FREAKING OUT BADLY!!!

Im so scared, thanks for replying to me.

Well about 3 weeks ago i weighed 18.8 stone, now im 18.3!!! I have started to eat less but really so much in 3 weeks!!! Im going insane, im developing a fear towards food and the loo too scared to eat as im too scared to go to the loo! Im really frightenend!!

Please dont think im crazy!

Hi Kay,

I shouldn't worry over much about that degree of weight loss. What matters is sustained and unexplained weight loss. Yours is likely caused by eating less, going to the loo a lot and just natural variations. I go up and down that much in a short time. You are NOT going insane. You are just getting yourself exhausted and stressed out. It's highly unlikely there is anything seriously wrong with you. as I said. The pencil stools and some mucous are very normal symptoms encountered in all sorts of bowel conditions including IBS. IBS used to be called "mucous colitis" when I was little. If there is something wrong then they will know and most things can be treated. It is leaving things that causes the problem. The gut responds very strongly to stress. That's why it is even in our language, like "a feeling in my gut" or "a gut instinct". The more you stress out, the worse the symptoms will get. I know it's hard to be calm when a thought takes hold, but don't let your brain get too active. I had substantial bleeding once for three days running and convinced myself and my doctor that it had to be the big C. It was in the year 2000 and it turned out to be a small burst blood vessel in my colon after eating something that disagreed with me. I felt very silly. I even made a Will. There is nothing so bad as fear itself...

Hello

Thank you for your email.

I have had a SERIOUS talk with myself last night and decided that I need to calm the hell down and just go with the flow...the colonoscopy was going to be private costing me £1600, I have decided to cancel the procedure and go to my GP next week. I have also made a will.

Weird thing is my BM's are all over the place, soft, too much now I am struggling and cant go and when I do its hard (sorry TMI)!

Thanks for replying

That is very typical of IBS. It is because your gut is going into spasm. For me it was a dietary cause. I had an issue with two things: one was wheat (nowadays I can eat some but not a lot) and the other was legumes (broad beans, baked beans etc). These I cannot eat at all. The last time I tried (baked beans) was when I had the blood vessel saga. Remember that if it is food the culprit meal will be around 24 hours before NOT the last meal you had. During acute attacks you may also have intolerances to other foods which you can tolerate in normal times. I was paralysed with IBS at university and as a young lawyer. After getting the food right I have it badly about once every three years. Colofac is helpful to bring the rhythm back to normal and be careful not to overdo fibre as in some people it can irritate the gut too much. Cashew nuts also affect me a bit although to be honest I put up with it as I like them. Get checked out by your GP and if a colonoscopy is recommended, then do have it. The clear out is a bit of a nuisance (although oddly it seems to help my symptoms after about a week), the procedure for most people isn't too bad and, apart from a few days of jumpy bowels (understandably) it goes back to normal. I think your gut sounds out of sync and has lost its proper rhythm (very common problem). Stress doesn't cause the problem on my view but it can certainly aggravate it badly. So, see your GP, have a plan, try some tests yourself to see whether cutting back on certain foods (particularly wheat, legumes etc) helps and become the master of your gut and not let it become the master of you. If you do have to have the test, don't worry. It's generally fine. And good luck!

Hi there 

Thank you for the advice its helpful.

I will see my GP but just on your point about Colofac, I have taken it twice on Monday and since then I am struggling to go.....I thought it should have the opposite effect... but I did take it with anti diarrhea tablets but only on Monday, surely it should have not had an effect until now?

I have booked the next appointment to see my GP on Aug 24th and see what he suggests...

Colofac has a definite constipation effect. It is its one drawback. So you need to eat some fibre with it and plenty of water/liquids. It is because it slows the gut's movement down a bit to calm it. I find anti diarrhoea drugs cause more trouble than they solve except in emergencies. They often cause rebound constipation and then you try and move yourself and then get too loose and so it becomes a vicious circle. I would just use the colofac exactly as it says on the packet and eat normally with plenty of liquids. I only use colofac for a couple of days myself just to calm things down.

Colofac has a definite constipation effect. It is its one drawback. So you need to eat some fibre with it and plenty of water/liquids. It is because it slows the gut's movement down a bit to calm it. I find anti diarrhoea drugs cause more trouble than they solve except in emergencies. They often cause rebound constipation and then you try and move yourself and then get too loose and so it becomes a vicious circle. I would just use the colofac exactly as it says on the packet and eat normally with plenty of liquids. I only use colofac for a couple of days myself just to calm things down.

Hello

Thank you for your advice once again, pleased to read that colofac can cause constipation....PHEW.....

You seem to be quite experienced in this field, may I ask another question? About 1 month ago I did a full blood count at home with one of those home kits just because this stomach issue started and it tested 4 elements of a full blood count being HB, Platlet, White cell count and MCV (size of red blood cell) all was in the normal range EXCEPT for the MCV it is at 112 where the range is normall 89 (I think), I have researched and it leans towards a condition called macrocytosis with or without anemia which could be B12 or folate deficiency, as I research all the time and ponder...it seems that the condition can cause GI problems and weight loss due to malabsorption, have you heard of this before?

Thanks again

Hi Kay! I don't know so much about this although I think the upper reference limit is 100 not 89 so yours looks mildly elevated. You would need to check that. I don't know that it causes gastric intestinal issues but I think it is connected with malabsorption and potential vitamin b12 serum deficiency so it could be the other way round: that your gut issues are causing the slightly elevated reading. But big word of caution: you need your bloods checked properly at a lab. So I would mention it to your doctor and see if he will take your bloods to have a look at the whole thing.

Hi Kay! I don't know so much about this although I think the upper reference limit is 100 not 89 so yours looks mildly elevated. You would need to check that. I don't know that it causes gastric intestinal issues but I think it is connected with malabsorption and potential vitamin b12 serum deficiency so it could be the other way round: that your gut issues are causing the slightly elevated reading. But big word of caution: you need your bloods checked properly at a lab. So I would mention it to your doctor and see if he will take your bloods to have a look at the whole thing.

Hi there

OK good advice, I will mention this wehn I see my Dr on Wednesday next week

Last question then I will stop bugging you....I had a stool sample tested close to 3 weeks ago for infection, do you think they look for blood too or does the dr need to order a FOBT test for this seperately?

That I don't know Kay, but as blood can be present when there is an infection I would have thought they would. Testing for blood in the stool is very simple for them to test.

Don't despair! I can't tell you the mess I got into with IBS all those years ago. The pain on occasions was really really bad. I was always having bouts of diarrhoea at work and in places that were not convenient. One of the worst attacks was when I was on a school project in Liechtenstein and being shown round a factory in the middle of nowhere. I had to hold it off for two hours whilst everyone thought I'd gone mad. I also had bouts the other way and sometimes it changed from day to day and all it was was food intolerances. One big tip if it is IBS. Don't let your stomach get empty for too long by skipping meals because this builds up gas and it is the gas that sets off the IBS. Try and have regular meals and make sure the system has something there to act upon. When I don't do that sometimes even now I can provoke a brief attack of it. It is miserable if that is what it is, but it IS controllable with patience. You do get your life back.

Hi 

Your advice is great thank you ....... the only scary thing is I do not have the stomach cramps......is this possible with IBS? I read this is possible.... 

Yes. Very much so. My early years with IBS were full of bad cramps but later on they became very rare. If I do get a stomach ache because of IBS it is generally brief now and relieved in the usual way. It is an umbrella condition and people react to it with different emphasis. Some rush to the loo all the time: some can't go at all and some (like me) veered from one to the other. But it is right to exclude all other conditions first.

I agree, there are alot of GI conditions that mimick the worst being Colon cancer....... but I read too that if caught early it is very treatable....

As I say, I will speak with my GP and try to stop diagnosing myself ALL THE TIME... its awful....the thoughts enter my head every few seconds when I try and take my mind off it, its the worst feeling, I am trying to just take my mind off it and wait till I see the Dr on Wed, its so bad that I dread going to the loo..........I stop myself also...

Yes it is very treatable. The good thing with all these tests is that it gets caught earlier than it did. A lot of bowel conditions have similar symptoms because basically they all interfere with or irritate the lining of the bowel. Pencil shaped motions and mucous jelly though are very suggestive of spasm in the gut which is more in the colitis/IBS area generally. So I certainly don't think you need to be getting excessively worried at this stage, but safety first, and see the doctor.

etheremail you are right i send msg before to kay but she is taking to much stress--more then one year ago i pass green stool i never see that kind of stool ever and there is clean water on it---i was scared and go to 4 docs they told me nothing to worried there is infection may b they give me antibiotic but i am not satisfied i go to gastro doc he give me colofac for 6 month i use it some time i pass pencil thin stool i was also scared bcoz some time un digested food in my stool i transfer to japan and go to doc he do for me endoscopy and colonscopy no thing wrong in it kay is fine but if there is sum thing in mind go for colonscopy stress will make your symptoms more worse-----kay symptoms look like ibs

Hello again Haider

Thank you a new symptom has developed this morning but I have had this before a few years ago, when I am constipated my outer hemorroids tend to bleed a little, I have been straining for about 3 days and noticed when I wiped there was like bloody smudges, I am very scared even though I have seen this before but very scared now as I have the symptoms of colon cancer and now blood well............NOW MORE CONVINCED THAN EVER I have colon cancer......

I am seeing the GP on Wednesday & going to ask him to refer me for a colonoscopy as I have had an endoscopy 7 weeks ago...

If you have been straining and you have haemorrhoids, then bloody smears are very likely to come from that, particularly if you have seen it before. Colonic bleeding doesn't usually present like that. Many bowel conditions can cause bleeding and, for that kind of bleeding on wiping, haemorrhoids are easily the most likely cause by a country mile. I get it sometimes. Many people do. The real problem may be coming to terms with this fear of bowel cancer which is causing you more misery than all the rest of it put together. These phobic fears, which we all get from time to time, can get out of perspective in your mind. It is very, very, unlikely you have got cancer, but get checked and, if you have, it can many times be dealt with. If you keep worrying at this level you'll give yourself other health problems including heart and blood pressure ones. If a fear of a particular cancer has become overwhelming in your mind, you may need some help to get your mind to think about it in proportion otherwise it is going to become irrelevant whether or not you have got it because your life will already be ruined by the fear of it.

Hello again

I know, I am sorry I sound like a complete lunatic.....it genuinely feels like my head is going to explode...I go sleeping thinking about it, I read up about it and now this.....as I say it comforts me a little to know I have had this before with straining but its happened at the worst time...

Really trying................

You aren't a lunatic Kay. I assure you! The fear has got to you and it is controlling the way you are thinking about it. Many people have been there including myself. But the fear is becoming as serious as the symptoms and sometimes it needs a bit of help too. I know the feeling. You get something checked but slowly the old fears sneak back and start gnawing at you. Oddly, when I really did have something wrong with me from which I nearly died (heart related) and I had to have very emergency surgery, I didn't actually find it frightening at all. Whereas a spot of blood, or a stomach ache or an odd coloured motion (caused by food) sent me nearly over the edge. It was during the heart episode six years ago that it suddenly clicked: when you have something really wrong, you actually deal with it well. It's the fear of it that is the thing that many people cannot cope with. So treat the fear like any other symptom and if it is getting out of control you need to raise that with your doctor as much as all the physical symptoms. When we have fear, it is our own brain working us up into a state (and it is very good at it). Talking it over with a third person who is dispassionate actually provides relief in itself and you feel a load lifting off your shoulders.

Hi there

Thank you for listening and reading my messages....

I have discussed with my GP and another 2 GP's and they refuse to put me on any meds for the anxiety they just keep proving me with leaflets on CBT and to refer myself I feel so disjointed with my head and what is actually going on....this blood on the loo paper has literally sent me over the edge and I know it will be the worst weekend ever as I will get nothing done as the constant worry about it all will set me into a depressive state where I feel nothing and dont want to talk to anyone at home, this is very painful, my heart was pounding and my dizziness kicked in I honestly cannot control my anxiety, I might sound very pathetic and a loser but its so hard for me, you must be bored reading my stupid posts but it genuinely helps knowing someone is actually reading and listening and providing advice (it really helps me!), so thank you very much...

I started crying this morning again just looking at myself in the mirror thinking how much more times will I look at myself before I die from this.....

I weighed myself again this afternoon and its still the same as last week.....but its still a loss.....

Sorry again & thanks too....

Anything is possible, but this really does not sound like bowel cancer. The gut symptoms are very like an irritated gut, particularly the motion appearance and the mucous. The blood is very likely to be from straining (or else it is one incredible coincidence) and I get that kind of blood spotting or smudging five or six times a year for the last thirty years. Your weight loss is easily explained weight loss (when I was at my worst I even thought even weight loss on a diet was suspicious) whereas if you are buzzing about normally and losing sustained amounts of weight for no apparent reason that is a sign that needs checking. I think a plan where you try to get to the root of what is causing the gut symptoms (probably some food issues and stress) and maybe try some therapy (it often works better than drugs) and be honest that the fear is as much a symptom as the gut symptoms (probably a bigger one) then you will come out of this. I would have the colonoscopy because that is really definitive. Bowel cancer is generally slow moving so the check lasts for years if it is clear. And if it is something like diverticulitis or colitis they can treat it. I find the clear out calms my bowel down for quite a while (after a couple of days where it is a bit badly behaved) and you get a lot of assurance. My old GP said a very interesting thing once. He said: "you hate all this, but you have to understand that in a funny way your condition has also become an odd sort of "friend" , part of your life, something you have become familiar with. Getting rid of that friend, that strange bond, is your recovery." I thought 'what a load of old rubbish' but when I thought about it, I realised there was a real truth there that I had never thought about. Good luck!