MRI would it show

[Popsicle82646]

I'm considering laying private for a full Body MRI as part of a health MOT.

Please no judgment on why I am choosing to have one, I do have health anxiety so I have my reasons.

I wanted to ask if anyone could tell me if a Full body MRI would detect:
Bowel cancer
Oesophageal cancer
Stomach cancer
Neck/throat cancer

Thank you ☺️

Thank you! I am willing to try anything I just struggle to accept that the pain is due to IBS 🤯

I have ibs and believe me the pain is excruciating and left sided. Have you seen a dietitian? You need to work out what your triggers are.

The op does not need these. She needs psychiatric or psychological help

You have no idea what she needs, you don't know anything about her.

I had an MRI to rule out a brain tumour.

Predominantly, but tests cost very little to do LFTs and not necc totally isolated to ruq, often get central and epigastric pain

Left (typically lower abdo) pain with change in bowel is often diverticulitis/osis but typically that's age 50+

But what if it is? Your symptoms clearly indicate IBS, so you need to try to accept the diagnosis. You’ve had treatment for HA, so clearly your GP has been involved for a long time. Having unnecessary, costly, diagnostic tests is feeding into your HA. Follow the advice your GP has given you for managing IBS, accept that you may always have some degree of pain because of the IBS and stop googling your symptoms.

Neither do you! Unless you're her GP.

Well, my IBS turned out to be IBD with negative calprotectin test, but positive FIT test.

I would be cautious about the MRI. I had one after I was diagnosed with IBD via colonoscopy. It was to check the small bowel for IBD, which luckily there wasn't any. What it did show was the extent of the IBD, which was only reported as a very small area of thickening of the bowel wall.

I'm saying be cautious because if I'd had the IBD found on MRI the first time, I'd have had no idea what the thickening was and that would have freaked me out a bit. Only further tests could then determine what that was if MRI was the first port of call. That is not a good position to put yourself in with health anxiety.

If you have endoscopy they do at least tell you the result straight away, which I find comforting as there's no anxious waiting around and wondering.

Have you been tested for coeliac? Sorry haven't read all replies

Where can you go and just demand procedures without those being asked for by a doctor? Seems very odd

I'm not 'demanding' anything, you can easily go privately and pay for scans with or without referral across the country.

There’s just no reasoning with this. I really hope you get help

It's worth considering possibilities like MCAS, coeliac, SIBO, food sensitivities etc.

OP, have you connected with an IBS support group? It might be helpful to hear experiences of other people and the range of symptoms experienced.

The difference is that I didn't say what she needed. I said what investigations are usual.
Understand now?

Bowels, kidneys and reproductive organs so all abdominal, hoping it can be done all in the one scan. My private GP appointment is this Friday.

Typical IBS symptoms, exactly the same as mine which are worse if I'm anxious.

I'd certainly ask for Coeliac disease to be tested though to rule it out.
Have you had any blood tests ? If so anything indicated ?

Have you followed the NHS guidelines for refusing IBS symptoms for - few weeks to see if your symptoms lessen?

Do you eat your 30g of fibre a day?

Do you keep a food diary & show it to the GP?

www.nhs.uk/conditions/irritable-bowel-syndrome-ibs/diet-lifestyle-and-medicines/

Full body MRIs are generally a bad thing and they are a disaster for someone with health anxiety, you are bound to find something incidental. If you feel you're not getting good care for your pain and loose stools then go to see a private gastroenterologist and get their opinion, and any tests that they think sensible. MRIs are rubbish at picking up bowel cancer and your chances of having it with a negative FIT and calprotectin are pretty tiny.

However, if you can't afford the tests that a private consultant will suggest (and realistically a colonoscopy is the only think likely to be useful) then I'd go back to the GP and ask for a routine referral to gastroenterology. IBS is by far the most likely but there are differentials like microscopic colitis and bile salt malabsorption to consider.

Gut pain is really awful and pain killers don't touch it.

What have you tried so far to eliminate from your diet?
What else have you don't think try and improve your symptoms?

You could find some help by asking people what they did when they had your symptoms.

For me I cut out fizzy drinks and jelly as both contain artificial sweeteners and those give me the runs. Lots of things include them now. I can't have anything that says reduced sugar or low sugar because they've added sweeteners.

Little tips like that from others may help?

You'd have to do this every 6 months to be sure though.
I would suggest some kind of therapy, although the one size fits all atrocity that is CBT won't help this.

If you keep looking, you will eventually find something.
The reason we don't have full body scans in general is that many anomalies are quickly dealt with by the immune system. So if there was an abnormality inour cells, the immune system usually clears them up. So we all likely have constant cancers that are dealt with without us knowing.
If you scan constantly, you wold find many abnormalities that would scare you to death even if they'd normally be cleared up.

It's a bad investment.
Just have regular check ups, blood tests, and get on with your life. Life is very short.

Thanks for the replies.

I'm going to have a private appointment on Monday to discuss a CT or MRI of the abdomen.

I also suffer with a lot of back pain so I think h to is will be beneficial and help moving forward.

X

It won't though, you still have underlying health anxiety. When your gut pain is diagnosed as IBS you'll become fixated on something else. Where our minds go, our bodies follow. Fix your health anxiety and you'll likely get better x