Stomach cancer?

[Nutation]

Hi everyone,
I've been dealing with stomach pain for the past week that my doctor said should be better by now - otherwise he wants to send me for a scope :(. My pain is burning upper center pain that I thought was either gastritis or an ulcer, since I've been taking lots of NSAIDs for a different reason, which is a big risk factor. I saw him and he did a bunch of labs for blood/liver/pancreas (all normal) and started me on Protonix. I started to feel better the next day but since then have experienced some flares of stomach pain - not as bad as a week ago but still very uncomfortable. I can't really tell if it's related to food or not. But it's freaking me out that my doctor said I should be totally pain-free by now (even though it's only been a week) and I'm not. I've had so many health problems in the last year and am so worn down and so scared that this stomach issue could turn out to be something terrible. Has anyone had experience with gastritis or ulcers that seems similar to my situation, or have any insight about this? It's freaking me out, I feel terrible.

[bulan]

Nutation, I have different stomach issues going on at the moment, and I'm hoping my GP will give me a scope. But what I really identify with is when you said, "I've had so many health problems in the last year and am so worn down and so scared that this stomach issue could turn out to be something terrible." Yes. I have several diagnoses and another probable diagnosis, and I was just telling my Mom how worn down I am. New symptoms make me wonder what's coming next, and I don't feel I have the resilience to keep dealing with new diagnoses. I hear you and I can empathize with how you're feeling. Our bodies, unfortunately, don't always give us a break from the stress of new symptoms/conditions and we have to find better ways of coping. It's exhausting.

I hope your stomach issue turns out to be nothing. Over the years I've had persistent pain in my gut that turned out to be caused by anxiety, diet changes, extreme stress and so on. I've had scopes, and was very worried at the time because I couldn't imagine these symptoms being innocent. But thankfully everything came back clear. I'm hoping it's the same for me this time again, if my GP orders a scope for me, and I hope it's the same for you as well.

[Nutation]

Bulan,
Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. You are right. I am exhausted. I have been dealing with constant debilitating pain in my jaw/ears for months and the future feels a bit bleak. I feel like I haven't had a break in this nonsense for 10 months, and it is mentally wearing on me. This stomach issue is certainly concerning and although I realize the odds of it being benign are high, I just don't mentally have the willpower to suppress the bad thoughts. When my symptoms improved a few days after starting the Protonix I thought I was in the clear, but then they came back and somehow made everything 10x worse. I hope that your GP orders the scope and that you can get some mental relief! It seems like everyone on this board needs it.

[Mindprison]

Hey there

Very unlikely to be stomach cancer. I would say it's more a symptom of NSAID treatment or GERD.

I've suffered with GERD since I was 14, i'm now 28 and I still get days where the PPI medicine doesn't touch my heartburn. The pain can be quite intense to the point where I can't breathe. I can't get surgery due to a different problem with my stomach, but I digress.

This is more likely to be a combination of stress induced reflux, GERD or NSAID treatment rather than cancer. Stomach cancer is pretty rare anyway.

[bulan]

Nutation, I hear you! I feel like there could be a separate category for anxiety that shows up as a result of ongoing existing medical issues. Those of us who don't have a clean bill of health, have real stuff to worry about, and when new symptoms surface, we're already too worn down to deal with them in a resilient manner. We are battle-weary, so we're easy prey for health anxiety. Sometimes I wish doctors and others would just validate how mentally tough it is to have chronic health issues.

[Nutation]

Mindprison,
While I have 0 history of GERD it's nice to know that a PPI won't necessarily block all the pain from stomach acid. When this pain is bad it also makes me feel like it's difficult to breath. Hopefully the NSAID/stress is what's doing it, but it's scary to have gone from no pain to terrible pain in a day and have the doctor be talking about getting scoped already. :( Thank you very much, though! Your response does help.

---------- Post added at 15:27 ---------- Previous post was at 15:25 ----------

Bulan,
No kidding! :( I feel like half the doctors I talk to immediately think I'm crazy because they see a history of anxiety, and I've had some terrible experiences of them not even letting me tell them why I was there. It's draining and expensive and it sucks and a lot of the time I don't feel heard at all. Ugh. I'm just frustrated and sick of being in pain/not feeling like myself.

[bulan]

Bulan,
No kidding! :( I feel like half the doctors I talk to immediately think I'm crazy because they see a history of anxiety, and I've had some terrible experiences of them not even letting me tell them why I was there. It's draining and expensive and it sucks and a lot of the time I don't feel heard at all. Ugh. I'm just frustrated and sick of being in pain/not feeling like myself.
Exactly. We had a similar experience with a previous family doctor. I had SO many symptoms one year that he eventually wasn't able to see me without becoming agitated, and in our last appointment together he challenged me saying, "So what do YOU think the diagnosis is?" But he was also this way with people he didn't see as often. My brother didn't go often, but even so, his symptoms were dismissed as anxiety. My brother took our GP's advice and had counselling sessions for a whole year before our GP referred him for tests to look into his symptoms. As it turns out, my brother has chronic fatigue syndrome and POTS, *not* anxiety. It wasn't exactly a wasted year, because counseling can be helpful for other things, but he shouldn't have been forced to wait a whole year for the proper diagnosis.

[WiseMonkey]

Hi everyone,
I've been dealing with stomach pain for the past week that my doctor said should be better by now - otherwise he wants to send me for a scope :(. My pain is burning upper center pain that I thought was either gastritis or an ulcer, since I've been taking lots of NSAIDs for a different reason, which is a big risk factor. I saw him and he did a bunch of labs for blood/liver/pancreas (all normal) and started me on Protonix. I started to feel better the next day but since then have experienced some flares of stomach pain - not as bad as a week ago but still very uncomfortable. I can't really tell if it's related to food or not. But it's freaking me out that my doctor said I should be totally pain-free by now (even though it's only been a week) and I'm not. I've had so many health problems in the last year and am so worn down and so scared that this stomach issue could turn out to be something terrible. Has anyone had experience with gastritis or ulcers that seems similar to my situation, or have any insight about this? It's freaking me out, I feel terrible.

Hi, have you had a test for H-Pylori (Helicobacter Pylori)? It's a bacterium which can burrow into the stomach lining and cause digestive issues, it can also cause stomach ulcers. It's well worth ruling this out.

If the test is positive there is effective triple treatment for this.

I don't think you have SC but it's worth having a scope to check things out. Inflammation can be gastritis, which can be treated by acid suppressant meds. You don't have to be on them permanently.

I've had stomach issues for 40 years and nothing sinister has ever developed, I was also treated for H-Pylori 15 years ago.
I can't take PPI's as they give me too many side effects. Zantac is fine, but I only take it for short periods.

I hope you get some resolution for this, try not to worry as this can exacerbate symptoms.

[Nutation]

Exactly. We had a similar experience with a previous family doctor. I had SO many symptoms one year that he eventually wasn't able to see me without becoming agitated, and in our last appointment together he challenged me saying, "So what do YOU think the diagnosis is?" But he was also this way with people he didn't see as often. My brother didn't go often, but even so, his symptoms were dismissed as anxiety. My brother took our GP's advice and had counselling sessions for a whole year before our GP referred him for tests to look into his symptoms. As it turns out, my brother has chronic fatigue syndrome and POTS, *not* anxiety. It wasn't exactly a wasted year, because counseling can be helpful for other things, but he shouldn't have been forced to wait a whole year for the proper diagnosis.

Ugh, that SUCKS. I'm so sorry. It's crazy what a difference a good provider can make. That's a lot to go through.

---------- Post added at 16:05 ---------- Previous post was at 16:00 ----------


Hi, have you had a test for H-Pylori (Helicobacter Pylori)? It's a bacterium which can burrow into the stomach lining and cause digestive issues, it can also cause stomach ulcers. It's well worth ruling this out.

If the test is positive there is effective triple treatment for this.

I don't think you have SC but it's worth having a scope to check things out. Inflammation can be gastritis, which can be treated by acid suppressant meds. You don't have to be on them permanently.

I've had stomach issues for 40 years and nothing sinister has ever developed, I was also treated for H-Pylori 15 years ago.
I can't take PPI's as they give me too many side effects. Zantac is fine, but I only take it for short periods.

I hope you get some resolution for this, try not to worry as this can exacerbate symptoms.

Hi, thanks for your response and advice! I actually asked my doc when I saw him about H. pylori treatment but he said that H pylori isn't seen too much anymore, which was odd to me because I know it's a common cause of ulcers. His nurse called me today to schedule a scope since my pain isn't getting better and it's scheduled two weeks from now. This is scary to me because it means they think something bad could be going on - I've already been on PPIs for 9 days and my pain is better than it was the first day but still not great.
In two weeks hopefully my pain will be better, but otherwise I'll do the scope and get some resolution. Your post is reassuring and I appreciate it... will try not to worry in the mean time... but of course that's difficult.

[WiseMonkey]

[QUOTE Hi, thanks for your response and advice! I actually asked my doc when I saw him about H. pylori treatment but he said that H pylori isn't seen too much anymore, which was odd to me because I know it's a common cause of ulcers.[/QUOTE]

H-Pylori is still quite common, especially with overseas travel and people visiting third world countries. There are various ways it's transmitted.

People with compromised immune systems are more likely to pick it up and likewise people as they age.

Good luck with your scope, I recommend sedation with it :)