Strange Goings-on!

Hi Guys

Ok so, I have posted in the UC forum before because I had exhibited some symptoms but I have since been told otherwise. I'll give you a brief run down - apologies this probably will get pretty gross!

Early 2014 I started to pass mucus with stool, and went to my GP. He said his first thought was that I may have an inflammatory bowel disease because I had also had some visible red blood. Next step was a proctoscope, at which point he said he thought he could see proctitis and referred me to a consultant colorectal specialist. He also did a proctoscope but this time said he saw nothing obvious, so he scheduled a sigmoidoscopy to make sure. I then had the sigmoidoscopy and he told me he could see areas of "very mild inflammation" and took biopsies. The biopsies returned normal, and so did every other blood test I had. I have no inflammation markers, no anaemia, and nothing at all unusual that would indicate an inflammatory bowel disease. I am very fortunate in that the consultant that I have is very very well respected and experienced and he told me every step of the way that he was not concerned that I had anything serious, and I am inclined to believe him. He literally does nothing but look at people with bowel diseases and he's telling me he's not concerned so I have to be 99% satisfied that I don't have either UC or Crohns. I was worried about the potential for one of those diagnoses so I asked him repeatedly to confirm it and (bless him) he humoured me.

After the results of the biopsies were returned, the consultant explained that he wanted to do a stool test to check for any infection and to rule out 100% absolutely no inflammatory bowel disease (just to be sure across the board basically). So right now I am awaiting those results. He told me that I have a fissure - he thinks that the fresh blood is more than likely coming from there - and he kindly said that the mucus might "just be me!" - meaning that I shouldn't be worried and it's perhaps just a lifestyle thing or a harmless overproduction for an unknown reason.

So, now on to my symptoms - here is where I would love opinions please if you all would be so kind :) Does any of this sound familiar to IBS? Or perhaps it is a food issue?

I pass mucus with stool or sometimes on its own
I notice an increase in symptoms during times of stress or anxiety (I used to be agoraphobic/have panic attacks and have been on a huuuuuge journey with it the past couple of years - nearly back to my old self now :)
I am not constipated as such but I do notice that my stool is sometimes difficult to pass or is in small, very dense pieces
I pass small/medium amounts of stool 2/3 times a day on average, so more frequently than I used to
I very often have indigestion or heartburn and I have to watch what I eat acid wise - in fact I cannot eat or drink fruit at all because it reeeeally doesn't agree with me
I sometimes feel ill or unwell, even nauseated, when I need to empty my bowels and this feeling goes away afterwards

I also wanted to ask has anyone else had a fissure before? It doesn't cause me any pain, which I'm grateful for, but I would like to find a way to heal it because I sometimes get alarmed when I see blood. And I think it mixes with the mucus which gathers in my rectum - an arresting sight! Haha

If anyone would like to offer an opinion on this I would be grateful. I'm not overly worried about it because I don't feel unhealthy and I don't appear to have to adapt my life very much to suit my digestive system, I would just be interested to hear from other people with similar experience :)

Thanks

You can also try adding psyllium or some other source of soluble fiber. Passing small hard stool is pretty much the definition of constipation.

Thanks for the replies, folks!

I got my stool results back and it says everything is normal. My doctor says my calprotectin is slightly raised but its nothing to worry about because he already knows I have mild inflammation from my sigmoidoscopy. It's just a bit difficult for me to get my head around, because the more I read about IBS the more I think its probably that - but then why do I have inflammation?? There's no cause whatsoever. He's said a bunch of times that I don't have IBD (people with ibd have very clear, significantly raised calprotectin, among other obvious results that I have not presented) and I don't have any infection or structural abnormality.

I read a bit about all this (I'm a (non clinical) biology student but not of the digestive system) because it interests me and at first it looked like if you have inflammation you have IBD, and in fact many IBD people on forums will go straight to this diagnosis as well but its beginning to look like this is probably a much bigger grey area than its made out to be. It seems to me that you can have mild erythema but have no diagnosis or cause because its completely idiopathic. I suppose its possible that some people's IBD starts off as mild and then progresses, but I haven't even been diagnosed with proctitis or anything so, I can't imagine that my doctor would just leave that possibility out. I'm sure he would have just said "this looks like the start of (blah blah)" you know?

Another thing I am considering is food sensitivity. I had a test for celiac disease a few years ago and it was negative, but I think it might be worth while trying to see a dietician and trying an elimination diet to see if there's something I'm eating that's causing it. I haven't noticed any very quick or sudden reactions to anything obvious but I suppose it could be more long-term build up type stuff. I suppose its just kind of frustrating to not know.

Anyway! Thanks for listening :)