Bad anxiety, IBS, possibly cancer?!

Posted , 10 users are following.

Hey yall. I'm new here. My name is Kylie and I'm a 14, almost 15 year old female. This is gonna be quite long so brace yourself. I've been getting really really bad anxiety for the past few months and I feel like the worse the anxiety gets, more symptoms show up. Its like anxiety and worries and stress had taken over 90% of my life. People think I'm the normal happy girl I was a few months ago but that's only because I'm pretty good at masking my feelings and always smile a bright...but fake smile. I started to open up more to my closest friends and then some more friends. They think I'm delusional, which I probably am. They think I'm completely and look absolutely normal, which I really am probably just normal and all fine. The anxiety first started out as being scared of claustrophobic places and always thinking about the worst case scenrios. It's always the what ifs. What if this, what if that. And then I started to develop health anxiety and have had convinced myself I have breast cancer, stomach cancer, heart disease, liver problems, kidney problems, ovarian cancer, brain tumor, and then colon cancer but many people think I have IBS. I heard IBS is common in younger people, females, and those with high anxiety? I also have a few people in my family who has IBS. I don't know anyone or even anyone in my family that has colon cancer, or even any genetic cancers at all, so I'm a bit relieved. 

I have all kinds of cognitive symptoms. Like lightheadedness, dizziness, headaches, not remembering much, fatigue, overlying stressed and worried, anxiety in general. And this is really weird but I feel like I think and worry so much about something, I actually start  to like..hallucinate or get delusional kinda and starts to feel like or "see" it even though it's probably not even real or there. I get frequent cold hands and feet. I think I've always had that but never really thought much about it until my anxiety started. I bite my nails because of the stress. My mom forced me to stop or she's going to ground me for a whole year! Biting my nails makes my nails more brittle and hurts and  bleed sometimes but sometimes my hand comes up to my mouth and my teeth starts to move sometimes without me even realizing. 

I also have some bowel issues. I get occasional indigestion. Frequent constipation and diarrhea! Occasional thinner stools than usual but upping my fiber intake helps a lot. My stool have been pretty thin for the past few days but probably because I've been stressing so much that I'm just eating and eating unhealthy food without caring and have not taken my daily fiber supplement or eats lots of fruits and veggies lately. I think I gained a pound! Or maybe I'm just constipated. I get abdominal pain-a lot actually. I wouldn't say anything close to severe to unbearable but it hurts frequently and not just one particular place but has happened everywhere throughout my abdominal. Usually the part above my belly button, upper abdomen I think, and the lower abdomen. The lower abdomen hurts the most frequently, especially the lower left, when I'm constipated. The mid abdomen had some pain too but not as much as upper and lower. The upper pain is usually indigestion, bloating, or constipation. It's a bit weird that I can sometimes feel my poop traveling down my colon because I'm so constipated (the pain slowly started to travel down, to the left). And then diarrhea is that super urgent thing. Had it RIGHT before my choir concert last month, probably because of the anxiety. I also have this yellow substance around my stool! And sometimes my poop smells bad, not overly and worth gagging bad, but a bit more smelly at times? I get so stressed sometimes, I either don't want to eat or I just want stuff my face forever with food. I have never ever seen blood in my poop. Had beets for a 2 days straight and my bathroom trip was not very fun and absolutely terrifying. My blood is generally medium brown in color. Rarely dark but more medium or light, I don't know. Basically, my stool appearances always change. The consistency, the color sometimes (never red or black or clayish or white), the size and shapes definitely, and has food particles in it a lot of the times. I often freak out over some tomato/tomato skin looking thing because it's looks like blood. I haven't had a lot of weight loss. There was a time I was really depressed and stressed that I didn't feel hungry and just wanted to lock myself in my room and cry and think about life, how unfair it can be. I didn't eat a lot that week and dropped about 7 pounds. My mom saw how depressed I was and planned really fun things for us to do and soon, I started to eat and have fun again and then I gained back like 3 or 4 pounds. I'm staying at thisome weight for months, hasn't gone down, but sometimes up but back down again. Read something about random fevers being a sign of cancer. I haven't had a fever since a veryyyyyy long time ago. No vomiting or vomiting blood. Sometimes I feel nausea when I worry to much.

Please help, is this just my brain and anxiety or does it really sound like cancer? I've been getting colon cancer scares but I learned there's something called IBS and apparently, everyone thinks I have it and severe anxiety. My doctor just waved me off, told me to calm down and the problems will slowly start to go away.  The problem is, I can't calm down. He recommended therapy but I never really like to sit and talk in person with someone, especially about my worries because I'm trying to push it away instead of remembering it and telling others.

 

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  • Posted

    Hi that's a shame you are going through all that at your age. Speak to your mum and get her to go to doctors with you. I have ibs and at the moment terrible anxiety issues resulting I a horrific stomach. You may need meds to calm you down also focusing on things you enjoy. It is hard I going on meds for same reason. Good luck hope you get sorted.

    • Posted

      My mom is taking me to therapy and we'll see if the therapist recommend pills since my doctor didnt. My cousin have been taking pills for 4 months but it's not working for him so I'm doubting a bit...

    • Posted

      I wouldn’t take pills either because they take a while to work and can have nasty side effects.  If you doctor doesn’t recommend anxiety pills, I would follow that advice.
    • Posted

      Hi,

      In severe anxiety especially if ongoing for long...Not likely it will be fixed without pills. This is my opinion... My experience; pills worked for me. However pills are not fixing it directly but giving you a period/chance to think properly and change your mindset. However it takes time as minimum a year but based on how long you have been struggling.

    • Posted

      It's that bad that my parents are considering pills for me because they are more of the no drugs, just natural remedies stuff. Like therapy but no pills but now, they think I would need to take pills because of my terrible anxiety.

    • Posted

      Dear, dont be afraid from pills. If you need it then you will use it Period. I used 10 years and only side effects were in first couple of weeks and were minor.Had very normal 10 years underpills. But you or your parents cannot take this decision, let doctor decide.
    • Posted

      I used to be constantly anxious as a child and it eventually lead to acid reflux and IBS as I got older. However, I decided the natural route to treat my anxiety was better for me  because there are no side effects! I have a hyper sensitivity to medications. 

      Simple lifestyle changes like concentrating on my hobbies and having fun with friends, made me feel instanltly more relaxed  and I didn’t have to wait to feel better!  Getting my Aspergers diagnosis, explained my anxiousness and helped me to learn to accept it as part of me. Accepting my anxiety helped me to manage my stress levels better.

      I wouldn’t be able to put up with having to wait a couple of weeks of feeling awful on meds and not knowing whether they would work anyway.  For me, there is no benefit in feeling less anxious on meds but feeling unwell with side effects.  You are only exchanging one problem for another.

    • Posted

      If you can slowly accept and readjust everything so you can take a small amount of medication then you may feel a little better. Why don't you try what I do and take the minimum amount of medication for instance I take evening primrose for 2 weeks each month as it helps you as z female then I take the minimum amount of medication for my IBS. I hate being I'll so do understand. You'll be OK.

    • Posted

      I tried evening primrose oil and B6 for periods but neither did anything for me.  So I decided just to put up with mood swings and anxiety with periods. I haven’t found any success with supplements and prescription meds often give me side effects.

       

    • Posted

      The evening primrose has stopped me wanting to jump! A success I think but the taste is vile!
  • Posted

    That's good your mum going with you. You need support. Usually therapists will try to give you relaxation techniques and again trying to focus on what makes you happy. I have been down all roads and had a bad accident in February which has resulted in my anxiety to a new level. I have started on 20mg of antidepressants yesterday and hoping they help they take a few weeks to kick in. Have you been tested for any food intolerance, I have a few but to be honest diet not good as I keep cutting out foods I think upset my stomach. I really believe that stress is the biggest problem of all. Going with what you are saying seems to be an anxiety that has been triggered by some event etc? Your therapist will really help you. Good luck

    • Posted

      Can stress and anxiety make symptoms worse/more show up? I feel like the more I'm stressed, the more symptoms. But none of them are alarming tho

  • Posted

    Oh my god yes my anxiety had definitely had a massive effect on my bowels. Try listening to head space app it is quite calming. Also look up relaxation cds you can download I have a few. Do help if you make the time in a quiet room.
  • Posted

    Mental health and Stomach Issues are highly linked. It may not be IBS though if there are no “triggers” it may just be changes in bowel movements with your changes in mood. I’d recommend going to see a psychiatrist who may be able to get you on some mood controlling medication. There are even stomach medicines that lessen your stress levels to control your bowel movements. I’d be happy to send you some over the counter recommendations if you want some
    • Posted

      Please recommend some medications! Thank you so much! Whenever I'm anxious or stressed, I get sudden constipation or diarrhea, BLOATING, sometimes nausea but rarely, basically, I would feel very unwell and sad. Hopefully it's not IBS, but if it is, I'll be grateful and overjoyed that it's  not something serious!

    • Posted

      I would try some Peppermint Oil supplements first. IBGard is really good. If that doesn’t work maybe a daily probiotic (I recommend Align( This sounds like IBS. There is a huge connection between mental health and your gut. But if you can get your gut health under control, the mental health should follow because that’s one less thing to stress about! If you wanna message me on snapchat @piercemichael91 , I can give some more pointers
    • Posted

      Try ginger for the nausea I add the powered sort (just a touch) in to whatever I cook. It helps keep your stomach settled.

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