Worries of bowel cancer

Hi! I really hope it's okay to post this but i could really do with my mind being put at ease and putting my thoughts out there so i'm not holding them all in. 

One thing that gives me slight reassurance is that i'm 17, the chances of bowel cancer are slim but the little voice in my head tells me that it's not impossible. For a few months now i've been struggling with a change in bowel habits. A while ago (probably 2020) i noticed my stomach would get very unsettled but i looked past it and eventually it was fine but then a few months ago it restarted and has been getting worse since. My current symptoms include a very unsettled stomach, needing to pass wind almost all the time, lower stomach and back pain, needing to open my bowels more frequently, feeling a constant need to open my bowels even after i just have, not being able to open my bowels then 2 minutes after passing soft stool and occasional diarrhoea and narrow stools. I went to the doctor who requested stool samples (which i did and came back clear) and told me to try buscopan (which didn't work.) He then told me to try mebeverine (also does not work) and referred me to gastroenterology. I am fortunate enough to have private healthcare so I've decided to go private however due to issues at my gp it's took a while for this to go forward, i'm currently waiting to hear back from the private health care company. I'm just in a constant state of discomfort and all i can think is what if it's cancer. like i said i know at 17 it's unlikely but it's all i can think about it's taking over my life. i don't feel like i'll be able to feel at ease until i've had it 1000% ruled out, i keep telling my parents and my boyfriend that i feel like it's something serious and they keep telling me that it won't be and that if it was the doctor would know but then you hear so many stories of when people have been let down by their gps, i'm genuinely terrified. I've tried to track foods to see if i can source a trigger but it's just bad all the time nothing in particular seems to make it worse. 

I'm sorry if this isn't the appropriate place to post this but i'm just so so nervous. I'm hoping i can get an appointment soon so i can just stop worrying. If anyone has experienced similar and has had a positive outcome i'd like to hear that i think that would really reassure me.  Thankyou for reading x 

  • Hi,

    I am sorry you are so worried. I've been the same the last two weeks waiting for a colonoscopy and it's awful. Being in a constant state of anxiety will make your symptoms worse too. I had my colonoscopy today and they found diverticula disease ( I'm 42 so a lot older than you but still young to have it). They also removed one polyp which has been sent for testing. I hope you get an appt soon but while you wait try to do things that calm and distract you. 

  • Hi

    I've just joined so I'm not sure what's appropriate or inappropriate but I'm sure nobody will be against you being concerned about your health ️
    I'm glad you have private health insurance as that really will help you to get your answers quicker.

    I'm not a doctor but I would say to please not jump immediately to cancer, nothing is impossible but you are very young. However, I've been with my husband for over half my life and he went from perfectly healthy to crippling stomach pain, diarrhoea etc almost overnight at 20 years old and was subsequently diagnosed with Crohn's disease, apparently it most commonly strikes in late teens and early 20s so that could be your issue. Not good news either but not cancer. I live in Ireland by the way and I've met so many people I went to school with who were diagnosed shortly after finishing school. It's a lot more common than we thought when he was first diagnosed. Just throwing this out there as an alternative to cancer, not everything (thankfully) is cancer.
    I really hope you get answers soon and it's something like food intolerances x 

  • I am 32 and have been experiencing a really similar thing. Lower left abdomen pain for the past 3 months with soft stool and some diarrhea and more recently a small amount of bright red blood on the tissue after a bowel movement.

    I also tried tracking symptoms, pain, food but can't work out what makes it worse / better.

    I have private health insurance and they refferd me for a CT colonography, now I just wait for the results but I'm so anxious that I think I might be making my symptoms worse, I have convinced myself this is the worst possible scenario. 

    Hope you make some progress with finding out what's going on. X