Positive fit test and so tired

Hi kb87

Thank you for getting in touch with us and welcome to the online community. My name is Lynsay and I am one of the cancer information nurses with Macmillan Cancer Support.

I’m sorry to hear you that you have been dealing with stomach pain and bloating for months. This in itself can be impactful in terms of making you feel more tired than usual.

A positive FIT test means that you have a bit of bleeding somewhere in your digestive tract. This bleeding can be causes by a range of things including ulcers, polyps, inflammatory bowel disease, it can also be caused by bowel cancer.

The FIT test itself cannot identify the cause of the bleeding, just that there is some bleeding present. The next step following a positive FIT test is usually being referred for a colonoscopy. This investigation helps to identify the cause of the bleeding.

Sometimes the fact that you are losing a bit of blood from your digestive tract can result in tiredness, this can sometimes result in people becoming a bit anaemic which can cause tiredness.

Your GP may have checked your blood recently, but if not it may be useful to contact the GP to discuss your tiredness and get your bloods checked. If you have had your bloods checked recently, but you feel your tiredness is worsening, we would still encourage you to contact your GP to discuss this.

You mentioned feeling scared and this is a totally natural way to feel. However, it is important to remember that all we know so far is that you have a positive FIT result and there can be many causes for this.

I hope this is helpful and please don’t hesitate to get in touch again if you have any other questions or concerns.

All the best

Lynsay

Cancer Information Nurse Specialist 

You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or email us.