Does this sound like Mouth/Stomach/Esophagus cancer?

[electric87]

Hi all. I started having health anxiety out of the blue earlier this year when I experienced a panic attack at work. Since then it's come and gone and been mostly under control. However I was knocked out unusually bad by a cold a fortnight ago and since then I feel like my health has legitimately deteriorated. Right now though I am pretty much convinced I have some kind of advanced cancer of the digestive tract. My symptoms include:

- Peristent strain/lump in throat exacerbated by swallowing
- Lack of appetite/fullness shortly after eating
- Unhealthy skin palor
- Bristly hair feeling
- Muscle aches and pains all over, especially abdomen, chest and neck with weak atrophy feeling in legs
- Inability to sleep for more than 4-5 hours, waking up with heart racing and chest hurting this morning
- Generally hazy sometimes headachy feeling in head
- Bad taste/funny feeling at back and top of throat
- Discomfort around sternum
- Fevery feeling despite not having an unusual temperature
- Random Haemmoroid


Now I know anxiety can cause most/all of these symptoms on their own and Ive had some pretty serious ones during the year but my health anxiety tends to involve one or two very specific symptoms which I feel intensely then pass. This general feeling of a breakdown in health and pathwork of various symptoms which ALL point to cancer which hasn't passed in two weeks is different. I've been to the doctor twice, they told me all the usual stuff like my chest feels clear, I'm not immediately dying, you're pretty young (27) for anything serious, come back in a week etc etc... They suspected reflux and gave me some drugs which have taken away the taste in mouth/sternum pain but done nothing about anything else which implies to me it's much more then reflux. Couple this with the fact that I've had a lot of what I now recognise to be symptoms from before I contracted health anxiety such as overactive gag reflux, chronic cough, inability to gain weight etc... and I'm pretty much convinced I'm about done for. I'm young but I've drunk pretty heavily since the age of 15 which is a big risk factor. Has anyone known anyone with cancers like this and recognise all these tell tale signs? Are there any specific serious symptoms I'm not exhibiting and should be? Has anyone had all this and found out it really was just anxiety? I had comprehensive blood work when I had a colonoscopy done three months ago and everything was normal. Surely something would have shown up or can things progress that quickly (especially with the knock to the immune system I had with the flu)? I keep wanting to rush off to emergency but nothing is happening that directly indicates I'm on death's door so all I can do is wait for doctors to take me seriously while I might be dying.

[chickpea]

My honest opinion is that it's reflux plus health anxiety - which is why the meds are working on the reflux but none of the other symptoms.

Can I ask why you had a colonoscopy? (I'm going to guess and suggest you had stomach issues and assumed it was bowel cancer - am I right?)

Feeling like you have a lump in your throat, lack of appetite etc is a very common symptom of anxiety. Likewise, if you are eaten up with stress, your metabolism could be in overdrive - which is why you're not able to put on weight. I lose weight when I'm stressed.

You've had blood work, you've seen doctors...I think you can stop worrying.