). I know exactly how you feel Marc.

[marc99]

My stool started looking weird once my anxiety started getting bad. For the first few months i was constipated often or I would only let our very small or skinny stools....now everytime I go my stool falls apart easily. It's always soft and doesn;t look fully digested. It can also be a lack of calcium from what I have heard that can make your stool come out soft and falling apart easily. I am thinking now that it's IBS ...I do get diarrehea often as well...and upset stomachs and pain pretty often too. The way you describe everything Marc...sounds like what I have. Oh, I also noticed a change in the smell of my stool as well (sorry for the info if it sounds yucky). I know exactly how you feel Marc.

What you write there fits me to a TEE, with the exception of the constipation for a few months.  Mine was diarrhea instead.  Have you been to a doctor about this?  I am just curious.  There is that one part of me that says, "you are worrying about this and it is nothing" (especially since this has happened here and there for at least 10 years), but as you all well know there is that other voice that says, "well yea, but it could be ... "

[gloomy]

Another horrible symptom I get with IBS is bad acid and indegestion and also the feeling like my bowels are not quite emptied so I always feel sluggish and bloated

[hkov]

marc, im going through the same exact thing.  my stomach is a mess, its gurgling, bloated and im freaked too.  The stomach is usually the first place stress and anxiety hit.  "Nowhere in the body are the incoming signals so prevalent and so prone to misinterpretation, as in the abdomen."  Im reading an absolutely hysterical book called "The Hypochondriacs Guide to Life.  And Death."  Its hysterical.  You will forget what your feeling when you read this.  Your not alone and this symptom will pass, and unfortunatley another one will surface.  Its our life.  Just a vicious cycle.  i'll be praying for you.

[jcp]

Marc you are totally fine.  Believe me.  I have had IBS and had exactly the same symptoms as you.  Then years after I had it I had bleeding when I went to the bathroom, freaked it was colon cancer and had a sigmoidoscopy.  ITS NOT CANCER!  Believe me.  I know I sent you a message before about it too, focus on your wife and child.  Keep your appt and get it checked out for your own reassurance, but unless you are having a lot of blood when you go, or are extremely fatigued too I do not think you need to worry.