Hey Everyone, I am a 37yr male and I have a colonoscopy tomorrow and just wanted to share my experience prior to any diagnosis. My goal is to maybe help others who are experiencing a similar experience.
So I'll start by saying that I’ve always been a heavy drinker and smoker. I quit smoking back in 2012, but the drinking continued. Over the years, I was diagnosed with GERD, a hiatal hernia, and hemorrhoids. I don’t remember if they ever found polyps during the colonoscopy. Fast forward ten years, and the symptoms started creeping back in.
I noticed occasional blood in my stool, but since I had a visible hemorrhoid, I brushed it off. Abdominal pain came and went, and I chalked it up to GERD. But in the months leading up to June 2025, things got worse. The rectal bleeding became more frequent and more intense. Sometimes I’d pass mostly blood with very little stool.
Then came the moment that changed everything. I was at work, jogged up two flights of stairs, and nearly fainted. I felt breathless for the first time in my life, and my left leg gave out. They rushed me to the hospital and found frequent PVCs. I’ve had PVCs before, but never with symptoms. The doctors focused on my heart, put me on flecainide, and scheduled an ablation. But something didn’t feel right.
At the same time, I was dealing with extreme dizziness and fatigue. I told my primary care doctor about the rectal bleeding, and he referred me to a gastroenterologist. I kept working, but it got harder and harder to get out of bed. By noon, I felt like I’d run a marathon.
Now it’s August 2025, and I’ve finally prioritized a colonoscopy over the heart ablation. I’m nervous, worried I might be chasing the wrong issue, but the symptoms are too obvious to ignore. The bleeding is more intermittent now, but I’m dealing with constipation, daily abdominal pain (one episode was excruciating), and a complete loss of appetite. I’ve dropped 20 pounds since June. My stools are thinner, softer, and longer. The heartburn is relentless. I feel inflammation throughout my body, headaches, and pain on both sides of my abdomen just below the ribs. The right side feels like it could be my liver.
But the fatigue that’s what worries me most. At first, I thought it was the flecainide or my heart, but now I’m convinced it’s something else. The exhaustion and inflammation make me worry that if this is cancer, it might be late-stage. I’m bracing for the colonoscopy on Tuesday. Whatever the outcome, I think I’m ready. It feels like I have the flu, but without a fever.
Looking back, maybe the pain in my right hip and lower back was an early sign. I’ve had two light hip surgeries, and at 37, I figured it was just wear and tear. Recently I have been feeling really gnarly pain in my hip when I drive and pain in my lower back when playing with my kids. I haven’t touched alcohol since June and have cut out red meat, actually, I’ve lost my appetite for it entirely.
I have a wife and two young kids. Not having the energy to help around the house is brutal. She just started a new job, and I’m trying to find ways to support her while navigating how I feel. I love her and our children so much. My only concern is I don’t want them to see me fall apart or feel like I’m a burden.
I feel like I am slowly clicking up a roller coaster as I get closer to my colonoscopy tomorrow. I guess we’ll see where it goes from there. Hopefully I can provide everyone a positive update.
