IBS vs. Colon Cancer: How to Tell the Difference

What are the signs and symptoms of IBS?

Some of the most common symptoms of IBS are changes to bowel movements, including:

• constipation
• diarrhea

Other signs and symptoms can include:

• abdominal pain
• bloating
• excess gas
• a feeling that bowel movements are incomplete
• whitish mucus in your stool

Certain foods or episodes of high stress can trigger symptoms of IBS. Even though it’s a chronic condition, these symptoms can come and go.

Females tend to have an increase in symptoms during their period.

For most people with IBS, symptoms aren’t terribly severe and can be managed with lifestyle changes. Those with severe symptoms may also require medication to manage the disorder.

Diagnosing IBS

To diagnose IBS, your doctor will want to know your medical history, including:

• all the medications you take
• recent infections
• recent stressful events
• basic diet and foods that seem to affect symptoms

Your personal and family history are also important. This includes history of:

• celiac disease
• colon cancer
• inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

Your doctor will do a physical exam to check for abdominal bloating and tenderness. You may not need any additional testing to get a diagnosis of IBS, but some tests can rule out other conditions. These include:

• Blood tests to check for infections, anemia, and other digestive problems.
• Stool tests to check for infections, the presence of blood, and other diseases.

The diagnosis involves a pattern of symptoms, which includes abdominal pain and two or more of the following symptoms:

• Abdominal pain that gets better or worse after a bowel movement.
• Your bowel movements are more or less frequent than you’re used to.
• There’s been a change in the appearance of your stools.

You may be told you have IBS if:

• symptoms began at least 6 months ago
• you’ve had problems at least once a week over the last 3 months

Symptoms of colon cancer, or colorectal cancer, may not become obvious until the cancer starts to spread. It’s a slow growing cancer, which is one reason colonoscopy screenings are so important.

During a colonoscopy, precancerous polyps can be removed before they develop into cancer.

Signs and symptoms of colon cancer can include changes to bowels and bowel habits that last for more than a few days, such as:

• abdominal cramping or pain
• constipation
• dark stool or blood in stool
• diarrhea
• excess gas
• fatigue
• a feeling that bowel movements aren’t complete
• narrowing of the stool
• rectal bleeding
• unexplained weight loss
• weakness

Diagnosing colon cancer

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