[15879]

I just had to call a profesor and tell her that I could not make it to an examination! Sadly this is not the first time this has happened. I guess I just wanted to vent my primordial rage at my situation; but also I want to ask a, well, delicate question: does anyone ever get a bowel movement with these very thin peaces of fecal matter (I'm very sorry but this is what we're here for). I've had the feeling of incomplete evacuation for as long as I can remember, it makes me feel a bit queesy but it's something I've lived with without any problems. But since I moved to the U.K. from the U.S. about three months ago it seems to have gotten worse. I wouldn't doubt that it's stress related, as the NHS Doctor seems to think, but these little thin things scare me; that's a symptom of bowel cancer. (I'm only 19, turn 20 tomorrow--what a bithday, huh--cancer definatly does NOT run in either side of the familly and I am, I confess it, a hypocondriac.) Nothing has really helped me; I've tried the usual pepper-mint oil and psyllium and slippery elm powder, these help a bit more than all of the perscriptions my doctor gave me, but I still don't feel functional. Life outside of University or travel is imposable for me to think about, I'm too adventurous. (If the problem is stress related I shot myself in the foot; I study Arabic and am, hopefuly, going to the West Bank and Cairo this summer--how's that for stress!)I hope someone knows a remedy for stress-related pain and that someone can allay my admitadly paranoid views on cancer.Thanks for reading this tirade, I just had to get it out. Salaam (peace).

 

[20327]

If your intestine has a spasm, it can last for a period of time. Think of it like squeezing a tube of toothpaste so that everything above the spot you squeezed can only come thru a very narrow openning. When that material comes thru, it will be a very thin ribbon.I have an IBS book that displays the intestines showing a spasm. The Fecal matter comes thru as ribbons because the opening is so small. Other peopple talk of feces like pencil snakes. Others talk of chips. Once a spasm clears, the feces will be larger.How to open up the intestines? Not sure, but I use Bentyl and other anti-spasmodic medicines available only from a doctor. I've had ribbons, snakes, chicken McNuggets (that is what they look like!), pebbles, boulders, torpedos (the normal firm stool), and knarled driftwood. As for cancer, if you see blood in the feces, that is a sure sign of cancer. I fear you will have to have a colonoscopy to know for sure. You would also lose weight whereas IBS does not automatically change your weight. Most of the people on this forum are quite young, and I think stress plays a big part in it. I have been out of college for 10 years and I still get nightmares about showing up in a classroom for a test and realizing I never studied the topic, or realizing I signed up for a class that I forgot about and now the final test is tomorrow (all fear based dreams). College can be a fun time, but it also can set you up for a life time of metaphoric dreams! Yikes!

 

[15879]

Hey, thanks! You know that's actually what I was thinking, or something like it. There is NEVER any blood and I haven't lost any weight (I'm so thin already I don't know if I can!) And this thng has only come within the past week, that is, just before finals.Thanks again.