When to see a doctor about loose stools?

I wouldn't have been on the suspected cancer pathway, then, as I didn't meet any of those guidelines and I waited a good couple of months for the lower endoscopy the first time around. I can't recall the second quite as clearly, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't within a fortnight (I'd have been worried if the appointment had come through that quickly!).

Hope you manage to make progress on it – fingers crossed.

 

Yep. I even asked my GP if the iron tablets I was taking at the time could cause a false positive. She assured me it wouldn't. I was referred to a specialist who wanted to rerun the test and gave me a list of food and supplements to avoid completely in the couple of days prior to the new test. (Similar to the list in Arnie Pye's post above).

I told him I had been taking iron and regularly ate at least one item on the list (often more) daily and had done prior to the first test. He just laughed and said that happened all the time!

 

I had a false negative on testing, despite being able to see dark red blood in my poo. I had been taking vitamin C.

 

The occult blood test only catches about 1/3 of colon cancers. It is not a reliable test.

 

@Sarah94 Have you been on any antibiotics lately? I started having the occasional problem with loose stools and bloating, and it turned out the Cipro I was on caused me to become lactose intolerant.

 

I hate to say this but you are asking for medical advice. I could give all sorts of rules of thumb but they are all easily enough misinterpreted. The only answer is that if you are worried you should see your doctor. Forums can so easily become places where people falsely reassure each other or encourage others to pursue unnecessary or baseless tests or treatments.

 

Dang, well I certainly didn't stop my vitamin C supplements before doing the test, so that means a false negative was possible.
There's still my low calprotectin though.

 

Nope

 

I know. I will see the doctor. But I feel like doctors are so unreliable that I won't know if I can trust them anyway. I know a bloke who went to his GP about persistent loose stools and GP said that it was probably stress related and didn't refer him on. A couple years later he died of bowel cancer. If it had been caught earlier then he may not have died. So how can I trust the doctor to be right?

Thanks to the cuts to the NHS necessitating reductions in referrals, his two small children are now growing up without their father.

 

I do know what you mean. On the other hand....think of all the times they do get it right. We don't always hear about that. I'm not a huge fan, as many of you probably already know, but some are genuinely very good.

I always have to talk myself into going and will admit that I have caused myself needless suffering by dragging my feet. Reliable or not they definitely can't help if you don't consult them.

I do sympathise with how you feel though.

 

I understand as I feel the same to. I've had stomach problems all my life but recently they've got worse in my upper stomach, also loose stools and pain. The GP refused to refer me, saying I need to take hi strengthPPIs for a few months before they even consider it. And even then, only refer me to indigestion clinic, not even a full gastroenterology appointment! They also refuse to Refer me anywhere except my local hospital, and my local hospital is from my experience bad in terms of care or even investigations. I think some doctors do restrict referrals and it's awful.

In my case I will be seeing a Specific neurogastroenterologist privately when I can, one who was recommended to me, as I just cannot cope with my GP and my local hospital anymore.

I think whether or not there is a suspicion of bowel cancer, it's still worth pushing for a referral. I say that because , even if it is something like IBS or “stress”, there are medications for that that can help loose tools - amitriptyline, mebeverine, etc. Although I think for IBS some doctors do fob you off, don't let them! Things like diet can help to, example low histamine diet I found helpful. Or it may be something else altogether causing loose stools!

 

Sometimes GP referrals are refused or limited higher up the chain by the CCGs or the regional authority is. So while it may well be the individual GP, sometimes it's not their fault.

 

Yes it can be the fault of the CCG or someone higher up, my GP has told me that before about not referring to other hospitals - I’ve been told it’s too expensive. Same with Some pain relief. Funding cuts are to blame in many cases definitely. But the end result is the same

 

That happens here in Canada, also. My doctor referred me to an endocrinologist who refused to see me after reviewing my medical records and test results.

 

Just commenting to add that a persistent change in bowel habit can also be a symptom of ovarian cancer, so any women experiencing this should ask to be checked for this too.

 

I have booked a doctor's appointment.

 

Good luck with it @Sarah94. Hope it goes well.