FIIT test, low iron, constipation, scared

[painintheargh]

NC for this.

Since having covid and changing my diet to lose weight last November I've had constipation. It's responded well to lactulose. No pain, no diarrhoea, no bleeding.
The GP tested for coeliac and a full blood count, liver, thyroid, hormones, kidneys, the full works. All fine except for an iron level of 8. My diet is rubbish on the iron front and the GP wasn't concerned about the iron and just told me to up my veg. Because the constipation has continued I've been asked to do a FIIT stool sample to check for blood which I will take to the GP tomorrow.
Im 46, pretty fit and do a lot of cardio exercise daily, I don't smoke, don't drink, I haven't eaten meat since 1990, my BMI is 21 and was 26 at its highest so my risk factors are low but im scared.

Does anyone have any experience of this who can offer any advice or handholding please? Im sure it's just that I don't eat enough and there's not enough food passing through my gut to make me poop regularly. I live on porridge, yogurt, fruit and soups. Very little in terms of stodgy high volume foods like bread, potatoes, rice, pasta. Portions of those are infrequent and small.

I'm a single parent of 3 with little to no help and terrified of cancer.

@painintheargh .. I've been ok, just want to get a date, I think the 'not knowing' can drive you mad if you think too hard about it.
Having to go to your appointment when you've had hardly any sleep and been uncomfortable must make you feel drained. I will be buying lime juice and straws!!
Hopefully you'll get some sleep soon!

DumbledoresWand - flushable wipes are also recommended

@spiggydit I was thinking of sleeping on a towel. I've still got 750mls to go. It's clear yellow liquid I'm passing. It's quite entertaining as I've never pooped what looks like some kind of soda. Actually now I think about it, it looks like Mountain Dew. Luminous yellow. My arse will have Sudocrem in its crevasse for days knowing how that stuff sticks through many a wash and wipe.

Clear yellow - winning

When they give you a write up on their findings on the day - - they grade your prep

Yellow = youll likely be graded excellent

I've just come across this thread. OP wishing you well and hope all goes well for you. Your descriptions of the colonoscopy prep and the foods you are taking are great, quite entertaining, but I'm sure it's not like that for you!

I'm a veteran of colonoscopies. Always had sedation for them, would refuse if they didn't give that to me.

I use a straw to drink the cold prep, it helps mask the taste.

I also bought some Boots adult incontinence pants and honestly they are the best thing ever for during and just after the prep. I can lie down in the bed and snooze without any worry.

I hope all will be well for everyone going through this test. BTW mine was for the C word too, and they removed some polyps, had to go back for another as some of the polyps were very large. Thankfully all clear in the end. I hope it's the same for you. I will be checked every three years now.

I'm watching Derry girls on my phone with my big headphones on and dancing to the music while washing my hands. I fear tomorrow I'll be singing Rock the Boat and speaking in an Irish accent during my procedure. My grandad was the grandson of Irish grandparents but that's as far as it goes and I've been learning Gaelic on Duolingo for fun. Ffs everytime I get up to wash my hands I get to the point of drying them and have to sit down again. This jug is running through a lot faster. Once ds in in bed and I've stopped going so often I'm going to sleep on a towel with a pad. I'm knackered. Hard to believe I was in London yesterday it seems weeks ago now.

keyboardkat - lovely to hear you got the all clear :)
They want me in for another colonoscopy this year - as one of the polyps they removed was large..
Encouraging to hear that your large polyps were ok etc

Ah thanks. I'm sure you will be fine too. My polyps were BIG.... I saw the report and the diagrams and TBH I was surprised but of course delighted all was benign and they got the suckers out!

It might hopefully be reassuring for others that rectal bleeding of dark stuff does not always mean cancer. I had an endoscopy first as dark blood usually originates in the stomach region. That was clear, so off to round 2. I was worried for sure, but I got great care and attention and oh my - those sedation drugs are soooo good!

I hope you will be ok, as I am sure you will be. Isn't it amazing that they can snare the buggery polyps by colonoscopy rather than using a surgical knife. Hats off to the colonoscopy folk, I will be forever grateful.

Before I'd experienced the prep and had THE FEAR I was amazed at how cool posters were about repeated colonoscopies. I still think you are cool and brave though because although not agonising it's not nice and there's still the huge anxiety about what might be lurking in there. My arse is getting sore now so there's that too so hats off to you brave repeat scopers. I think the lack of food is making me a bit wappy here. My prep is done and I had a little dance to celebrate the end of the nasty drink. Just need to finish my apple juice now and hope I get some sleep. I hope I don't shit myself. I'll give it another 2 hours and hope I'm done by then.

They are super clever re polyp removal - they removed each of mine with different methods
Im on the list 4 endoscopy eek
( no dark blood though) ...
I had positive qfit tests but the numbers were ' just ' 14 & 20..
I have (/ had?) Iron deficiency anemia too though - - had iron iv at hosp in may

Agree they are wizards!

Not to scare you or anyone, but I had severe anaemia also, which was the result of occult (internal) bleeding at first so I didn't notice, just got absolutely whacked with exhaustion and couldn't do the stairs without seeing stars! Of course once I saw the evidence - the dark stuff, then it was endoscopy and colonoscopy.

I don't (touch wood) have cancerous stuff, but what they did discover was that one of the larger polyps was bleeding slowly and that was the issue....

I had two units of blood, followed after the colonoscopy by an iron infusion. I could have beaten Usain Bolt after that!

Hope you will be ok, and I am sure you will, but I'm not going to lie, waiting around for results has to be up there as one of the most torturous things on the planet.

I felt amazing for the first 7 days after iron iv :)

Biopsies ( 6 - 2 per polyp) all came back ok :)

Ive been diagnosed with post viral fatigue - had glandular fever last year & never fully recovered...

I have an appt with a private rheumatologist next month re my legs..

I also have blood tests being done 4 rhuematoid arthritis , ovarian cancer & another feretin check..

Very glad they got the polyps out - we have bowel cancer in our fam

@worldwidetravel2017 You poor thing, you have a lot on your plate there.

Here's hoping all goes well. I think we get the strength from somewhere to cope, I don't know where it comes from, but you just get through it somehow.

Thank you.
Thankfully i am doing ok ish.. off to Cornwall for a few days next week which will be lovely .
Being well looked after - had steak cooked 4 me tonight by someone thats very attentive to me having beef / iron etc

Bless you @painintheargh hope it all goes well tomorrow and you get a decent and uninterrupted sleep

@worldwidetravel2017 you have a lot going on there and I hope you have a fantastic break. Cornwall is beautiful.
I've set my alarm for 5.30am so that I can have a drink before I'm nil by mouth from

1. My arse is sore and bleeding slightly now when I very gently wipe. I'm hoping I'm nearly done as I want to sleep asap. It's been a long day. Thanks for keeping me company and the hand hold.

Thank you
Hope tomorrow goes okay- let us know how it goes etc
Take care and enjoy some nice food after :)

Thank you. I only got up once in the night but have been again this morning. I've had my last drink but have a banging headache and feel a bit rubbish. I had a dream that they didn't tell me anything and I had to wait weeks for the results so that was unsettling. My appointment is at 10 although they have said that's just the time to arrive and not the time of my procedure so I've no idea when it will actually be done although the nurse said I'd be home by 3. I'm trying to think what to have to eat later but no idea at all. I feel a bit sick this morning from lack of food and have achey knees and back from sitting on the loo all day.
Last time I had a gastroscopy I became very distressed by the throat spray and feeling like I couldn't swallow. I knew I could be even so I was beside myself about it. I'm hoping they can do the dirty then straight away sedate me. Do I have to have the spray?

Hope it goes okay for you @painintheargh
New to the thread and have colonoscopy booked for 2 weeks time. Absolutely dreading the prep, although you have made it seem not so bad, so thank you 😁
When do you have to leave for the hospital? My journey will be an hour's drive, so that's going to be fun with a runny bum 😬
Hope your gastroscopy is okay too 🙂

@WhispersOfWickedness good luck for yours! I'm a 10 minute taxi ride away. I've been to the loo a couple of times this morning but there's hardly anything there now so you should be ok. Take a pad and a pack of wipes just in case to make yourself feel less worried.

Im starting to get really anxious now about it all. I've got no one close at home if it's bad news. It will be interesting to see what the gastroscopy shows because I've had trouble for years despite high dose lansoprazole.

I was going to wear period pants just in case! Got a massive shopping list based on this thread and others for things like moist toilet paper, squash and sudocrem 😆
I can't remember from your thread, are you being sedated? Are they doing the colonoscopy and gastroscopy at the same time??
I'm not too worried about my actual procedure and results, i'm on a gastroenterology pathway rather than a cancer one as judging by my bloods/samples etc, IBD is looking most likely.
I really hope you find some non-scary answers to your symptoms, good luck 🤞

@WhispersOfWickedness yes to sedation and the double joy procedures. I've been tidying up and doing laundry this morning as the place was a tip. Still is but looks better than it did. Alexa lied and said it wouldn't rain but it has been so my washing is wetter than when I hung it out. My stomach feels so empty and I feel more sick than earlier. I'll be glad to eat later.

@painintheargh .. glad you managed to get some sleep.
Will be thinking about you today, hope everything goes as planned, and you're back at home planning which of your favourite foods you're having for tea x

Because I had to stop drinking at 6am I've not been able to do the last bit of drinking. I drank what I could at 6 but obviously couldn't keep drinking all night. I have drunk all the prep though. It's the extra fluids I couldn't manage in their entirety. The leaflet they give you is awful because it's not clear on the diet and I had to keep phoning to ask questions. There's no way I'd have been able to drink over 4 lites yesterday and then another litre overnight. Hardly any poop now. Just tiny amounts of yellow mucousy stuff. I hope my prep is ok. I'll be worrying about that now 😩 Just waiting for my taxi. I've got a book and my phone and headphones to watch stuff or listen to music. I'm sure I'll cry before the day is out I feel tearful enough.

Bless you. Not too long now OP.

I'm autistic too and completely get both the anxiety and the stress that will add here besides the normal difficulties.

When I'm at my worst, I try to think, take it one minute at a time - all you ever have to do is get through the next minute. And repeat.