I am 36 years old and unsure about if I have bowel cancer based on symptoms

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I have been having flat stools since August. (the reference point as far as I can remember. It may have been before then and maybe I didn't notice).    

I've noticed sometimes they are thicker with edges and not so pencil thin or ribbon like but they are still not torpedo like so it seems abnormal.  

I remember being 145 lbs for quite sometime like the last year but sometime this summer I went down to 135 so I did lose some weight but it hasn't been over 10 lbs.  I haven't noticed any more weight loss such as going below 134 in the past few months.  

Sometimes I don't have a bowel movement the same time like in the morning and then it seems like a lot of bowel movements all at once. Other times its just a few stools but in all cases they are flat. 

I had a stool about a month ago that was shaped like a carrot so it was obviously not completely flat but it was narrower on one end. It's possible some of them depend on fiber intake.  

I haven't noticed any fatigue really.  No abdominal pain either.  

Today I had some large flat brown stools and then the last stool I had which was a little bit smaller flat brown stool with streaks of bright blood in it but no blood in the toilet water and not much on the toilet paper.   

This is the first time I ever noticed blood in the stool but its possible it was hidden in some stools before.  

I plan to call to set up an appointment with a GI doctor starting on Monday.  

0 likes, 2 replies

2 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi David sounds like it could be internal hemorrhoids. Glad to hear you have an appointment.

    Any news yet?

    • Posted

      The appointment had to be rescheduled for mid Dec.  I have a lot of gas at times. No abdominal pain or tenesmus. Some rectal itching. Sometimes the stools come out like rocks with cracks on the surface but I have had mostly flat stools and pencil thin. Sometimes they even show food particles which looks undigested. I think if I eat real fiber( pears, broccoli, raspberries..etc)  they are thicker in diameter but still have edges and not perfect sausage shaped. I tried prune juice and metamucil and they don't seem to do much to make it more normal.  In the past it seemed like it would be normal even if I didn't eat fiber like it could be pizza and bread.  Maybe it is internal hemorroids which could also produce symptoms similar to a blockage.  

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