Terrified - 19 and Scared of Bowel Cancer

I'm a 19 year old male and I am terrified I have Bowel Cancer.

A few months ago when wiping, I noticed I had small red/pink streaks of blood on the toilet paper. This really worried me and I looked it up and it said it could be Bowel Cancer. Over the last few months, I have had this on and off (just some small red/pink streaks on the toilet paper, never in the stool or in the toilet water, but it's been on and off for 3 months meaning I don't think it's just hemorhoids or a fissure), but I can't convince myself it isn't something really serious. I'm afraid that now I have left it for 3 months, I have left it too late and it's life threatening. I also have health anxiety (the health anxiety has actually been caused by first instance of finding blood on the toilet paper).

 

I'm absolutely terrified and I really don't know what to do. I am going to speak to a GP about it next week, but it's all I can think about, struggling to focus on my work or anything else, as I'm worried it's too late and now it'll be terminal. 

 

Has anyone got any advice as to what it could be and how to stop thinking about it? 

  • You need to stop worrying,at your age there is more chance of a lottery win than it being cancer. It's highly likely to be piles or another non serious condition. 

  • Hi,

    I am also 19 and suffer really bad health anxiety too. Sometimes I spend hours sitting up at night convincing myself I have terminal cancer and don't have long left to live. I've learned that when you are looking for symptoms, you tend to notice them much more. I thought I'd reply as a year ago I started getting the same problem you describe, only on the paper, not inside the bowl. I convinced myself I had bowel/colon/stomach cancer and that's all I could think about at the time. It really affected my day to day life, I was searching statistics about bowel cancer in teens and even though it's extremely rare, I really thought I was about to be diagnosed. Fast forward to a year later and it turned out to be a fissure which I initially ruled out as I thought I would of noticed it. You say you have also ruled this out because you have had it three months, I have now had problems for a year due to this. My advice would be to see a Dr to put your mind at rest. Once I was told mine wasn't cancer, a massive weight was lifted off my shoulders. So try not worry too much. ( Forgot to say I was also told pink/red blood tends to be fissure/ hemorhoid and dark/brown blood would indicate something else wrong)