Can anyone shed some light on this??

[kevanbd]

I've been lurking here for a little while and cannot tell you how much it has helped me.  I'm so glad I found these message boards because I read some of these stories and it sounds like a carbon copy of me.  I finally decided to post my story because I hope that someone can maybe offer some advice or shed some light on my situation.
First I'm sorry in advance if I gross anyone out or anything, but anyway I've always had a very very mild case of what I'm sure is IBS; sometimes after eating certain foods (usually pastas or pizza) I would get mild stomach cramps which were relieved after one single passage of diarrhea.  Every now and again, I'm awakened at night by the same thing.  This has happened for as long as I can remember and has never been a big deal.  Well about three years ago, my grandmother passed away from colon cancer.  About a year later, my father died of cancer as well.  I found out that my grandmother's brother had also had colon cancer.  Around December of last year I made the mistake of researching cancer genetics and became obsessed with the idea that I was going to get colon cancer.  In January I became obsessed with my bowel movements in a way that I never have before.  If my stool was even a tiny bit smalller than what I thought it should be, I would freak and convince myself that I had colon cancer.  After a few weeks, I started going from one b.m. a day to two, still obsessing over every detail of each b.m.  Low and behold all this anxiety and obsessive behavior lead to diarrhea, which freaked me out even more.  Every time I got diarrhea I would convince myself that I had colon cancer and would get upset and depressed and try to force myself to have a bowel movement just to see if I could have a 'normal' one, which only made things worse.  The diarrhea would only occur a couple times a week, and in between each episode things would be perfectly normal.  It was pretty much the same thing I've been having forever, just more frequent.  I finally realized that I was probably doing this to myself by aggrevating a pre-existing condition, and since I realized this things have gradually improved, but I still obsess.  It's like I cannot relax or take my mind off it until I have a b.m., and even then I will find something to worry about.  Does anyone have any advice on how to stop this and allow my digestive system to 'heal'?  I've tried exercising or doing other things to occupy myself, but they don't seem to work.  Also, does anyone know how long it can take for my system to naturally regulate itself again?  Any advice anyone might have would be helpful.  Thanks!

[Eva62]

You don't say how old you are, but anyone with a family history of colon cancer needs to get a colonoscopy. They are not as bad as they used to be, and the prep is really much easier as well. Obsessing over this will make your diarrhea worse.  I would go to a gastro doctor have the colonoscopy and put your mind at ease.

Eva

[kevanbd]

Oops I forgot to mention that I'm 20 years old.  My grandmother was 85 when she died, and her brother was over 75 as well.  My father's cancer was not colon, but was from smoking.

[Eva62]

If you are 20, then I wouldn't worry about colon cancer right now.  I would however see a doctor about the IBS, there are new meds that control it and they are suppose to work very well.  I'm sure at some point your doctor would recommend a colonoscopy, but for now try to treat the IBS.

Eva

[kevanbd]

Thanks for your reply, I do appreciate it.  I know if I could just get this dang OCD under control my symptoms would improve dramatically.  Last week I had a really good week, everything was better than it had been in a long time, which really helped ease my fears that its anything serious.  But for some reason I keep having these little re-lapses.  But I guess that's just part of it.