Cascading symptoms

[MamaLove]

I am currently terrified of colon cancer. I am 35 and just had my 4th baby in Feb. I was feeling completely fine until a month ago when I noticed a little blood in a bowel movement. I went to a gastro and I am having a colonoscopy at the end of this week to check everything out. But the worst part is that after I saw the blood, I immediately thought of colon cancer, and then suddenly I started having like every possible symptom - diarrhea, cramps, loss of appetite, weight loss, feeling like I can't go completely, fatigue, shortness of breath, you name it. I know that most if not all of those things are manifestations of anxiety. But how do you make it stop??? How do you separate out the anxiety from the rest of your body? I'm so miserable, and I'm starting to develop obsessive behaviors.

 

[Future PA with HA]

@MamaLove same thing happened to me! Had a bought of diarrhea and thin stools and googled it- of course colon cancer came up and then I started to experience every symptom until recently (I’ve been on vacation so I’m relaxing and enjoying myself)

The colonoscopy will give you a definite answer so just try to relax until then and not fixate on the symptoms- every time I fixate and scan for certain “alarm” symptoms they almost always manifest

Best of luck to you! I used to work in gastro and I can tell you the procedure is a breeze. We got so many patients coming in with rectal bleeding and I never saw any have colon cancer in fact most colon cancers are found on routine screenings

 

[RobbyH]

A little blood in your stool certainly isn’t normal but most of the time it is due to hemorrhoids but of course with health anxiety, your mind focus on one thing and then the symptoms soon follow. Just remember - you had the symptoms AFTER you started worrying - not before

 

[MamaLove]

Thanks! I'm glad the gastro took me seriously and scheduled the colonoscopy (although I'm really not looking forward to it). The bleeding I experienced was very hemorrhoid-y in nature, so I know that's a definite possibility. Unfortunately anxiety always tells me the worst. It does help to remind myself that all my other symptoms only started after I was looking for them.

 

[Mandyhiero]

Health anxiety really stinks and it can manifest symptoms of almost anything if you think you have it. I know all too well about that. It makes me crazy because it’s always something. I go from illness to illness. I very rarely have a period of time that I don’t think I have something and the symptoms that go right along with it.

Colonoscopy prep is awful, but other than that it was a breeze! How do I know? I thought I had colon cancer. Slept like a baby afterward. Literally had to have my mom help me get my clothes on afterward and my husband help me in the truck. I couldn’t even wake up to hear what the gastric doc had to say. I slept all the way home, ate a piece of pizza, went to bed, and slept until 7 that evening, got up, ate a bowl of cereal, went back to bed and slept all night. You’ll do fine.

 

[MamaLove]

Health anxiety really stinks and it can manifest symptoms of almost anything if you think you have it. I know all too well about that. It makes me crazy because it’s always something. I go from illness to illness. I very rarely have a period of time that I don’t think I have something and the symptoms that go right along with it.

Colonoscopy prep is awful, but other than that it was a breeze! How do I know? I thought I had colon cancer. Slept like a baby afterward. Literally had to have my mom help me get my clothes on afterward and my husband help me in the truck. I couldn’t even wake up to hear what the gastric doc had to say. I slept all the way home, ate a piece of pizza, went to bed, and slept until 7 that evening, got up, ate a bowl of cereal, went back to bed and slept all night. You’ll do fine.

Thanks for your response. I've had HA since I was 10 Ive been doing really well the last few years, but I guess the postpartum hormones after this baby really hit me hard.

Do you mind me asking how long your *prep* actually took? I'm sure it's different for every person, but will I get any sleep that night? Lol

 

[Mandyhiero]

I understand the whole postpartum thing too.

My prep started when I got up the day before and it honestly wasn’t terrible. The worst part for me was not eating all day. But I got a full night’s sleep the night before the colonoscopy. I’m sure everyone’s prep is different, but honestly, it wasn’t as bad as I had thought it would be. They had me drink a full bottle of mag citrate and clear liquids all day.

Edited to add: and sorry if it’s TMI but I was a medical assistant so nothing really embarrasses me. The reason I said prep was awful is because your backside will be raw by the end of it. Get you some wipes, creams, etc and that should help a little. Sorry if I embarrassed anyone! :/