Cancer fears

[JeeptheDog]

So this is my first post about HA I am 46 years old. I am worried about stomach cancer or pancreatic cancer. I have had trouble with Indigestion on and off for many years but this year I got indigestion in November and has been with me for ever since. It is often just a dull ache or light burning sensation or I feel really bloated after eating. Sometimes it is a short sharp pain. I haven’t lost my appetite or any weight and sometimes eating more can mask the burning. I am not throwing up or have any diarrhea symptoms. At night sometimes I get acid in my throat or a nasty taste in my mouth. If I am getting hungry I also get a burning sensation below the rib cage. It is driving me mad.

I have had a blood test in December which came back with no “red flags”, I was given Omeprazole for a month. It seemed to have a bit of an affect at first but then Christmas with all the food and alcohol came and so did the indigestion. I stopped alcohol and caffeine for January with no change. I had a helicobacter pylori breath test which came be negative. I went back to the doctor who said they wouldn’t be sending me for an endoscopy because there are no “red flags”. I have been put on Ranitidine and 1 week into it and no joy. I looked up the cost for private endoscopy and it was extortionate.

I am driving myself crazy thinking that it is some early stage cancer, obviously I google all the time. I tell myself the “red flags” the doctors are waiting for are only when you are in serious trouble, stage 4 cancers. Sometimes when I think about it makes me feel sick, it is stopping me for being my normal self. I eat healthy (a mostly vegan diet), I do lots of exercise (it’s the only thing that stops me from thinking about it). I do have a very stressful job and have a young family with 3 kids and that can be stressful too.

Anything advise would be appreciated.

[NancyW]

obviously i google all the time.

Anything advise would be appreciated.

stop googling

[jray23]

Daily meditation. It will ease some or all of your stress and if stress is the cause of your symptoms, it will eventually ease those as well.

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[Aussie11]

It could very likely be a gastritis thing, where your stomach has some inflammation. This could originally be from having a bug, going through a stressful time, or from taking ibruprofen medication etc. Sometimes you have to take the anti acid medication like Omeprazole or Ranitidine for quite a few weeks before you feel a difference (and not taking ibruprofen or drinking alcohol, eating spicy foods etc. during that time - anything that messes with your stomach acid). Perhaps if you keep a bit of a diary for a while of symptoms and things that make it worse or better, if you don't feel better over the coming weeks you could go back to your GP (a different one even if at same surgery if that helps) and talk them through what you've been experiencing based on the things you've noted, and they may agree to endoscopy at that point. As these things tend to clear up on their own after month or two that's probably why they've turned you down for the endoscopy in the first instance (very frustrating I know though!). I know how horrible it is to get anxiety over this type of thing and how awful google results can be based on your symptoms, but there really are so many non-sinister explanations for them, and remember that you will rarely read about a non-sinister cause in any stories or articles you read on google, as those don't make the news!

[JeeptheDog]

Yeah thanks. I'm pretty sure it's in my head and trying to de-stress as this would help a lot. It's just like flying on a plane, the stats say you have more chance of being hit by a bus but people can still can get the fear. Been keeping a food diary and I am exploring the idea of low stomach acid. Wine, beer and chocolate haven't had a bad effect on the burning. It remained the same.