Colon cancer (and others) worries

[Neochiq]

Hello all. A little history on me- I am 36 and now 22 weeks pregnant. I have suffered with debilitating health anxiety since I was a kid. I always am convinced that I have some type of deadly condition. Obviously it’s real to me... you guys understand. Like I can’t contril the invasive thoughts.

So this time I’ve got myself convinced I have colon (or rectal) cancer. I had a diverticulitis episode about 3 years ago and healed up. Now I’m pregnant and experienced a flare up of the condition (or so I thought) about 2.5 weeks ago. I thought it was getting better but whenever I need to go no2 there’s pain in my left hip side. I went through some diarrhea episodes and mucus. I went to my gastro doctor who didn’t even do any tests and said ‘you’re fine’.... so that didn’t help. I definitely know it was a flare BUT I would have expected to be all the way better by now. I had some normal stools and now I’m back to diarrhea.

I have this left sided pain in my hip/leg etc. so I am pregnant... and I was thinking sciatica.... but I looked up and that type of pain can be related to colon cancer too. I have twinges of anal pain too.

I’m freaking out. We tried so long for this baby and I feel like we are going to find out I have stage iv colon cancer and never get to be my baby’s mommy.

Help

 

[triceps]

Hello all. A little history on me- I am 36 and now 22 weeks pregnant. I have suffered with debilitating health anxiety since I was a kid. I always am convinced that I have some type of deadly condition. Obviously it’s real to me... you guys understand. Like I can’t contril the invasive thoughts.

So this time I’ve got myself convinced I have colon (or rectal) cancer. I had a diverticulitis episode about 3 years ago and healed up. Now I’m pregnant and experienced a flare up of the condition (or so I thought) about 2.5 weeks ago. I thought it was getting better but whenever I need to go no2 there’s pain in my left hip side. I went through some diarrhea episodes and mucus. I went to my gastro doctor who didn’t even do any tests and said ‘you’re fine’.... so that didn’t help. I definitely know it was a flare BUT I would have expected to be all the way better by now. I had some normal stools and now I’m back to diarrhea.

I have this left sided pain in my hip/leg etc. so I am pregnant... and I was thinking sciatica.... but I looked up and that type of pain can be related to colon cancer too. I have twinges of anal pain too.

I’m freaking out. We tried so long for this baby and I feel like we are going to find out I have stage iv colon cancer and never get to be my baby’s mommy.

Help

Hi and welcome neochiq. Just one opinion as I'm a man and not a pregnancy expert by any means. I believe your doctor is right. "You're fine." Just think of all the bodily changes you're going through. Those changes along with your anxiety could easily explain your change in bowel consistency. It really could also easily explain those unusual pains you're experiencing. That combination of pregnancy and anxiety is very powerful and can generate all kinds of physical symptoms. We all wish you the very best.

 

[Neochiq]

Thing is I wasn’t having problems until one morning I woke up in next to excruciating pain... I wasn’t stressed etc. Since then I’ve had abnormal bowel movements and it’s been 20 days now. I’m still in pain too

 

[Mrsx]

Hello, I am so sorry that you are experiencing these awful thoughts at what should be a beautiful time for you. I have a five month old daughter and experienced all kinds of different aches and pains throughout and after my pregnancy. I remember specifically having changes in my bowel movements. I convinced myself on many occasions that it was colon cancer, a heart attack, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, stroke and many more. The issue was that I was so happy to be pregnant that I was scared to death that something bad was going to happen. I ended up seeing a therapist weekly throughout my pregnancy and it helped a ton. It is very common to experience different aches and pains. Your body is stretching and changing daily to accommodate the baby. What also helped me was thinking that the baby can feel everything I feel and it was my job to protect her. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel anxious ever!!! I found a pregnancy app that I listened to while pregnant and it totally calmed me down. I know it’s tough but hang in there, it goes by so fast.

 

[Future PA with HA]

I just recently underwent a major colon cancer scare due to changes in bowel movements. You can read my post (my GI story) for all the details but basically I had one weird movement that caused me to google and since then I’ve been fixating and catastrophizing all my symptoms. Your digestive system actually has its own nervous system and there has been so much research on the gut brain connection that shows your emotions and stressors have a HUGE effect on your bowel habits.

What MrsX said about being so happy that you’re scared you’re going to lose it all- do you think that could be causing your worries? I ask that because it’s actually very similar to how I felt. I am going through a tough time with my current job and I’m getting so close to starting PA school at my dream school. I kept thinking “ what if I find out I have a cancer that’s going to kill me and this amazing opportunity I have won’t happen and I’ll die unsatisfied with how I’ve been living my recent life “. Negative thoughts like that are so hard to combat...

Anyway- I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about! Your symptoms sound very consistent with IBS which I read can be worsened with hormone fluctuations and anxiety.