Hello All.
I'm hoping someone can assure me that I'm doing the right thing. I'm experiencing some very new issues that are bowel related. First off, I guess I should give some background and some possibilities on why my mind is where it is. I'm a 35 year old, healthy, active, lively male with a very loving wife who is being as supportive as she can. About 2 months ago is when everything started. I had one singular incident with a hemorrhoid (I'm in hopes this is what it is). I felt some pressure for a few days and it was 100% relieved when I noticed blood after a bowel movement. I paid pretty close attention through the week following this incident. Side Note: My bowels have always been a little inconsistent from what I remember...nothing really alarming though. More often than not, it's usually once a day, first thing the morning. Immediately when I wake (and mostly after a cup of coffee), I have to take a BM.
Moving along, the second week is when things get a little odd, and have me more anxious than I've been in 35 years. On another side note I've had a lot of life changes in 2016, we unexpectedly lost my mother in Feb, one of my close friends was dx with Stage 4 Colon Cancer at age 35 in April, the week after this all started one of my best friends also unexpectedly died. After getting the news of my friends passing (one week after the first bleeding incident), I have another episode of the "hemorrhoid" after a very hard, large BM. I immediately freak out and assume the worst. After this, my anxiety hit an all time high (10 out of 10) and it affected every aspect of my life, especially sleep. My nerves are shot and so are my bowels. We had two golf tournaments during this week. I played in both...back to back days. After playing in these tournaments, my lower left side started to hurt. Of course, I automatically related it to the bleeding and bowel issue. On Saturday of that week, I had my very first panic attack. I immediately requested an appointment to see my GP the following Monday as I was on the verge of going to the hospital because of my lack of sleep and nerves.
2 weeks into the first sign of anything wrong, my dr says I have a strained oblique and that my symptoms and pics I showed her (yes, I took picks of the evidence) were signs of a hemorrhoid...and the bowel issues were most likely my nerves. She did a full panel of blood work and everything came back normal (actually better than normal per assessment). She gave me some anxiety meds and set a follow up for the next week. My bowels were still inconsistent. I've become obsessed with checking, and triple checking at this point. Nothing too crazy. The following weekend, the "hemorrhoid" rears it's head again. I tell my GP about it and she still thinks she is accurate with her previous dx, but we order a refer to a GI doc for full assessment (8/22). First available apt was 11/1 since it didn't appear to be an emergency. We are doing a stool sample this week to see if there is any sort of bleeding...if for nothing other than peace of mind.
My anxiety has never left me and the pain comes and goes but is present everyday. It's almost nonexistent when I'm standing or moving, but when I sit down, I can feel some pain/discomfort almost everytime. It ranges from a 2-5 on a 10 scale. My anxiety is still pretty high and all I can think about is having something that is VERY bad. Some days are better than others, but I'm looking toward the 11/1 GI apt so I can figure out what is going on. My bowels change from normal, to D, to C, then back to normal. As I mentioned, I never paid too much attention to my bowels, but now I am obsessed with monitoring. At times, I will notice what looks like tomato skin (it could be as we eat tomatoes frequently), but can't help but think that it's something else and possibly dried blood...or the inside lining of my intestines. If the pain is GI, it's obviously my descending colon. I'm worried that it could be any sort of IBD...or worse CC. My mother had UC, so I know what she had to deal with for the better part of her adult life (not sure if that is hereditary or not - I believe it is).
Can anyone that has been dx'd with IBD or similar condition please give your feedback? Again, I'm seeing a GI doc on 11/1, but is there anything I can do between now and then?
I'm hoping someone can assure me that I'm doing the right thing. I'm experiencing some very new issues that are bowel related. First off, I guess I should give some background and some possibilities on why my mind is where it is. I'm a 35 year old, healthy, active, lively male with a very loving wife who is being as supportive as she can. About 2 months ago is when everything started. I had one singular incident with a hemorrhoid (I'm in hopes this is what it is). I felt some pressure for a few days and it was 100% relieved when I noticed blood after a bowel movement. I paid pretty close attention through the week following this incident. Side Note: My bowels have always been a little inconsistent from what I remember...nothing really alarming though. More often than not, it's usually once a day, first thing the morning. Immediately when I wake (and mostly after a cup of coffee), I have to take a BM.
Moving along, the second week is when things get a little odd, and have me more anxious than I've been in 35 years. On another side note I've had a lot of life changes in 2016, we unexpectedly lost my mother in Feb, one of my close friends was dx with Stage 4 Colon Cancer at age 35 in April, the week after this all started one of my best friends also unexpectedly died. After getting the news of my friends passing (one week after the first bleeding incident), I have another episode of the "hemorrhoid" after a very hard, large BM. I immediately freak out and assume the worst. After this, my anxiety hit an all time high (10 out of 10) and it affected every aspect of my life, especially sleep. My nerves are shot and so are my bowels. We had two golf tournaments during this week. I played in both...back to back days. After playing in these tournaments, my lower left side started to hurt. Of course, I automatically related it to the bleeding and bowel issue. On Saturday of that week, I had my very first panic attack. I immediately requested an appointment to see my GP the following Monday as I was on the verge of going to the hospital because of my lack of sleep and nerves.
2 weeks into the first sign of anything wrong, my dr says I have a strained oblique and that my symptoms and pics I showed her (yes, I took picks of the evidence) were signs of a hemorrhoid...and the bowel issues were most likely my nerves. She did a full panel of blood work and everything came back normal (actually better than normal per assessment). She gave me some anxiety meds and set a follow up for the next week. My bowels were still inconsistent. I've become obsessed with checking, and triple checking at this point. Nothing too crazy. The following weekend, the "hemorrhoid" rears it's head again. I tell my GP about it and she still thinks she is accurate with her previous dx, but we order a refer to a GI doc for full assessment (8/22). First available apt was 11/1 since it didn't appear to be an emergency. We are doing a stool sample this week to see if there is any sort of bleeding...if for nothing other than peace of mind.
My anxiety has never left me and the pain comes and goes but is present everyday. It's almost nonexistent when I'm standing or moving, but when I sit down, I can feel some pain/discomfort almost everytime. It ranges from a 2-5 on a 10 scale. My anxiety is still pretty high and all I can think about is having something that is VERY bad. Some days are better than others, but I'm looking toward the 11/1 GI apt so I can figure out what is going on. My bowels change from normal, to D, to C, then back to normal. As I mentioned, I never paid too much attention to my bowels, but now I am obsessed with monitoring. At times, I will notice what looks like tomato skin (it could be as we eat tomatoes frequently), but can't help but think that it's something else and possibly dried blood...or the inside lining of my intestines. If the pain is GI, it's obviously my descending colon. I'm worried that it could be any sort of IBD...or worse CC. My mother had UC, so I know what she had to deal with for the better part of her adult life (not sure if that is hereditary or not - I believe it is).
Can anyone that has been dx'd with IBD or similar condition please give your feedback? Again, I'm seeing a GI doc on 11/1, but is there anything I can do between now and then?
