# Is something wrong? Do I have colon cancer?



## GameGuy (Dec 15, 2014)

Hello, this is my first time posting here and I've never actually been diagnosed with a bowel problem like IBS but I have definitely suffered similar symptoms.

I have a few questions and hopefully somebody can answer them.

Ever since I was a young teenager I have suffered from chronic constipation. I would only have a bowel movement maybe 1-2 times a week and they would be VERY large. These were shaped like normal poop but just like 5 times bigger. It was very painful just to poop. However, a good portion of this WAS my fault. I did not eat properly, did not drink enough fluids, and probably the biggest factor was I would resist the urge to poop FREQUENTLY. This was due to several reasons such as wasn't at home (I've only recently learned to poop away from home), was too busy at the moment, etc. This eventually led to a sore anus and then later anal fissures which would leave some blood streaks on my bowels occasionally. The anal fissures began maybe 2 years ago.

The constipation began when I was maybe 14 or 15 and now I'm 27.

For the last several months I also had been neglecting to eat lunch at work. I had also been drinking lots of water instead of soda which led to weight loss, and then I lost even more when I started not eating (I'm eating now at work now). However, my weight doesn't seem to be going back up. It just hovers right around the 163-165 lb range and my doctor told me to try to get it to 170 lbs, but I can't seem to do that even if I eat more than usual in a day. My max weight was about 2 years ago at 210 lbs.

Well, all that straining eventually lead to me having my first hemmerhoid earlier this year. The hemmerhoid pain started to become worse and I knew I couldn't be doing this type of stuff with my bowels any longer.

I explained to my doctor what was going on (I hadn't told him about my constipation in all those years) and he recommened I started using Metamucil and stool softeners like Colace. So I did. I was taking a rounded Tbsp of Metamucil 2-3 times daily and Colace 2 times daily. I've been doing this for about 3 weeks now. This did allow me to poop at least once a day. I've now actually decreased the colace to once daily at night for the last few days, and the metamucil to twice a day (one in the morning and one in the evening). I've also been drinking lots of water, but I only drink maybe 8 oz max when I take the Metamucil.

However, some of stools have begun to look very very weird. They all do have some orange blotches in them because of Metamucil, but now many of them have become very stretchy or elastic in nature. I've noticed these ones are also very thin in portions as well. Its like one end is rounded, and then it thins, then gets larger again, and then thins again, etc. In fact just today when I had a BM the stool was hanging out of my rectum like it was attached to a thin cord. I had to kind of shake myself to release it from my anus.

Some other stools, however have felt normal coming out but then start to just fall apart into smaller pieces as they exit my anus. Like a whole bunch of smaller pieces were compacted together into the shape of a stool as they moved through my colon and then fell apart when they were freed from their confinement. Others were just about 3 large chunks and felt a little drier but not really hard. Very strange.

Now, there is no visible blood in my stool and they are generally brown or sometimes paler brown in color (a few have been darker brown), with some splotches of orange from Metamucil that wasn't dissolved all the way in my water when I mixed it up. However, I've read that thin/stringy stools can be a sign of Colon Cancer.

I'm now very worried since my stools are very different looking that normal stools and I went through those several years where I would leave large dry stools in my colon for days at a time. Could those stools have poisoned my colon cells and caused cancer? Could these strange shaped stools I'm now having be shaped like that because of tumors or polyps in my colon?

I had blood work done about 4 months ago and it was normal then, but I have not had anything like a colonoscopy or CT scan. The reason I got the blood work was because of lower right abdominal pain I was having which caused me to even lose appetite. It eventually went away. I don't know if a doctor would order a colonoscopy since I am only 27 and not 50+.

I am getting a scan and cystoscopy from a urologist soon because of blood in my urine with bladder/testicle pain but this is probably due to familia hematuria running in my family. Would the scan they do on my bladder reveal any tumors in my colon at all? When having those bladder pains I also sometimes feel pain in my lower abdomen and I occasionally have flank or lower back pain too. If I fart sometimes it also causes pain in the lower abdomen/bladder area.

Nobody that I know of in my family has ever had colon cancer before.

Thanks so much for reading and I appreciate any answers you may be able to give me.


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## flossy (Dec 8, 2012)

I'm not one to look at my stools once I go, I'm a 'flush and go' (or keep going!) kinda guy, so I can't help you there.

Get a colonoscopy. I got one last year for the first time and it was not bad AT ALL.

This is important: Make sure when you call you get a doctor who PUTS YOU TO SLEEP during the procedure, not just on put twilight drugs. You don't need to be partially awake for this. ** Make sure you ask, before you even make an appointment.*** My younger sister has IBS-D, has gotten a few colonoscopies and said she was just on twilight drugs and it sucked, it was definitely painful for her, so get a doc to put you to sleep.

Also buy yourself some 100% aloe vera lotion. When you're at home and and done evacuating, put several squirts of it on your toilet paper and wipe, then repeat with fresh toilet paper and lotion. The toilet paper never touches your anus this way. I clean up that area afterwards with more aloe and water. Also you might want to mix the aloe with different lotion, like cocoa butter/whatnot. Aloe is a bit cold, especially down there.

Good luck and keep us posted!


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## GameGuy (Dec 15, 2014)

I hope I haven't picked up a stomach virus now. I woke up this morning and started having these severe abdominal cramps. I went to the bathroom and while my stool was fully formed it was also very watery as well, but not exactly diarhea. In the 2 hours I've been up I've had maybe 6 instances of these cramps. They occur in the center of the belly just below the belly button.


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## GameGuy (Dec 15, 2014)

flossy said:


> I'm not one to look at my stools once I go, I'm a 'flush and go' (or keep going!) kinda guy, so I can't help you there.
> 
> Get a colonoscopy. I got one last year for the first time and it was not bad AT ALL.
> 
> ...


How much do colonoscopy's cost? I have insurance, but with the new year coming up my deductible will reset.


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## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Game Guy it sounds like your stools changed because of the metamucil etc. ...*not* cancer. Worrying about cancer isn't good for you and could make things worse. So unless the Dr tells you that you have cancer or should be concerned about it... stop worrying.

The colonoscopy will be quite definitive. Also if you have a reasonable deductible assume you will be paying it in full for this procedure. Prices can range from hundreds to thousands. But mostly thousands probably.


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## Corydalis Aurea (Dec 14, 2014)

Hmmmmm....if you have suffered from constipation for so long and now you are trying a bulking, stool mover like Metamucil, than I would think it possible that you are experiencing the discomfort of built up stool moving through. That is a good thing. In fact if you have never used a laxative before, you could really be built up in there and it is going to take a while for things to move out, your colon could be sluggish as well and now is forced to do a job it usually did slowly a bit faster which can cause cramping and pain. Metamucil has a mucilage in it, that means it gets kind of gelatinous, which may affect the texture of your stool. Personally I have never used it so I don't speak from experience there. I don't know if I would go for the colonoscopy yet, if you are just new to Metamucil, and getting cleaned out on a more regular basis, you just might want to give it a month or two to see if you kind of level out. IBS for me has had a lot of pain, inflammation and bloating, constipation and fatigue. I had a colonoscopy, and inside was clean. At that time I was suffering sever abdominal pain, fatigue, chills, and my stool was black! NOTHING was found! I was even tested for parasites. You may give a stool sample to rule out parasites however, it is possible that the threadiness of your stool is parasites and may explain why you can not gain weight back. Stool can also be looked at for blood which can tell a lot. Best wishes for answers and relief.


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## GameGuy (Dec 15, 2014)

Well since I had the watery stool this morning I've had no more of those very painful abdominal cramps. I'll probably wait a little on the colonoscopy and see if my bowels even out with the Metamucil, but we'll see.

One thing I noticed and forgot to mention (though this may be normal) is that in the morning my belly is fairly flat looking but by the evening its much more rounded like I gained a lot of weight. My weight itself maybe only goes up by a pound at most by day's end and then is gone by morning.

I don't seem to be losing weight, but I'm not gaining it either. Could this be because of Malabsorption? I have noticed a couple stools look a little on the greasy side, and since the Metamucil nearly all of them float now.


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## flossy (Dec 8, 2012)

GameGuy said:


> How much do colonoscopy's cost? I have insurance, but with the new year coming up my deductible will reset.


No idea. I would recommend getting one soon, just to rule out anything else it could be besides IBS-C.


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## GameGuy (Dec 15, 2014)

My stool this morning was thankfully not watery. I was having some very very mild abdominal discomfort before I went, and it was probably just because I needed to go. The stool itself was split into 3 chunks as I said I've seen sometimes before. The first chunk (at least I think it was the first) sunk to the bottom and was orangish/brown in color from the Metamucil and smooth in appearance. The other two were floaters and were straight brown. They also had quite a few curves on them and gave the appearance of being a bit more dried, but they did not cause pain or really any straining to release them.

Last night, however I did have another one of those really stretchy/rubbery/elastic like stools. Starting yesterday however I have begun taking only 1 rounded tbps of Metamucil in the morning and 1 colace in the evening. I'll see how this changes the stool. Hopefully they'll still be soft and easy to pass without getting all rubbery like. I do know that if you leave metamucil in water and watch it becomes almost like a gel so this is probably what's causing it to be like that. The stool didn't have like a mucus or anything on it but it did appear slightly slick to the surface appearance.

Still, no visible blood at all and very few abdominal cramps yesterday than from days before. I still feel the occasional pain in the bladder area and sometimes near my kidney area but like I said before I'll soon bet getting a CT scan and cystoscopy from the urologist for those and the blood in my urine, so probably unrelated to bowels.

My weight however this morning still has not changed. After my shower and with clothes on (included jeans and belt) I weighed 164 lbs, so about 162 if I was naked. This also after eating HALF of a Red Barons frozen pizza last night for dinner. If my weight drops down into the 150s I'm going back to the doctor.

In the days that I was constantly constipated I would eat ENTIRE Papa Johns pizzas for a meal. Other meals would be 2-3 burgers and fries from fast food. Lots of soda, etc.

Now I drink pretty much water only, and eat a bit healthier like having salads before meals and eating apples. Maybe I'm just not getting enough calories during the day to really increase weight, but enough to keep it the same as it is.

Yesterday for food I had 1 bowel of frosted mini wheat with 1% milk, the metamucil, some chocolate covered pretzels and m&ms (christmas time of course), a container of those Tai Pei fozen chinese meals with vegetables you get at the store, half a frozen pizza, and some mana bread along with probably 50-60 oz of water throughout the day. I may have just hit 2000 or so calories with that.

My dad usually cooks at our house and he makes salad and pretty healthy meals but he was out of town on business yesterday so I had to make do with what was in the freezer.

I think the massive weight loss I've had (about 48 lbs in 2 years) is probably due to drinking mainly water or juice (this year itself I'd estimate I've drank less than 25 sodas), not eating entire pizzas and fast food for several meals like I used to, light exercise like walking, and then that bout for about 3-4 months of not eating anything but a snack for lunch during the day at work which was not good.

I was intentionally losing weight at the beginning of the year when I started those first few things I mentioned, and maybe even with the not eating (my tummy would rumble a lot at work during those times), but now trying to gain some back without pigging out on a whole pizza or something is kind of hard.


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## GameGuy (Dec 15, 2014)

I guess I need to up the Metamucil back to 2 tbps a day because my stool this morning was a bunch of small pellets that were a bit hard and took quite a bit of straining to release. Looks like 1 tbps of metamucil in the morning and 1 colace at night will not cut it.


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## riderjay253 (Dec 20, 2014)

you should stop with the prosessed food , buy the precooked chickens and steam or boil things to go with it like broccili, zukini, sweet patatoes, then make broth with the carcus, whole wheat english muffin,get a immersion blender with cup to make mayo with light olive oil and add half butter for hollindaze ,can keep in the fridge 10 days .the raw egg yolk will help gain weight, for snack wheat or corn flakes with honey, almond butter, coconut butter, drink coconut water for potassium, honey can soften stool

i wouldnt get a colonoscopy unless in major pain, it flushes out you good probiotics and can lead to c diff and disbacterious.


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