Hi,

ve been constipated for 5 months now, this suddenly appeared out of the blue and has stayed consistently the same for all that time, it's the type of constipation where I have 'pebble poo' every time I go. I still have a BM once a day so it's not typical constipation where I can't go but I have to strain every single time, sometimes to only have a few small pebbles come out.

I know this part sounds gross but I've had to use a finger on more than a few occasions now to either start myself off, there may be a couple of large pebbles stopping the rest of my movement, once these are out the way the rest of the smaller pebbles would follow, sometimes I can start the movement ok but then have had to use a finger half way through to clear one or two larger ones to finish off.

I've already had a few appointments with my doctor a few months ago, I was prescribed with laxatives which made me have catastrophic diarrhea for the day so I stopped taking it and the next day I was back to the pebble poo.

I've had blood tests and all came back normal including celiac tests. After the blood tests came back normal in June I decided to make some lifestyle changes. I've stopped eating all processed foods, I now mainly eat lots of freshly cooked chicken breasts with wholegrain rice or wholegrain pasta or noodles, I eat Weetabix, shredded wheat or oats for breakfast with some skyr yoghurt and blueberries or blackberries. I also started going to the gym, I see a personal trainer and I now do weight training with at least a 10 minute run for warmup at least 4 times per week and most days I get 10000 steps in my day. Probably the best change I've made is stopping smoking, I've now been smoke free for 4 weeks after being a 20 a day smoker for almost 20 years!

Even after all of these great changes I've made to my lifestyle I'm still always constipated, it's the same every single time I go without fail. I'm what now what I consider a 37 year old 'healthy' male living a healthy lifestyle. 

My only symptom is the constipation, I don't have bloating or pain or any blood in my stools, I have only lost the tiny bit of weight from my stomach that I wanted to loose otherwise I'm a healthy 9 stone weight for my 5ft 7 height. 

I had another appointment with my doctors today, it was a doctor I'd not had an appointment with previously, she said she's not happy that this is something that just appeared out of nowhere and it's persisted after the changes I've made but that she felt better that I'm not tired or loosing weight. She ordered more blood tests as a few months have now past since I had the last lot and she's also referred me to a gastroenterologist. I've got my blood tests on Wednesday morning.

I was just wandering if constipation alone without other symptoms could be a sign of bowel cancer, you read all these stories of people with terrible symptoms of blood and pain etc I just thought maybe one single symptom could not be cancer even though this change with me is very unusual I've never had constant constipation like this in my life, Its very unusual and at the end of the day it's still a sudden change in my bowel movements which can be a sign of cancer. 

I know it's very unlikely to be cancer as I'm sure many people will reply to reassure me but I wanted to hear of any stories where constipation alone may have resulted in a diagnosis of cancer.

Thanks in advance for any replies or comments.