Left side abdominal pain, causing me so much worry.
Posted , 3 users are following.
I have had terrible health anxiety for about 4 years, but the last year it has gone into absolute overdrive. I am convinced, utterly convinced I have pancreatic cancer. I had had a year of testing including x2 ultrasounds, x2 CT scans, x2 MRIs and an endoscopy. Waiting on one CT result but everything has come back clear. I have loads of upper abdominal pain, esp the left side, constant burping and heaviness in my stomach. I can barely eat, I've lost over 2 stone in weight. I also have this strange tugging and pulling sensation all down my left side.
I've given up everything I love, don't see friends, don't see family. I am petrified all the time. I sleep about 2-3 hrs a night.
I have seen 7 specialists to get to the bottom of this and have tried my absolute hardest to sort this out to the point where I am close to breakdown.
All I have read is that it can only be PC with these symptoms, and yet the Drs cannot find anything. I am even seeing a gastro/pancreas specialist who specialises in the early detection of PC. He doesn't seem bothered at all. I can't put this worry to bed.I cant move on from it, although everyone has told me to.
Everyone in my life believes I am manifesting the symptoms, esp with my history of health anxiety.But I just know there is something up, and no-one believes me. I just wish something would show up (obviously minor) on the tests so i can now what it is a treat it, rather than the agony of always wondering. It's ruining my life.
It doesn't matter where I turn, noone can help and cant seem to help me. It is the loneliest, most heartbreaking thing. I see everyone else getting on with their lives. I'm 34 and life hasn't even begun yet, and yet I'm in constant pain and noone can help.
All the specialist keep telling me there are no other tests, and that after 9 months of testing that something would show up by now. But I am still convinced that something is being missed, that the scans are missing something. This takes all my energy, all my life force and I am exhausted by no answers.
I try to tell myself its something benign (i pray for this). I have heard people mention splenic flexture syndrome, but I thought that one of the Drs would have mentioned this by now, and it doesn't explain some pain that I get on the right sometimes and the constant burping, and lack of appetite.
Can anyone relate at all, had similar experience? I would be so grateful for some comfort. I cant seem to find any peace of mind.
0 likes, 4 replies
jan34534 sara61158
Edited
sorry you are going through this. Keep in mind that just because you have convinced yourself it’s something serious that doesn’t mean that you have anything serious. Your mind has convinced you but that is only based on emotions. The actual facts are in the testing that you had done.
Feeling uncomfortable, burping, abdominal pain and The heaviness feeling are very uncomfortable and can be scary. I can tell you that I’ve had the exact symptoms on and off for a long time. I never had a serious diagnosis. Originally thought it was gastritis however it’s actually dyspepsia. certain foods cause symptoms and I just have to be careful what I eat. I did lose a lot of weight because I was afraid to eat. But yes, it’s very painful and creates lots of gas or burping. The pain was on the left side of my stomach area.
People with anxiety have a tendency to say that the test missed something. The test especially the CT scan would have picked up anything related to the pancreas.
I know the fear all of this causes but trust the testing. You’re OK. You may have something similar to what I have. follow up with your doctor
sara61158 jan34534
Posted
I am so grateful for the reply. I'm sorry its delayed I have just been gripped with anxiety and depression over this.
I am having so much trouble trusting the tests I have had, and can't move on from the worry and feeling of dread. It is impacting everything and affecting my life so hugely.
Loosing hope.....
m75570 sara61158
Posted
I have total sympathy of what you are going through, although I haven't suffered your specific concerns I have issues on my lower left side just above my hip and into my mid back. After 2 weeks of discomfort and being unable to stand or sleep comfortably and stressing that I had bowel cancer I checked google, this made me feel 10 times worse. In the end I spoke to my friend who is a Physiotherapist and she suggested it may well be a Psoas muscle problem and gave me exercises to do, this helped massively which in turn helped calm my mind that I was suffering bowel cancer.
Digressing from your concerns, apologies, but have you considered seeing a Chiropractor/Physiotherapist? I say this based on the explanation I was given by my friend, she explained how the psoas muscle connects the spine from the mid back to the front of the thigh bone and is key to movement but at the top end it is connected to the Diaphragm which wraps around the spine from left to right and front to back (possibly covering the area you have pain). I decided to look into this and have found it can cause significant issues to digestion, breathing, posture etc, it is also exacerbated by prolonged sitting or hunched posture.
After my waffling, perhaps it could be an avenue of investigation that is worth looking at and is very likely that the specialists you have seen haven't suggested it due to their unintentional ignorance of that profession. Whatever you choose as your next step I wish you the very best and I truly hope you can find a solution to discomfort, mentally and physically.
sara61158 m75570
Posted
Thanks so much for the reply. I did actually look into the Psoas a little while back, but it just doesn't seem to fit with my symptoms really, although again I did read that is can impact the digestive system-which again I find very hard to believe.
Thank you for your words, and I am so glad you are feeling better.