[fishy13]

Hi all,well, here is my situation - over the past - well, I don't know how long, but at least several months, and more likely couple of years, I have had some gastro symptoms. Less regularity, and occasional flattened or very thin stools. These symptoms usually are accompanied by stomach discomfort, and are particularly acute after a period of constipation. I will also often have a period where I have "normal" stools, followed by these thin ones. I have always had a sensitive stomach, and had an ulcer as a kid. I am now very worried that I have colon cancer - a web search for "think stools" pretty much only brings up obstruction, and >50% of obstructions are apparently tumors. Add to that the fact that most sites about colon cancer say that by the time you have symptoms, it is "advanced" - well, I am a mess right now.I KNOW I need to see a gastro - in fact, I have an appt this week, but I was just hoping for some insight from folks here.Thanks,Fishedit - I should add that I specifically am hoping for info about if this sounds like it even COULD be IBS?

 

[Kathleen M.]

A tumor (or something else) obstructing the hole in the middle of the rectum/lower colon would cause thin stools 100% of the time. You wouldn't have normal times and thin times. Just thin stools EVERY stool.A tumor doesn't come and go obstructing the colon sometimes and not others. Either it is, or it is not.Bascially in IBS any imaginable (and heck some would say unimaginable) stool alteration is seen. Stool size, shape, color can vary substantially in normal people and with IBS that tends to happen more, and when people are in pain with a GI problem they tend to look at the stool more as well.In a nutshell IBS is altered stool consistancy or frequency that is associated with pain and discomfort when other disease states are not present.So it could be IBS. For most age groups IBS is much more common than colon cancer.K.