Out of Control Pancreatic Cancer Fear

[fallugaloog]

Hi all, new poster here.

For about the last year or so now, I have been suffering from almost non stop daily health anxiety regarding pancreatic cancer. I am a pretty healthy 26 year old guy, exercise regularly and only have slight problems with GERD. I do have these random abdominal pains and back pains, and other symptoms which have come and gone in the span of this anxiety spell.

For context (so I don't look TOO crazy:) My dad was diagnosed with PC when he was 39 years old. He drank a lot, smoke multiple packs of unfiltered cigarettes daily, and had a generally unhealthy lifestyle. This was before I was born. I am always happy to say he completely destroyed his cancer. He had a whipple procedure done, never had the cancer return, and never smoked or drank again in his life up to this point. He is currently 67 years old. I don't know how, but he is part of the 3% or whatever that beats the disease entirely.

But because of his diagnosis, I am now eternally paranoid that I am genetically predisposed to getting this cancer and I am doomed to an eventual death to this disease. Even now as I type, my upper abdomen right around my ribs hurts. I know that they usually don't even consider a genetic factor until two first degree relatives have a diagnosis, which is not the case, and even then it elevates the risk to like.....3% at most or something like that. Let alone the fact that I am 26 and have had no major health problems in life so far. But anxiety is becoming an incredible disruption to my everyday life, and I'm struggling to get through a school day without thinking about this (I am a music teacher.) Besides all of that, sleep is becoming increasingly difficult, as night time seems to be the perfect time to lose all inhibition and go completely full-blown panic.

Does anyone have experience overcoming this kind of anxiety? I need some way to get back to a normal routine, because I'm not really able to function normally at this rate. I know no one can tell me i don't have PC, and no one really knows, even if my body is manifesting symptoms that match it (along with about 6,708 other illnesses that are more common.)

Thanks all!

[Cusper]

I have worried about pancreatic cancer in the past too. I was also a heavy smoker and drinker. I am 39 and quit everything about a year and a half ago. Those two factors are major contributors to pc. So i really believe that if you don't engage in those aspects you can reduce the risks. That is amazing that your father survived!!! One thing I do when I worry about life threatening diseases is I read other peoples threads. Pancreatic cancer is a very common worry because it has a low survival rate. I find that people with HA tend to lean towards the incurable terrible diseases like pc, brain tumor, als, ms, ovarian cancer, oh and because people worry so much they have ibs and mistake it for colon cancer. My point is that there is a definite pattern to my HA and I see it in others here. Actually that is what I look for when I am worried.
Do what you can to stay healthy, like eating healthy, have regular check ups and if you have the money, therapy really helps. There is a movie called The Connection that talks about how to get your head straight even over diet and exercise. Also there is a book where what you eat can also reduce anxiety. I have tried a combination of these things and although I am not perfect, I am much better than I was a year ago. My chain smoking grandmother quit at 60 years old and now she is 93. She told me that she wished that she could have taken back all the worrying she did when she was young because the things she worried about never actually happened.