[fedup123]

I have been having weird symptoms. I've always had a senstive stomach and typical ibs symptoms that come and go but this time it seems different and worseA couple of months ago i started getting reall bad D, it was sometimes watery and in between would just be loose and sticky and I'd be going around 5-6 times a day. Over the course of 5 weeks it slowly subsided but my stools were still not fully formed and I was stil going 4-5 times a day. I was also very gassy. The symptoms are much better now, I have D about every 2 days and in between I'm either constipated or have normal bm's. I can't help but worry it's something more, I have made a list of my symptoms and whilst some of them do fit into the ibs category some of them don't. I am particularly worried about crohn's or even a colon polyp. My symptoms are- Diarrhea that has lasted around 2 months now. Comes and goes. Worse after meals- I have constipation sometimes - I know this counts massively in favour of ibs and against crohn's but I can't help but think I'm only constipated because I have totally emptied my bowels with the D- There is quite a lot of mucus in my stool and sometimes I will pass just mucus. It's sometimes clear sometimes an orange colour.- Stomach cramps. They get worse when I have D and when I need the toilet but my lower abdomen almost always feels tender and there is always a slight pain. The pain is not severe though and it I couldn't locate exactly where it's coming from. It seems to be just generally around my lowr abdomen.- And probably the most worrying I guess is that sometimes I have some blood on the toilet paper, never loads and it doesn't happen that much and it happens mostly after a bad case of D or a particularly hard/big bm. I am 90% sure it's caused by an anal fissure as I have had one before. But this is also a sign of a colon polyp.I am waiting for the results of my blood tests from the doctor. I didn't mention the blood because it hadn't happened it ages but it happened again a few days after I went to the doctor. I suppose I should probably mention it when I go back. I'm also only 19. The doctor said he would consider further investigation (I'm guessing a sigmoidoscopy or whatever, even though personally I'd rather just go the whole hog and get the colonscopy straight away) based on the results of the blood tests. But since I'm only 19 and have all the classic signs of ibs so far as well as anxiety I think he's quite sure that it's just ibs. I'm also very scared at the prospect of having a colonscopy!! Does it sound like it might be more than ibs? I only got thinking because I have a friend who was recently diagnosed with crohn's who was having symptoms very similar to mine and was intially just told it was ibs.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Crohns is a lot rarer than IBS so statistically you are much more likely to have IBS. Do autoimmune diseases run in your family? That often makes you a bit more likely to get crohns or any other autoimmune problem. Is your skin and joints ok? Autoimmune problems like to run in packs.It can be mild enough when it starts up they can't tell it from IBS until it progresses far enough, but very few people have crohns so usually if all they find is IBS symptoms all it will ever be is IBS (and usually people that have crohns have some abnormalities early on, but sometimes they don't catch them depends on what tests the run and if they did a biopsy in the right place if they did them)If you have anxiety to the point it is interfering in your life and/or stressing you out enough which will make your symptoms worse you should talk to the doctor about treating that as well. It never makes anything better.On to your symptoms.- Diarrhea that has lasted around 2 months now. Comes and goes. Worse after mealsVery typical of IBS- I have constipation sometimes - I know this counts massively in favour of ibs and against crohn's but I can't help but think I'm only constipated because I have totally emptied my bowels with the DAlso typical of IBS. A lot of people with severe diarrhea disease never empty enough to go into constipation even if they go 10-20 times a day.- There is quite a lot of mucus in my stool and sometimes I will pass just mucus. It's sometimes clear sometimes an orange colour.Mucus is really common in IBS and can pick up colors. It is non-specific so this symptom can't really tell you what is going on, but it is very common in IBS.- Stomach cramps. They get worse when I have D and when I need the toilet but my lower abdomen almost always feels tender and there is always a slight pain. The pain is not severe though and it I couldn't locate exactly where it's coming from. It seems to be just generally around my lowr abdomen.Pain is very typical of IBS (a required symptom to get a diagnosis of IBS you need pain or discomfort), often it causes more pain than just about anything else (well other than when your appendix or gallbladder has gotten so infected and dying that you need surgery right away, but in those cases you are in severe pain until the thing bursts and kills you so I think we can rule those out. However if you get severe pain that doesn't let up in whatever way your IBS pain usually lets up then I would get checked. Appendix is lower right, gall bladder is on the upper right and often the pain goes up into the shoulder blade on that side on the back)- And probably the most worrying I guess is that sometimes I have some blood on the toilet paper, never loads and it doesn't happen that much and it happens mostly after a bad case of D or a particularly hard/big bm. I am 90% sure it's caused by an anal fissure as I have had one before. But this is also a sign of a colon polyp.Blood that just shows up on the toilet paper is usually an internal hemmorhoid and can be a fissure.The small amounts of blood from a polyp usually appears in the stool, not only on the toilet paper. Often you can't see it and it is found when they test the stool to see if there is any blood in it.Polyps are pretty rare in people under 50. They are something that happens as you age. Now if 1/2 your family died of colon cancer before 50 then you might have a polyp causing disease, but since you didn't mention that you probably do not have to worry about those things for awhile.The period when the diarrhea was a lot worse and then eased up over time could have been a bit of a GI infection and that can start up IBS (and sometimes make it a lot worse if you were always a bit sensitive in the gut anyway). It is pretty common after a GI infection for it to take a few weeks for the colon to heal up. When it doesn't get all the way back to normal, that is when you end up with IBS.Usually when people go back and forth from constipation to diarrhea they really need to prevent the constipation rather than prevent the diarrhea. If you don't back up your body doesn't need to go into "flush mode" So you may need to play with fiber or other things to keep from backing up.

 

[shipou900]

Everything i've read on here is really typical in IBS, infact I have all those symptoms and more. I know its startling, but your not in danger of anything. Alot of people ask about the blood thing, but in truth I don't see a problem with it. I almost always have blood in my BM. I've been to 5 doctors about my IBS and all of them never seemed to think the blood was a abnormal, but if your still worried then go talk to a doctor :] it won't kill you to be thorough :]