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.
Thankyou for your kind words & advice on your own experience, I think it’s crohns or cancer, I have been constipated for a long time, the pain is horrific when my body tries to get rid of it all once a week, sometimes it’s just bad & others iits that bad I should really be phoning an ambulance.
im lay in bed worrying rather than being ready for my ct scan this morning, I need to go & get a litre down me before I go.
honestly I thought the surgeon would find cancer when he was fixing my hernia but it wasn’t deep enough, my hernia turned out to be a big one so my stitches run all the way across my stomach which only adds to the pain as everything is moving round.
I’m worried about the plenvu, I’m not very good at eating/ drinking things that aren’t nice as I have a sensory processing disorder, I’ll drink it because there isn’t another option. I’m bleeding every time I go now & that’s getting me down, I was really worried about the colonoscopy but now they are also.going down the throat in the same session, I don’t want to be so out of it that I don’t remember anything from the colonoscopy, apparently they do the throat first x
Hi Cheshiremum thinking of you today and sending a hug xx I had the same, gastroscopy first, colonoscopy. They used a throat spray to numb, it's quick, over in 5 or 6 mins. A nurse held my hand and I just breathed and tried to think nice thoughts. Sending a hug xx
Thankyou, I’m not too worried about the scan today but more about if they find more than what they are looking for, I’m so sorry about your diagnosis, I saw one of your comments. My mind is racing with so many thoughts at the moment & it’s the not knowing that’s killing me, once I know I’ll feel so much better xx
Hi cheshiremum, I have similar symptoms to you though no bleeding. How did your CT scan go please?
Morning,
CT went ok but still awaiting the results, I think the reason I was put on the 2 week cancer pathway was because of the bleeding, it’s there every movement now, normal range is 0-9.9 & mine is 170, from reading up online a score of 150 indicates a 30% chance of colon cancer & a score of 400 would be 80%, I’ve been checking the nhs app all day & night just in case it pops up there, my husband had an X-ray & we saw the results there first. Are you having any investigations? I’ve got a colonoscopy and gastroscopy on the 14th they had to delay because of my hernia op x
I think those percentages are much too high. There's so many other things that can cause bleeding. I do not think there is a correlation between higher bleeding and cancer. I'd stick with the 1 in 10 colonoscopies results in a cancer diagnosis. No need to scare yourself more.
Hi I was going to say the same about percentages, that just seems too high and general. My FIT was greater than 1700! It was cancer, but the endoscposist said she had seen similar or higher that were colitis or inflammatory stuff. There is no reliable correlation, so try and not panic, impossible to diagnose on that alone. Xx
I am due a colonoscopy this year, as I have them completed due to family history, my mum and brother both passed away from colorectal cancer aged 58 and 43 respectively. My previous two colonoscopies - adenoma polyps were found of low grade dysplasia and removed. I’m actually currently under the 2WW uterine cancer pathway for abnormal bleeding/ thickening of uterine, and awaiting biopsy results. I will be making an appointment with my gp re my bowel symptoms/ discomfort. I have pelvic floor dysfunction, dysenergia so have always had bowel issues, but over the last few months the symptoms have changed, and worsened.
Hi Cheshiremum,
Don't worry about the colonoscopy. It's not as bad as you think. I had my first one three weeks ago, and the nurses and doctor couldn't have been any nicer. No need to be embarrassed. They do this every day, it's their job. They will make you comfortable and afterward in recovery will give you a nice cuppa and toast if you want.
I had mild sedation, I experienced no pain at all, and I found it interesting to see it all happening on the screen. I had some beautiful polyps to look at, works of art!
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