Worried about bowel cancer, and advise or handhold please?

[Frightenedindeed]

Had a course of antibiotics in November (for a skin infection) and had a bit of a dodgy tummy, so I thought it was related. But it hasn’t gotten better, instead I’m woken every day round 5:00 with a desperate need for a poo. Poo is very soft and not formed and over the past few weeks I’ve got the urge to go a second time, or a bit of tummy/bowel ache. Occasionally have also seen red blood after wiping. No weight loss. My dad had colon polyps (later died of dementia and had may lifestyle factors that contributed), his dad died of mysterious stomach-related something in his 40s. (He lived abroad so not entirely clear what happened). I’m quite worried now, I’m only 44 but had my kids late and have a 6 and 3 yo.

The soonest the GP could see me is next Weds and I’m just in bits. I did start and stop Sertraline in the autumn, just took it for three weeks, so I’m hoping perhaps it’s a side effect of that, but also have a terrible feeling about this. Any advise or
handhold appreciated.

Bowel cancer is the most easily treated cancer of the lot if caught early.
The chances of what you have actually being cancer and not a form of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) are in your favour.
I have been through the same thing as you and my DM died young of a bowel condition.
In my case, it turned out to be ulcerative colitis. Not fun, but it can be dealt with.
Try to stay calm and remember you are at the early stages of whatever it is, which is a very good thing.

I’ve travelled this road with my elderly dad and even though he had similar symptoms and was much more statistically likely to have it, he was completely clear.

There are lots of reasons which could explain your symptoms so hang on to hope! And as PP said, even if (a big if!) it is that, it’s often a very treatable form. Your GP might put you on the 2 week pathway and send you for a colonoscopy but all of that is to rule the bad stuff out. Hope you get answers soon.

So it sounds like you are waking for an extra poo once a day and have been since you had a tummy bug in November.

I think you are doing the right thing getting it checked, but I wouldn’t be too stressed about this. Waking to poo can be a worrying sign, but it’s the only one you have. Because you’ve had a recent infection and course of antibiotics, I wouldn’t be too surprised that your gut is a bit funny.

To give you an idea, I went through a period of about a year when I was having about 10 poos a day, often very liquidy (sorry 🤢). It was investigated and it’s an issue with my pancreas, but not cancer and nothing particularly serious. A few lifestyle changes and it’s all completely normal now in terms of symptoms. You are doing the right thing getting it checked. In the meantime, while you’re waiting, I’d eat a good bit of fermented foods and kefir and some prebiotics (blueberries, leeks, asparagus, etc). It will help rebalance your gut after the infection, which will be a good thing regardless of what investigations you have going forward.

I've recently had a colonoscopy for the same thing. Doctor put me through on the 2 week wait.
Turned out to be nothing they could see and the doctor reckons it's a dairy intolerance.
Try not to worry, most times it turns out to be nothing

Thank you all, I'm literally just shaking. I've had horrible tummy and back pain all afternoon, and a strong urge to have another poo but nothing comes. Hoping it is just something else but hard to not worry. The google algorithm is now unhelpfully showing me stories on my FB feed of people who died from stage 4 cancers and I can't stop worrying. Also given my family history. @Rowgtfc72 had you previously had any idea you might have a dairy intolerance? Both of my DC had CMPA as infants but grew out of it.

@mindutopia thank you, that sounds awful, but I'm glad you were able to get treatmetn for an ultimately benign condition. I do hope my GP puts me on a rapid pathway and doesn't fob me off. The antibiotics were a for a skin infectino and I've never had this sort of reaction so it's made me feel quite uneasy 😥

@JamesClyman mind sharing what your symptoms were? Everything I read online says "change in bowel habits" is worrying and the receptionist did seem quite concerned when I rang. Feels hard not to worry.

Get to the doctor. My mum had this and ignored it for months. It got worse and worse. When she eventually had a colonoscopy, it was a harmless polyp that they removed there and then. Could have saved herself months of worry. They also run in her family.

Try not to worry. Can you ask the receptionist at the GP to give you a FIT test tmrw to speed up the process? You can get them online but the threshold is different to the GP ones.

It is very treatable when caught early as people said. My mum had lost shocking amounts of weight before her late diagnosis. So lack of weight loss is reassuring.

Take a breath. You are working yourseld up with no real evidence to need to.

I’m not a doctor but having two close relatives have bowel cancer and having another with IBS there is nothing from what you have said that screams bowel cancer. You have symptoms that aren’t normal and have jumped to cancer when there are so many other reasons other than cancer for those symptoms.

Your recent medical history says it’s worth getting checked but you have gone from 0-100.

NHS advise has said symptoms are
constipation, or narrower stool), blood in the stool (bright red or dark), unexplained weight loss, abdominal pain, constant bloating, and extreme fatigue or anemia.

Constipation and diarrhoea are common. Blood can be piles. Bloating is common. Take a breath.

@Frightenedindeed doctor told me years ago ibs but I've just gone through 3 months of pain and going to the loo anything up to 16 times a day. We couldn't work out what had changed. My Ca125 levels came back over the threshold for inflammation and fit test had blood in it. Doc wasn't messing about after that.
As its nothing nasty we're going for elimination. So far lactose seems an issue and gluten to some extent.
I was on 4 immodium a day to just leave the house and get through work.
I'm now on 2 a day and just going to the loo in the morning.
And that feeling of never being done with the loo that totally took over my life- only occasionally now.
Must admit though, when you get the letter with suspected bowel cancer on its a bit unnerving.
Lastly bright red blood is generally not a bad sign. I had it occasionally when I wiped as my backside was so sore!

Red blood on wiping is more likely to be piles.

Blood from ca is often dark and mixed into your stool.

Honestly you are doing the right thing seeing the GP but try not to worry

I had almost exactly this last summer! I had a really bad chest infection which I took 14 days of antibiotics for, I went on holiday on day 10 of the abx and drank a fair bit of wine for the next week. I then had 2 days of terrible upset stomach which then turned into about 2 months of very similar symptoms to yours- particularly the soft stools with urgency first thing in the morning and then going again a second time during the day. I had blood tests and did stool samples and everything came back ok, I did take a probiotic tablet for a month which seemed to help. Things went back to normal after a while. You can buy a fit test from boots that gives instant results x

Please be brave and get all the checks you can. They will either set your mind at rest or set you on the treatment pathway if the worst is found.
I am old enough to be sent the bowel cancer screening kit and that was how my cancer was detected. I had no symptoms at the time. There followed a hard couple of years with surgery, chemo and a stoma, although thankfully that was reversed after a year. Now? I am cancer free and living my best life. Stay positive and full of hope.

Thank you all for the replies and support. You've helped me feel a bit more calm as I wait for the GP appointment. My mum died two years ago of cancer so it's still quite fresh in my mind (lung mind you, after smoking like a chimney, but it's still such a worry to me).

and for everyone who's been through this or similar worries and treatment before.

GP is just the start -you’d need a sample testing and potentially as far as a colonoscopy so there won’t be a quick answer.

even if it’s Polyps that doesn’t mean cancer, and they are very common - especially amongst older people. They can be easily removed.

I have had 2 very large polyps removed and they did cause red bleeding and the kind of weird sensation you describe. I was also woken early with diahorria- its because they were big enough to block my bowel and gravity was basically taking over overnight.

might be worth investigating a private colonoscopy- I wish I’d done that, my Gp didn’t do anything .

one more thing- if you have something going on in your bowel it takes longer to recover from stomach bugs- I had the same thing.

Just an update, saw the GP today and was completely fobbed off. She said she thought it was related to the antibiotics in November and I needed more time to heal. This despite the symptoms worsening over the past few days, I’ve got cramping and tummy aches constantly and the urge for a poo. Going 2-3 times a day now and it’s very thin. She suggested loperamide and yakult and to comeback in a few weeks if it’s not better. I feel so scared.

Sorry to hear you were fobbed off. I was originally with a diagnosis of ibs ( which is dont think it is)
I rang the doc before Christmas and was so matter of fact and fed up with it all the doctor ordered blood tests and stool samples.
If I were you I'd try again

As for immodium , I take one at bedtime and one first thing in the morning- I'd never leave the house without taking them!

I’m not surprised. Not every bowel problem is going to be cancer. If you don’t want to wait a couple of weeks can you look into a private screening? You might be able to get a freeFIT test through nhs but that’s quite a blunt instrument