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[Mary G]

jessieblue, I completely understand the hell of health anxiety and as others have said, very often you get reassurance on one health issue and then move on to something else.  I've been there myself.

Bowel issues are very common on here and very often hormone/menopause related, I had them myself and consulted a gastroenterologist but I didn't have a colonoscopy.   Stool tests are very accurate these days and a FIT test (more accurate than the older faecal occult tests which often throw up false positives) are 95% accurate.   I read somewhere that a yearly FIT test is as good as a colonoscopy every 10 years.   I would also consider a calprotectin test which is another important marker.  You can buy FIT tests in Superdrug and do it at home if that helps but make sure you don't have piles at the time or it might give a false positive.

Amiltryptaline is often prescribed for people with IBS-D so it's no surprise that you have constipation.   

I hope that helps.

[jessieblue]

Thank you so much for writing this Joziel.  It does really does help to hear other people's stories and experiences.  I am so sorry you went through all of that, but glad you found some answers.  I really appreciate this support.

Vanillalover, I am just about to start CBT, so it is good to hear you found it helpful.  Ihope it is useful and I can start to get some perspective.

Love to all. xx

[jessieblue]

Yes that does help Mary G.  I originally had FIT test calprotectin and bloods which all came back poositive!  But that was when I was sick with the campylobacter infection but before I knew what it was.  Campylobacter is an inflammatory infectious diarrhea so it does raise inflammation markers and cause bloody stools.  I also had horrendous piles from pooping 20 times a day for a week at that time.  I have since repeated bloods and calprotectin and all was normal.  I haven't plucked up the courage to do FIT as I worry my piles will make it positive and I will freak out again.  But you are right, it makes sense to repeat this test soon and see what it says.

Thank you for your help. xx

[CLKD]

How problematic are the piles, which can be dealt with. 

Pregnancy can induce piles.  Apparently! 

I'll bump a thread .......... not about piles. 

[jessieblue]

Piles are moderately troublesome.  I have a rectocele so if I have to strain at all I get them show up along with a tear or two.  I use the anusol creams and suppositories and try to keep stool soft, but my bowels are unpredictable, soft one day hard the next.  I never know what is going on.

[joziel]

I have only sorted out my poop since starting on HRT to be honest. I was really constipated before due to low estrogen and being too high on progesterone (taking the desogestrel POP). It was only when I got to 50mcg of estrogen and then for sure to 62.5mcg(!) when my bowels started functioning normally and now I can report a perfect poop almost every day  .

But I do take 'Optifibre' which is hydrolysed guar gum twice a day (totally recommend that - natural and works really naturally better than anything I've ever tried) and I also eat a really high fibre breakfast - chia seeds, ground flaxseed, mixed with kefir and chlorella powder and some fresh berries. I don't know if everything would be going okay without that, I've become superstitiously attached to my breakfast now 

Due to previous constipation, I also have a fissure and piles which come and go. I actually find the over the counter hydrocortisone 1% cream to be better than the Anusol stuff (which is much lower hydrocortisone, like 0.25% or something). I only use the 1% because my GP actually prescribed me some 1% cream for them once and when I ran out of that, it seemed stupid to get the OTC Anusol again - it worked so much better. So even though the hydrocortisone 1% says "Do not apply to genitals"(!), I still do. Cos it's what my GP gave me once for them and it works way better..... 

I also suffer from this condition called 'proctalgia fugax' which literally translates as 'pain in the anus'  No one knows what causes it, although they reckon it is the anal muscles going into spasms - I've had it all my life (since I was a child) and basically I just get this dull pain there which is awful and usually comes on in the evenings or even the middle of the night. It lasts about 30-45mins and there's nothing I can do about it except keep moving - walking around, doing star jumps, jogging on the spot - it just helps make the pain bearable because I think it stretches the spasming area and improves blood flow there. When I was a kid I'd just walk up and down the hallway of our house in the middle of the night, trying not to wake my family by dodging the creaky floorboards!! That's why I was given the rectal MRI. (It is something I'd had all my life which I just decided to freak out about at the time of my health anxiety!!) So - I just wanted to say that there can be completely benign and chronic conditions which cause discomfort and pain too.

Pain is scary and I think there is some really primitive part of our mind which goes "pain = threat to life = take action" and it can take a lot of work to condition "pain = not necessarily anything to think more about > it will pass". The irony is that if you can reach that point, then often the pain stops being so acute and becomes more manageable and sometimes even goes away totally.

I'd really really recommend that Curable app you can download from the App Store

[Lyncola]

Thought I will just mention on the Private Life’s section, I have a post called “Fissure, Piles and anything to do with a sore ass” or something like that 
Anybody with any poop problems are welcome to share their stories and hopefully anything that will help

[CLKD]

Criky joziel, what time to you need to get out of bed in order to get your breakfast eaten B4 U being your day 

Fortunately these days I'm rarely 'hard' but oh, slow transit  and the feeling that I need 'to go' but nowt happens 

[joziel]

I make my breakfast the night before  The chia seeds need to soak anyway!

If anyone wants to try it, it's:

1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
1 heaped serving spoon of Greek yoghurt
2 heaped serving spoons of kefir

Stir it all up... add:

Half a teaspoon of chlorella
Sweeten to taste using monk fruit or stevia drops
Shake some frozen fruit into it and stir that in
To with a sprinkle of cocoa nibs and coconut flakes and sliced green banana (low fructose!)

Ta da!! I've got it down to a fine art now.

 

Look up Optifibre if you have slow transit or are constipated. It's just hydrolysed guar gum so you can take it long-term and you just stir it into tea or coffee and it has no flavour.

[CLKD]

I posted off my poo test this morning 

[jessieblue]

Thank you for this Joziel.

CKLD which poo test?  The FIT test?  I am too scared to do that because I have piles and a fissure.  I am so afraid of a positive result meaning a colonoscopy and absolute abject terror.

Have you done them before?

[CLKD]

I didn't know that there was any more than the NHS 1 I am offered every 3 years.  It used to be a sample for 3 days, now it's 1 on a slim stick.  My poo wouldn't stick to the stick  . It never bothers me, I am not expecting problems but if something is flagged, it will be dealt with.  Although I don't fancy examinations up my rear end !

[joziel]

I think the bowel screening programme begins at age 60, right? So if you're not 60 yet, you won't be eligible for it. Might still be able to buy it privately or via GP though.

[CLKD]

This thread jogged my brain cell ......... 10 mins prior to a bleed I would have to dash to the loo or else  even if a period wasn't due.  Hormones 

[Mother bean]

Anxiety is self fulfilling.

My bowels play up often  .  Either slow transit where I feel the need to empty but nowt happens  : I go back and forth to the loo a lot.  Eventually ......... I find that adding home grown fruit to my muesli 'does it'.  I feel completely empty about once a week  .  Other times I feel the 'need to go' all the while.

If you have something 'dangerous' jessieblue, hopefully the Hospital would have called you back to discuss.   Also, if the condition hasn't altered in 3 months, it is unlikely that there is anything growing or untoward.

Feeling constipated can impact throughout the body from in my experience, below the waist.  It also makes me queasy. 

What have you tried in the way of over the counter bowel relief?  MayB have a chat with the pharmacist.