Hi, I am a 24yr female engineer. I sometimes have red blood in my stools (no constipation/pain) and occasional pain in my left side. When I visit the toilet, I usually feel as if I still have some left in my bowel - v. uncomfy feeling. This has been going on for the past 7 months now - intensifying. The worst thing is constant tiredness. I consulted two Gastroenterologists and they both suspect cancer (after an *cough* examination, one of them said he spotted polyps?) because my mom had breast cancer . They want me to do colonoscopy but my mom and uncle have had them done and it was so painful. Can I be experiencing some other symptom? Is there an alternative to colonoscopy? I can t believe I m asking this on the internet, but feeling pretty ill today (very rare), browsed the web and found this great site so gave it a shot!
Blood in stool can be due to multiple causes and not always due to cancer.  But understand clearly that you need get properly investigated to find out the cause of bleed. There are other tests like virtual CT, but nothing can replace colonoscopy. Colonoscopy is done under anesthesia if you feel you cannot tolerate it. But understand that accurate treatment can be offered only after confirmation of diagnosis. Even if cancer colon is diagnosed, nothing to worry since it has very high cure rates. So go ahead and gets copy done