extremely afraid of colon cancer! :( a bit TMI - sorry!!!

[laura1989]

hi everyone,

i haven't posted here in a little while - my anxiety comes and goes and is usually under pretty good control actually. i've experienced it since childhood so i have come to be able to recognize when an episode is coming on, and am able to keep myself somewhat calm. i have really learned to deal with it over the years. but this time i am having a lot of trouble and everything just feels so real :( warning that this post might be a bit TMI but i am just looking for maybe someone who has had a similar experience.

i have always dealt with health fears and anxieties. last week i was having some trouble going to the bathroom, i chalked it up to eating a little less healthier than normal. i took a probiotic which seemed to help me; finally one morning i had a normal bowel movement but i noticed this long red string-like thing on the outside of the stool. i assumed this must be blood and needless to say this scared the heck out of me! i had an uncle that passed away from colon cancer a few years ago, so of course my mind jumped immediately to that and i have myself pretty much convinced that i have colon cancer. i called my doctor this morning and just awaiting a call back from the nurse there who is supposed to be calling to ask me some questions. at the moment i am absolutely stricken with fear and have wasted my entire day off work today googling colon cancer symptoms, risk quizzes, and have (stupidly!) been reading stories about people who were diagnosed with this disease at a young age (i'm 27). so now i am absolutely beside myself with anxiety and cannot stop thinking about this topic and i feel completely sick to my stomach about it :(

thanks in advance to anyone reading my TMI story!!

[Ponder]

Lifestyle. 12 years old are now getting diabetes. If your eating a western diet and prone to being so bound up in such a state, then yea ... I would be worried too. Don't leave it up to the doctors and others to tell you what to do. If you really want to get better - then change what you put in your colon.

Your young - change now while you have a chance.

This comes from someone with bowl cancer in their family and has regular checks.

The best thing to do when you do not know what is that case, is to live as pure and simple as you can. Having anxiety of ones health whilst still eating and drinking crap is just banging ones head against the wall.

That happens a LOT in this place. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Especially in the General Section.

Good luck with your pinning. I'm sure others will come in with a much more prolonged and commiserating approach.

[laura1989]

thanks for your response - i actually live very healthfully or i at least make a concerted effort to. i was vegetarian for 15 years, have now beenvegan for about 5, and exercise for 1-2 hours 5x a week. i don't drink or smoke, and according to risk factor tests, i actually have a lower than average risk for colon cancer - yet go figure, i am currently convinced that i am walking around with this disease! i've always chosen to live as healthy a lifestyle as possible to try to avoid these diseases as much as i can, but that still doesn't eliminate my fear unfortunately :( i don't really ever have the symptoms i was experiencing last week so i'm doubtful it was due to my lifestyle overall, but perhaps a couple days of maybe not eating as well as i normally strive to. it's scary having a family history of this cancer though! makes me second guess every symptom i have.

[Teafrenzy]

At age 27, with good diet and exercise habits, it is very unlikely that you have colon cancer. I'd say monitor your stool for the next few weeks..if you see more blood tell your doctor who may refer you to a gastroentologist who may decide to do a colonoscopy. But I wouldn't worry about seeing some red in your stool just 1 time.

[Kirk]

At 27 your chances of having colon cancer are extremely remote.

[Dahila]

quit eating junk food higher your fiber intake. When obstruction exist small blood vessels break and this is why the stool with some blood, Fiber is the answer, as everyone above said, you are not having colon cancer but change your life style.
You have health anxiety like 99% people here, it is difficult to deal with :)

[lolfeg123]

I doubt that you have colon cancer. It may, however, just be external hemmoroids indicating that you should take suppositories. Personally I have experienced daily bleeding for about 3 months and have a colonoscopy appointment coming up soon.

You should be fine. Try the suppositories for hemoroial relief (no prescription required)

[Jreader]

Really felt like I should respond to this. I've been OBSESSING about colon cancer for about a year now. Finally saw a GI doc today who has dealt with my issues quite a lot. I'm 31 and like you I've probably wasted MONTHS Googling symptoms and of course all you see is CANCER CANCER CANCER. Relayed this to my doc, he actually told me that these website use vague descriptions/symptoms on purpose. This is because if there is something truly wrong, they can be held liable and the end game is to get you to consult a doc. Don't worry, you have like a 10% chance of something like this at your age. Trust me I have spent the better part of a year dealing with the exact same worry, with colon cancer. Please don't do this to yourself it is not worth it.

[Dahila]

Jreader, you see you know it from expierence, it is waste of life to spend time googling symptoms:)

[Kirk]

My internal medicine and GI physicians have told me to stay away from the internet as it paints the worst case outcome.

[laura1989]

hey everyone
thanks for so many replies! this is a great forum. i ended up calling my doctor and spoke to my nurse over the phone and described what happened - she said in all likelihood it's an internal hemmorhoid :( i'm so embarrassed! but obviously this is a relief and some reassurance. my actual GP has told me in the past to absolutely stop googling symptoms as well. i feel a lot better today about the ordeal and in terms of my symptoms/regularity, i am back to 'normal' with no bleeding. of course, i am having moments of doubting my nurse - all of the colon cancer boards i read said if you experience bleeding and your doctors do not immediately send you for a colonoscopy, that you should absolutely demand one. i don't know how reasonable this is without even having a re-occurrence or any other symptoms!

[lolfeg123]

My prediction came true, except I throught it was external hemmorids. To give you further assurance, I know people who have had intermittent bleeding for years before going for a colonoscopy, and nothing bad has happened to them. If you feel like your rectum is pulsating, and if you notice blood dripping on the stool before the feces, it is then likely to be external hemorroids. In this case I recommend taking supposetories before it gets worse.

[FruitSalad]

I searched to get healthy using food for years. I had medical anxiety all the time. I found Robert Morse - yes on the internet :-). I went 100% raw, 80% fruit... Then you know what really healthy eating can do! :-). Now I have bumped in to Christ and life has never been better, social phobia's going away now as well.