Waiting for my colonoscopy is doing my head in!!!!!

[ckm_18]

Hi all :)  So I still have two weeks to wait until my Colonoscopy and it's absolutely killing me!!!  I feel like my symptoms are getting worse but I am sure its just the HA.  My lower stomach/pelvic pain seems to be fine one day then terrible the next.  I have zero appetitie during the day but it seems to get better by late arvo/evening.  I am absolutely terrified that I have CC its all I think about.  On a positive note I havent noticed any blood for 6 weeks so I am hoping that is a good thing.  I'm still getting loose stools every other day but also assuming thats the HA in overdrive.  Anyway just needed to vent.

[megaT]

I understand.  When I had colon cancer fears and while waiting for my colonoscopy, I thought I'd have a heart attack.  My heart was constantly racing!!  And I also had loose stools because of all the anxiety.

[ckm_18]

Thanks MegaT for the reply   My heart feels like its going to beat out of my chest!!!!  I don't know how I am going to get through the next 2 weeks. 

[megaT]

I totally know the feeling.  I only had to wait a week, but it was awful.  I had some bright red blood a few times too.  I was 37 at the time (38 now) and my grandma had colon cancer so the doc thought a colonoscopy would be a good idea.  Mine turned out totally fine and I'm glad I had it done.  How old are you? 

[ckm_18]

I'm 31 with no family history of Colon Cancer.

[dawn09]

I had a colonoscopy in October because I found out i had diverticulosis at the age of 27. That is something usually only older people get, so my gi doctor thought it would be a good idea to get a colonoscopy to make sure nothing else was going on. My grandpa died in his early 40's from colon cancer, so i automatically started worrying that's what they were going to find was wrong with me also. I had to wait a month for my appointment, and drove myself crazy with worry in the meantime. The day before i was a nervous wreck, and the day of I just wanted to crawl in a hole and hide. But I went through with the test, it was a piece of cake by the way. When i woke up i found out that my dr had found nothing to worry about, so it was worth it for a piece of mind. I'm sure you will be just fine also, just try not to stress over it. Although I know that is easier said than done! Good luck to you.

[floridaguy65]

OK, I feel ya':) I'm not gonna tell you to NOT worry as it is what we do....HA peeps, when we are about to have a med test. But, if you let the peeps here, on The AZ, help you some, hopefully, you can peg down your overall anxiety just a bit. And, when we are really jacked up, 'just a bit' of relief can be wildly wonderful:) Most peeps here have a hard time reasoning things out, at times, when it relates to their own struggles, but it is amazing how we can offer up some pretty sound advice to others in need, even when we might be struggling ourselves:) I find this fascinating, and, ultimately, there are some keys to our own 'recovery' underneath this ability, if we are able to begin to peel back some of the 'layers of fog' that our own anxiety issues can lay upon us.

Anyway, at your age and with no family history, CC would be remarkably RARE. REMARKABLY. You, likely, have IBS...so it seems from what you say. You'll know soon enough, though...I'm not your Doc:) I've have IBS for about 27ish years now. It is intermittent...comes and goes....it is good then not so good then worse and moves to bad, at times.....and comes back to good. Now that I have a 'handle' on the domination of anxiety and do not have many lifeflow interruptions from my anxiety / panic / health anxiety issues, my IBS is, overall, much better. Sure, I still have it....I still 'feel it' quite a bit....and sometimes the cramps get pretty AWFUL. But, long ago I accepted what my struggles are really caused by and I no longer fear the physical manifestations. And, reducing this fear goes sooooo far in helping reduce the prevelance and severity of my IBS, to begin with. The whole 'brain - gut' connection is incredibly powerful. We can get twisted in knots by the worry...and that 'twisting' ends up being felt in our GI system, often....like a big 'ol belly pretzel, sometimes.

You're gonna be just fine:) Then, you have to begin really working on your mental health challenges. You should be doing that already, though:) What's your plan?

Peace and Feel Well:)

P.S - Keep in mind how you feel waiting for this upcoming med test. For a person with anxiety disorder / health anxiety, the 'what ifs?' carry us into some pretty dark, yucky places in our minds. It is paramount that HA peeps move away from medical intervention after they have been given an "all clear" healthwise. Else we get stuck in the cycles of fear, where we seek out med intervention and med testing in a continued loop, seeking out that next 'fix' of reassurances. These reassurances are fleeting, at best. And, cycles of fear can be perpetuated (for lengthy periods of time, even) if we don't learn how to accept and treat the true underlying root cause of the MAJORITY of our struggles. Peace:)