Colon Cancer Symptoms
Don't wait for symptoms to alert you to the presence of cancer. Unfortunately, colon cancer can grow for years before causing any symptoms. Although knowing what to look out for certainly can't hurt. If you have any of the following symptoms for more than a week, talk to your doctor about getting screened for colorectal cancer.
You're pooping more or less often. The presence of a tumor in your bowel throws things out of whack. Your body will try to adjust to its presence, demands, and byproducts therefore you may experience changes in your bowel movements. If a tumor is slowly growing it will inhibit the flow of solid waste. You may or may not notice that you're going less often. Should the tumor get large enough though it may become very difficult for your poop to get by it and you'll end up constipated. The tumor may obstruct your bowel. That's why it's best to get regular screenings rather than rely on symptoms to alert you to the presence of the cancer.
Your stool is thinner than usual. Imagine a traffic accident on a highway, that stops traffic from flowing as usual in both lanes. When one of the two lanes is stopped what do the cars do? They slow down and all flow into the one lane that is open. The same sort of thing happens in the bowel. Everything is flowing fine and dandy until a tumor grows causing an obstruction. As the obstruction gets bigger, the space around it gets tighter. As you might expect tumors tend to cause this effect of narrowed stool.
You have stomach cramping or bloating. Bloating could be the result of a bowel obstruction. Cramping can be caused by constipation or diarrhea. In more advanced stages of colon cancer, severe abdominal cramping may be caused by the tumor poking through the bowel wall.
There's bright red blood in or on your poop. Tumors tend to bleed. Not a whole lot and not constantly, but they do bleed. As a result, some of that blood may be found in your stool. If the tumor is in the right colon, the blood will most likely be dried and virtually invisible by the time the poop leaves the body. However, if the tumor is in the rectum or toward the end of the left colon, it may still be fresh and therefore, bright red.
You constantly feel tired. If you work ten hours a day and sleep two, it's little wonder why you're exhausted. But if you're caught up on your sleep and still feel tired, there may be another force at work. Anemia can be caused by insufficient iron in the diet, but also by tumors.
You've experienced unexplained weight loss. Many of us wouldn't want to question unexplained weight loss. Yet even though the prospect of losing weight without even trying may seem a blessing, it really is something to question. The reason is that weight loss that comes out of nowhere is generally a sign that something is wrong with the body.
You are gassy. Could be beans, but that's not the only explanation. A tumor that is obstructing the colon or rectum can also trap air and cause gas.
These are only a few symptoms, so just don't wait for them and get in to your doctor for regular checkups.