I said I wouldn't google but I did anyway....FFS!!

[majorpita]

Now I'm a trembling mess

I've had severe rectal pain for the last three days. I've had diarrhoea, constipation, can't even pass wind without feeling like my bowel is about to burst and even when I do have a BM I feel like I still need to go, like I'm contantly constipated when I know I'm not because I've just had diarrhoea. Then earlier today (tmi coming) I had a funny shaped poo which I didn't think much of until I bloody googled and now I find it's a sign, along with my other symptoms, of something very serious.

I've made an appointment with the doctor for half 4 but it'll be weeks before I get any results. I'd say I'm shitting myself but the pun just isn't funny today, I'm so scared.

Anyone have these kind of symptoms with IBS or something that's not life threatening?

You do realise that you could google "runny nose" and come up with results for nose cancer?

The vast likelihood is that it's not something serious, and if the doctor does a finger-up-the-bum check, you might even get some official reassurance today.

Hope it all goes well for you!

Could be all manner of things, including soemthign evry innocuous like the curry or barbecue you had a few days ago. " funny shaped poo " is indicative of nothing in particular afaik!

Piles? Step away from google. X x

Sorry. I have no idea why i put kisses at the end of that post.

Thanks for the posts (and the kisses idrank )

It's not piles. Well not external ones. It's not a fissure, I have a few but the pain is higher up, inside me. I don't think it's anything I ate because dp ate everything I had in the last few days and he's fine. The funny shape poo was pencil shaped which is indicative of an obstruction.

I better get ready to go. Hopefully you're right SC. Not looking forward to a finger up the bum but I'd rather it if it can put my mind at rest than be left waiting for weeks.

I'll post back later.

Good luck at the doctors. Let us know how you get on.

Well I went to the doctor and he was very dismissive. Basically treated me like a hypocondriac and insisted on it being fissures or piles even though I told him it wasn't and that externally there was nothing abnormal. He said someone my age (31) shouldn't worry about it because it's probably just inflammation. He prescribed antibiotics "in case it's an infection", external cream (what for I don't know!) and suppositories to line my insides for whatever reason.

So I've got 40 quid less in my pocket and I don't feel any better but at least the doctor earned 40 for my seven minute visit and he got to play 'guess what's wrong' which is the important thing

I'll be going for a second opinion on Wednesday!

i had similar symptoms which were dismissed as piles and a virus, and hypochondria

changed docs when we moved house , mentioned symptoms and got referred for immediate colonoscopy. have got crohn's disease. was also worried i had bowel cancer

Hi majorpita - that sounds horrendous, poor you

I would definately go for a second opinion
Why did it cost £40 - was that the perscriptions? Sheesh

hi

Lulu - I'm going to ask for that procedure. I'm just not happy with a doctor guessing what's wrong with me. Hopefully he's right but I'd rather not leave it and find out when it's too late that he was wrong! Thanks for your post, it has reassured me. I know crohns is not an easy thing to deal with but it's a lot less scary than what I had been thinking about.

Yurt - I'm in Ireland so we have to pay the docs. It was 40 euro plus another 40 euro for the meds so really I'm 80 quid out of pocket (about £65).

My imagination has run to all corners of craziness and doom today....I REPEAT - NEVER GOOGLE!

It's possible that you're still constipated. Basically, if the "old poo" blocks the gut, diahorreah (sp) can leak out of the sides. This can cause any subsequent poo to be a funny shape - ie. ribbon shaped etc., and you can be left with the feeling of still needing to go.

I get this because of my IBS. Try and drink lots of water, have warm baths, go for a walk, eat some prunes or figs etc.

I have to be honest - I have had extensive tests & IBS diagnosed

My pain is very like yours (sometimes I can't sit down because it feels like I am sitting on a red hot poker), my poos come in many varied shapes

it is worth a second opinion IMO and IME, i was fobbed off for years, with increasingly worsening symptoms and pain, i was really ill one time, to the point of being queried for hospital admission , but doc said it was food posioning

i had literally been shitting blood , the toilet was filled. and that had been going on for days. and i had pain that was worse than labour pains

and still never referred

luckily, new doc sorted me out and within 3 weeks ( I went via BUPA) had had my tests, colonoscopy and a barium xray for the upper GI and various bloods and biopsies, also had a sigmoidoscopy before the colonoscopy..crohn;s was diagnosed and i was on meds which helped so much

and have been pretty much symptom free for a long while

it really sounds like something that is going to be easily dealt with , rather than your worst case scenario

Majorpita - Im really at that - I didnt know you had to pay for docs in Ireland

How do poor people cope?
Choosing whether to call the doctor or eat etc must be a nightmare

katymac, TMI!!

Make sure you don't use toothpaste with fluoride in it, seriously, I had chronic IBS until I gave it up. I also had severe migraines and they have disappeared. I use natural toothpastes from Holland Barrett.

Lots of toothpastes have sodium lauryl sulphate in them, which is antifreeze!

LittleF that's very interesting. It might explain why I've been having hard poo (I'm so sorry and embarrassed for the tmi)followed by diarrhoea most of the day. I've never been to the toilet so much in one day in my life and then each time it's different...maybe it's IBS? I've been drinking buckets of water and walking does help but I get caught unawares with the most awful stabbing pain like Katymac describes.

Lulu that is awful Hopefully they will take me seriously and I'll not go through what you had to. Glad you got it sorted out. Does your diet help? Do you find particular foods cause a flare up? I eat a lot of white bread and a friend mentioned today that I should cut it out.

Yurtgirl - there's a medical-card system which is means tested based on income, family circumstances etc. I'm just outside the accepted income bracket so I have to pay.

Thanks for your help everyone. I'm off to bed. I'll post back here on Wednesday afternoon. Night all

You ned something to soften the "old poo" that's blocking it. Senekot etc?

I once had old poo (TMI) so heavily blocked you could clearly see it in my abdomen and I'm no skinnie minnie! Dr gave me movicol to fix it; I apparently have IBS but am not convinced!

I take aloe vera gel every days. It has almost completely aleviated my symptoms. Your symptoms sound very similar to mine. I also get bloated and get right sided pain, just around my ovaries. Apparently it is bowel pain, rather than ovaries though.

this sounds like me as well. I also googled and freaked. but then I saw that the symptoms for internal piles were very similar to the more serious probs.

i get a bit of bleeding, feel full a lot of the time, pain and pressure. the only way i can describe the pressure feeling is crude: feels like a pole up my bum . the prob with piles has worsened since giving birth 3 mos ago. but the pain is higher up this time and hasn't gone away.

went to gp a few days ago and got, ahem, examined and prescribed cortizone for internal and external application (yuk) as well as fibogel for my loose stools (sorry tmi). let's see if improves.

i also worry it's something serious as my dad died of colorectal cancer in 96. in the US, my siblings were told they'd be checked regularly from age 40 (I just turned 40). 1 sis and 3 bros were found to have polyps - harmless but need to be watched. it makes me think i should be referred since i'm having so many bowel probs but my gp doesn't seemed concerned.

I hope all goes well with your next visit and will watch to see how you got on.