is it stomach cancer??

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so this has been.going with me since years..nausea and vomiting..this time it became worse..too worse that i could not eat anything and i was throwing up 20 times a day..had all my bloodwork done everything came back fine and now i am on rebeprazole since a month..my vomitings have stopped..nausea is still there..i also had difficulty.swallowing along with nausea and pain in my breastbone..i have to undergo endoscopy next month..i am loosing weight very fast as since a month i have lost 10 kgs..i fear i might have cancer??do share your stomach cancer experiences..

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  • Posted

    Rabiya, the symptoms you're describing could also be severe oesophageal reflux - particularly the pain behind the breastbone and the difficulty in swallowing. The fact that rabeprazole has helped your symptoms so much tends to suggest the same diagnosis.

    I'm glad you've finally taken the first step to getting a diagnosis. Once the endoscopy has been done your doctors will have a better idea of what's going on. I hope all goes well for you.

    • Posted

      tnx lily for your reply..why i blv it could be cancer is that years back i had pain in shoulder blade and a dr gave me 60 tablets of vitamin d to eat in 10 days..whereas i was supposed to eat one tablet in a week..this incident was a havoc..i got paralysis following panic attacks and bouts of unstoppable vomitings in one year with lots of bloating..stillno dr performed endoscopy..i know how i have been surviving in all these years and after my bloodwork.has showed slight anemia they have agreed on endoscopy..i hope my fear of cancer turns out to be wrong
    • Posted

      Sounds to me like a mixture of acid reflux, anxiety and maybe a poor diet. However, only an endoscopy can find the true cause.
    • Posted

      yea i.will definitely post my results of endoscopy..and btw i follow an excellent.diet..baked food with litte or no spices..yogurt and boiled water
    • Posted

      going for emdoscopy tomorrow at 9 am..will let u knw..
    • Posted

      got diagnosed with hiatal hernia..i dont want to continue ppi drugs as they cause gastroparesis..what should i do?dr has recommended ppi drug for 3.months..is hiatal hernia curable?
    • Posted

      I have a hiatus hernia and control mine by diet - very boring bland food - no spices, alcohol, or acidic foods like citrus fruits.  When I do get acid reflux I take something like Gavescon.  My neighbour had a very severe hiatus hernia and had surgery.  Now she is careful what she eats but has no problem.  So it is manageable, and now you know it is not cancer I am sure your anxiety levels will drop, you will make less stomach acid and hopefully feel less uncomfortable.
    • Posted

      Hi Rabiya, I'm inclined to agree about PPIs. I've never taken them myself. I've had all the symptoms of acid reflux for 40 years now though I never sought diagnosis. As a former nurse I reckoned I would know if it was something more serious.

      I've managed to control it by lifestyle measures. Unlike Felinia (below) I wouldn't say I eat a bland, boring diet. However, I decided early on to keep a food diary to help me identify what foods or combinations of foods set off the terrible central chest pain (which sounds just like the pain you're describing). I also worked out what foods I could afford to eat in the evening, as I suffered most of my pain during the night.

      I was surprised to find that one of the main culprits in my case was bland, boring bread! I rarely eat it now, and never in the evening. I was recently talking to my GP about this and he said it's not surprising at all - apparently bread is highly acid.

      I also started sleeping with the head of my mattress raised many years ago, and this has been very helpful. But it's better to raise the head of your bed or mattress rather than adding extra pillows. The latter can cause you to bend at the waist, increasing the pressure on your abdomen and forcing up even more acid. I learned to avoid constipation, which can increase the back-pressure on your stomach. And, somewhat comically, I abandoned my pride and stopped wearing tight trousers! This can also force the intestinal gases back into the stomach, which makes the problem worse.

      The other saviour for me was the medication domperidone (marketed as Motilium, among others, in Europe). This increases gastric motility, encouraging the stomach to empty (but into the duodenum rather than upwards into the oesophagus). The advantage of domperidone is that you only need to take it when you actually have an attack, whereas PPIs have to be taken every day for life. However, you shouldn't exaggerate with domperidone as over-use has been reported to cause heart problems. This is why it's prescription-only now in Europe. It's not an alternative to simple lifestyle measures, but should only be used when strictly necessary.

      As Felinia says, reducing your anxiety levels will help too. When we're anxious or stressed we unconsciously tense our abdominal muscles, compressing our stomach. And it goes without saying that you shouldn't smoke and you should keep your weight within reasonable limits.

      All the above will take a year or so to put into practice and get results. There's no overnight cure for this condition, just patient experimentation to see what works. If lifestyle measures don't work, and if the hernia becomes so severe it starts rising up into your chest cavity, you could try surgery. However, even if you go this route and it's successful, you'll still have to observe all the lifestyle measures.

      I have to say that from reading through your posts again, what mainly jumps out at me is your extreme anxiety. If you can't get this under some degree of control, I'm afraid you'll continue to have problems. If you can't reassure yourself now you know you don't have stomach cancer, perhaps you could try CBT?

    • Posted

      thankyou so much lily for your reply..and i am 100 percent sure it is not anxiety..it has been all.happening since thyroidectomy and after i was overdosed on 100s of vitamins in just 10 days..i live in a 3rd.world country and yes it happens here and drs do.play with you..anyhow right now i am consulting top notch drs and this is what they diagnosed me with..i was also diagnosed with esophagitis and drs were also pointing at vagus nerve damage and were talking about gastroparesis..they said they cant conclude any results and i dont have to take this drug for lifelong..they asked me to take it for 2 months and they will later decide that what should be done..and for sure i will drop this medicine after 2 months..
    • Posted

      A really massive overdose of vitamin D would of course cause nausea and vomiting, which clearly hasn't helped your symptoms. However, you don't need to worry too much about this, as it won't have done lasting damage, especially as it only continued for 10 days. Once you stopped the intake, your body would settle down again.

      I hope you can soon find a solution and get well again, but don't dismiss lifestyle measures.

    • Posted

      tnx for your reply..i was vomiting too much and i dont think so this hiatus hernia is contributed to my loss of appetite and nausea which is 24/7..ppi drugs have stopped vomiting but i still have no appetite..i also follow a strict diet with no spices..
    • Posted

      If it's not the hiatus hernia that's causing your symptoms and the endoscopy showed no signs of any other disease, what do you think is causing the loss of appetite and nausea?

    • Posted

      i dont think so bcoz my dr says your hernia is too small to cause any symptoms..still he has me on ppi and i have been taking them for over a month..i feel so tired because of this medicine..i think its better if i dont listen to my dr and blv that its my hernia causing this symptom..i have become very weak these days..fatigue and loss of appetite is killing me each day..still battling to stay alive and keep myself active!
    • Posted

      Great post, thanks - I had never realised bread was acidic, which actually explains a lot.  You've reminded me that my main trigger food from my food diary turned out to be gluten and wheat, which created a lot of gas and bloating. 

    • Posted

      ppi drugs too are causing nausea and i vomitted again today..it is either really that small hiatal hernia or else my vagus nerve is damaged!!
    • Posted

      Perhaps you need to ask your doctor to prescribe an anti-emetic medication rather than a PPI? I find domperidone very useful, but if your vomiting is severe something like Stemetil (prochlorperazine) might be indicated.
    • Posted

      yes i have taken ganaton and oneset..they do help but dr told me not to take them for long..i took them last month for about 10 days..he is still shocked how could a very small hiatal hernia cause problems..ppi is causing problems now and he is saying that please control the side effects and continue taking them..i am too nauseous and tired today and my skin looks so dull now
    • Posted

      lily prior to this incident i always used to eat well..and i didnt vomit for 10 days..i vomitted violently for 5 months and no dr treated me..check the dose that i ate..i began having problems after this incident

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