I was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer at 31 the symptoms that made me get a colonoscopy

A young mother has revealed the symptoms that led to her stage 3 colorectal diagnosis.About 150,000 Americans are diagnosed annually with colorectal cancer, and a growing number of young people are finding themselves battling the disease.Though the typical recommendation is to begin getting colonoscopies at 45, Bri Mahon noticed a few red flags that prompted her to get a colonoscopy at 31 — a choice that would prove to be life-saving.A staggering 20% of colorectal cases in 2019 were discovered in people younger than 55, up from 11% in 1995.Alarmingly, this younger demographic tends to be diagnosed in the disease’s later stages, in part because doctors and patients are quick to dismiss or misdiagnose symptoms.Mahon recalled that she has always suffered from low-grade GI distress, saying on TikTok, “The past few years, I have had just gut issues in general, a lot of bloating, a lot of signs that would point more toward IBS.”She maintained a clean diet free of gluten, dairy and soy to alleviate irritation and took a panel of allergy and blood tests, but no discernible source for her upset was found.Two years ago, she noticed a marked decrease in her energy levels and an increase in her anxiety.

“I actually had to step back from the work that I was doing.I was having panic attacks, and I think it’s just because my body was really, really, really tired and going through whatever it’s going through, growing a tumor,” she said.Colon cancer, like many other cancers, coincides with feelings of total exhaustion; roughly 8% of younger patients report symptoms of fatigue in the months before a diagnosis.

Tumor-generated hormones can deplete energy and contribute to general malaise.Having given birth to twin boys at 23 weeks, Mahon initially assumed that the blood in her stool and the exhaustion she felt were postpartum symptoms.“I thought the bleeding was just hemorrhoids from pregnancy,” she explained.

“My IBS symptoms were flaring up, and I just ki...