rectal bleeding, diarhea(diarrhea), constipation, gas....colon cancer?

[csweetgurl]

please i could desperately use some advice i'm so very worried!! thank you in advance!

I'm a female and 19 years old. I know colon cancer is very uncommon in the young but i am very worried. Last summer 08 I began to have rectal bleeding and a change in bowel habits. I also began to have more frequent diarhea (diarrhea) but not as full blown as now. I didn't realize at the time, but i know i had had a hemorrhoid for many months before this happened. the following november 08 i was in college and began to have intense lower right abdominal pain to the point where i had to hold my breath and hope it'd pass or sleep on my side so i could wake up and it'd be gone. the prior months were consistent with weekly rectal bleeding. i had a LOT of gas and constipation this november. My mother finally put her foot down and told me to visit health services at my school. I did, they diagnosed an external hemorrhoid, took urine and blood tests that came back normal, and a general xray of my abdomin (abdomen). The x-ray showed I had EXTREME blockage of my intestine full of stool. :( eww. the head nurse came in and poked my stomach asking me my level of pain and she said if it was any worse they would have sent me to the ER for surgery. But then all she said was take more fiber and water and you'll be fine. i didn't do anything and the symptoms just vanished...at least the intense abdominal pain. i had diarhea (diarrhea) and alternating constipation following esp. during stressful times and some rectal bleeding more or less occasionally.
          
however in may 09 during finals i began to have the intense abdominal pain again but on my lower right side. i had a lot of rectal bleeding (bright red), gas, and diarhea (diarrhea). when i went home for the summer and visited a general doctor she said did a urine test and took my history and said i prob had IBS and that i should take fiber tablets and elminate dairy for 6 mo. and see if my symptoms did better. She said to return in 6 months.

I did that and pretty much eliminate almost all foods and had soup or sandwiches for 2 weeks which made me lose weight i assume because i exercised. however the week after that i started to feel light headed every other day while i was sitting down. it was soo quick that i almost felt i had imagined it. i had a lot of rectal bleeding as well that weekend bright red. stool is dark like forest green but i cant tell if blood is in them...the toilet just all turns red. something different that scared me from this occurence of rectal bleeding was that i noticed something else on the toilet paper other than stool and blood. I can't describe it in medical terms because i have no idea was it was. It looked like jelly is all i can say. are these blood clots, vessels?? i don't know.....should i be worried????  i was also really tired for a couple days too and must have slept over 12 hours for three days each. i had slight constipation this weekend.   the most constant symptom all year has been diarhea (diarrhea) i go like 10 times a day or more it feels i go every 15 minutes sometimes less. rectal bleeding is less constant but can i ignore this because i have a hemorrhoid? i dont want to go in for a colonoscopy when im so young, colon cancer is so uncommon for someone my age, and if all i have is IBS. please i could desperately use some advice i'm so very worried!! thank you in advance!
p.s. i also have had frequent eye inflammation in both eyes that just began out of nowhere when i've been wearing contacts for over 6 years. i dont think this is relevant but just want to make sure i wrote everything i've gone through so i can get some advice! thank you!

[Morecambe]

Colon cancer is very rare at your age but there are very infrequent postings on Medhelp where it has occurred at your age.

Rectal bleeding is never normal and, from your symptoms, it appears that the underlying cause might not have fully emerged from the consultations that you have undergone so far..

If you are regularly tired then you may be anaemic (due to minor but continuous blood loss).

My advice would be to request a colonoscopy at a hospital which specialises in the treatment of G.I. illnesses.

regards
Morecambe

[coughting]

I would visit a GI doctor.  He should be able to help you with meds.  Even though colon cancer is rare in the young, chrons is not.  Need to get this checked out.

[csweetgurl]

Thank you for your advice. I will return home in a month and will schedule an appointment with a GI doctor to get some peace of mind. I just wanted to get some other advice that I'm not being a hypochondriac. I'm not tired all the time though I go through cycles of a week of intense exhausting and another week of normal or high energy levels. I usually correlate most of the symptoms around the time that I get rectal bleeding. I also noticed some lower left abdominal pain yestereday after I ate. If the pains occur mostly after I eat (some I've noticed that it correlates with eating other times it isn't) can I be less worried that it's something serious? I also have a question about how often rectal bleeding has to occur for it to be colon cancer? Would you have to be bleeding every day or week for it to be the c word? Thank you all in advance again!

[coughting]

Don't know the answer to that but you need to check it out.  With your pain being in the left side and bleeding you could have UC.  So get it checked out as soon as you can.
A colonscopy should show any cancer, but I really doubt it is cancer.  But you need to find out for sure.