Hi, I’m Emma (38), I’ve recently had hernia surgery and to be honest a lot of my symptoms have been brushed off as this being the cause, for a couple of years now my bowel habits have been getting worse, I suffer with horrendous constipation & generally go one day a week, my body has to get rid of it all, it’s like diarrhoea but constipation, I’ve googled it every single time & hit a brick wall because what is the terminology for that?! My episodes increased from 6 monthly to every bowel movement, the pain is horrific, I’ve had children & honestly it’s worse than the induced labour contractions, wave after wave of excruciating pain in my left side. & lower abdomen, the only thing that has stopped me from calling an ambulance is pride. We are talking 1-3 hours of this pain
my gp carried out a fit yes & it is positive at 170, sometimes I see blood other times my stools are dark, I always have mucus, I get pain after a bowel movement too, it’s like I can feel it moving round my system, sometimes before a bad episode I get the worst gas pains as it travels around & then eventually out. I’m constantly nauseous too.small appetite and lost 2 stone over 2 years but no diet changes, don’t even get me started on the bloating!! It’s even worse since my operation
im having a ct scan of chest, abdomen & pelvis as I can’t have a colonoscopy until the end of January at the very earliest, the nurse said it would be done with contrast & a second one done a few days later. I’m worried but honestly at peace with the fact it’s possibly cancer, at least I can take control and get some treatments because at the moment my “strong” painkillers do nothing.
i feel like im going to die of embarrassment in the colonoscopy, its taken a long time to even speak to the gp over this although in the run up to my hernia operation I mentioned it more, im very fatigued, my white blood cells are low & crp at 16 which isn’t high but showing inflammation/ infection somewhere. My symptoms used to come & go but now they are permanent.
Hi Cheshiremum and a warm welcome to the board. I’m sending you a big hug because you sound to have a lot going on and it really wears you down eventually doesn’t it? It’s good that you’re in the system now though to get things checked out.
Only 1 in 10 colonoscopies results in a bowel cancer diagnosis and there are several things that can cause similar symptoms like ibs, diverticulitis, crohns, colitis. Have you considered any of those tor causing your symptoms?
The constipation and diarrhoea sounds like overflow diarrhoea whereby the watery stools get stuck behind the impacted stools and eventually leak out around it so you are still constipated but have diarrhoea - see link below
Please don’t feel embarrassed about the colonoscopy. It’s just a job to them (one that they’ve chosen to do) and they’re very kind and considerate and respect your modesty. You’re given disposable knickers to wear which have an opening at the back and you lie on your side with your back to the person doing the colonoscopy. You can choose to be semi sedated - you’re awake and can see and hear what’s going on but you’re too relaxed to care - or have gas and air. You can watch what’s going on on the screen or they can turn it away if you’d rather not?
Please let us know how you get on and post keep posting if there’s anything else we can reassure you about?
Take care
Karen x
Hi Cheshiremum it's good you are on track to get some answers, sounds like you have dealt with a lot. Just wanted to say please don't worry about the colonoscopy. The nurses and endoscopists are lovely and so caring, it is their job. You have shorts on as Karen said so don't feel exposed. I did well on gas and air but sedation is an option. In all honesty the prep was worse, though again, please don't panic about that! I wasn't sick or anything, and it does the job. Good luck x
Hi Karen,
thankyou for your reply and advice, I should add that what I’ve experienced is constipation with the urgency of diarrhoea (but no diarrhoea) both of my sons are autistic & certainly for the youngest this is what he experiences (overflow poo)
I know the pain isn’t normal & I’ve been thinking about Crohns too, honestly I will just be relieved when they find out whatever is causing this, I work from home for myself so I’m “minimally impacted but if I had a job in an office I would have had to leave because it strikes out of nowhere, I already take the strongest cocodamol (I know it can make you constipated but nothing changed when I was off it) the recovery is hard from my hernia operation, I’m now 5 weeks post op and I still can’t let my bladder get too full or bend over because then I get a burning sensation on my right side, my hernia was a paraumbilical & I needed a big mesh to fix it as it had grown while I was waiting.
Thankyou, it’s helpful to know that there is some modesty down there, people just assume once you have had children that your ok whipping it all out & that’s not the case - for me at least! I’m hoping to take all that’s on offer, I know it sounds silly but it’s not an experience I want to remember, I’m concerned about the prep too as I took laxatives once & it woke me up I was in so much pain, I have saved a bit of morphine from my operation for the next pain episode I have but may well use it for this. The diet thing looks easy enough as it’s mostly what I eat anyway with a few adjustments.
I can’t remember if it was you or Karen who said I could watch the screen but I think that’s what I will do, there is more damage in me not knowing than knowing. I had meningitis in 2017 & I was relieved when they told me because we knew what it was & could come up with a better plan for medication
Quick warning: be careful with the morphine, it will make the constipation worse and may interfere with the bowel prep. I suggest you ask your doctor before taking it during the prep.
Hi Susan, this is true, my head is spinning at the moment, I got my date for my ct, it’s next week on Thursday, I’ve been so unwell lately & I’m so fatigued, I have fibromyalgia from the meningitis but honestly I’m more fatigued than usual, I know I have a big pain episode coming as I can feel it, it’s really hurting my lower abdomen at the moment x
Fatigue is normal. Being sick can wear you out more than you think. Even the mental exertion from worry will tire you very quickly. Try to take it easy and get some extra rest. This is a marathon not a sprint.
Hi Susan, I’m really struggling, I have got my ct tomorrow & yesterday I got a call to say that they want to do a gastroscopy at the same time as the colonoscopy, that was the one test I didn’t want
Will be thinking of you tomorrow - hope all goes well
Hi Cheshiremum and welcome to the forum! I had my first colonoscopy in November, and like you, I was super nervous.
In hindsight, it wasn’t as bad as I predicted. The staff were so caring, and respectful. This had a positive impact on my experience. I asked for a bit of sedation and didn’t feel a thing during the procedure.
The bowelprep experience was worse than the colonoscopy for me. Just the sensation of liquid diarrhoea felt odd to me. But there was no pain.
I felt assured that at least after the colonoscopy, I was getting a provisional diagnosis on the day of the procedure. For me, it was cancer, but I thought it would have been colitis. I was wrong, but at least I knew what the issue was. This provided a certainty to what was a rather uncertain time.
It’s scary waiting for all these results to come in. It’s natural to think the worst case scenario…but it may not be. I tried to prepare myself mentally for all eventualities.
I found that doing more mindfulness, meditation and activities that promote relaxation really helped me get on top of my anxiety & worry. Eventually accepting that everything happens as one step at a time. Time goes at a slow pace at first, but once the diagnosis is confirmed, things ramp up.
I’m sending you a virtual hug!!
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