Terrified of Pancreatic Cancer (yellow stools weight loss)
Posted , 21 users are following.
hi there. im 24, female, only history of cancer in family is my aunt had cervical, nan breast and aunt on my dads side has breast. since about august ive noticed significant weight loss. i got invisalign so some could be due to that. but my weight fluctuated from around 9 st 6lbs to 9st, then 8st 13lbs last month.
i had stabbing pains in my mid left back that started a few weeks ago, i used to suffer low left back pain on and off but this felt deep and a bit higher. it hurt so much i was scared something inside was throbbing and when i ate lunch i had to sit down as i had pain wrapping round my abdomen and was worried something in my back was going to burst so i went to a and e and was given a blood test which was fine. i had dinner that night and was in pain again quite bad but had voltarol on my back and calmed down.
i started getting upper back pain between my shoulder blades recently and feel occasional pain in my left ribs near my stomach. i got so obsessed with checking my stomach for pain i have kept pressing it and now its tender. i have extreme health anxiety because i saw about pancreatic cancer a week and a half ago and since then i feel like im feeling more symptoms.
i have been doing yellowish brown stools often. soft too. occasionally followed by yellowish mucus. i have also completely lost my appetite this week and i saw i was 8st 8lbs yesterday. i am so worried. all my bowel muscles hurt and i am getting pain round my pelvis, in my ribs and back and chest and shoulders.
i get a heavy painful ache in my back and tummy sometimes and my heart feels like its beating fast. my doctor has put me on beta blockers and antidepressants last week. i paid for an ultrasound and they couldnt see the pancreas tail but could see some of it and what they could see was fine but i know people miss things.
i am scared i could have a tumour on the tail where no one can see it. i managed to make myself eat a chocolate bar today then after 20 mins came over feeling so sick i had to lay down.
i have to make myself eat by swallowing the food with water and am only managing actimels, a banana, piece of toast or something a day.
im so scared the doctors are overlooking my issues and im going to die. i know hypochondria can make you feel symptoms but i dont get why my poo is yellowish. my last brown poo was frothy diarrhoea last week and since then soft yellow stools that smell sort or nutty/fishy. (sorry thats gross). i pass wind on the loo alot and i did have issues with poo before where i would get caught short and need to go. but not this often and not yellow. as well as flaky bits in the loo.
im so scared as i keep feeling pain in my ribs And dont want to lose anymore weight. i had a ca-19 blood test today and even as i type im feeling pain pushing on my right below my breast bone. i am on constant alert. im so scared my health is going to decline.
my doctor said she has been a gp for years and wants to reassure me i am fine im just stressed and anxious. she put me on omeprazole so my tummy burns less and the heavy back ache is less. ketones were also found in one of my last urine tests.
do i sound genuinely ill with this or just very anxious? poo pics below.
0 likes, 25 replies
Guest
Posted
i also occasionally get pelvic pain and suffer with my periods.
tessygirl Guest
Posted
hi. i suffered with severe health anxiety some years back and it made me so ill all symptoms like yours and at A AND E every week. my stools look like yours but i am not a doctor i just know what you are going through. its truly awful and you have my sympathy. you can chose to take control of this anxiety which is so destructive. look up articles on the correlation between the brain and the gut they might suprise you. i wish you well and hope you get through this period as i did
Guest tessygirl
Posted
hi there, thank you so much for sharing this, its nice to know im not the only one that has suffered these issues. i hope you are managing them and getting through them. i will definitely look at these articles too!
pippa58442 Guest
Posted
You sound very anxious and this can aggravate gut problems and cause lack of appetite and weight loss. Anxiety in itself can make you ill. I cannot see anything striking in your photo. Yellow stools and mucus can occur with IBS . Yellow stools can happen when your stools are passing through you too fast and the bilrubin is not getting a chance to turn them brown. Bowel habit change is a feature of IBS.When you have health anxiety, it is not a good idea to google your symptoms because you will make them worse.I did this and suffered for it. Try a food diary since you had pain after eating. Anti depressants can actually cause anxiety and gut distress; consider coming off them. Beta blockers may also be contributing to your symptoms. Relaxation therapy can do much more for your anxiety than medication because it is natural. Try this instead.
Shoulder blade pain could be gastritis or gallbladder related. My ultrasound didn't show my pancreas at all and I panicked. My doctor reassured me it was highly unlikely given my age. You are very young too and are less likely to have it because of your age. I believed my doctor's reassurances and felt better. Your doctor would not be trying to reassure you if she thought it was serious Had she suspected a pancreas problem, she would have told you and would have run more in depth pancreas scans. She has not done so. This is good news for you.
Ultrasounds are extremely accurate and my brother, who is a surgeon, told me that nasty things show up fairly early on scans. I have heard of cases where the pancreas doesn't show on ultrasound. Your doctor is the expert, so try to accept every
reassurance you get and calmly wait for the results of your latest blood test. Being constantly on alert can stress your intestines and cause them to malfunction. Your doctor seems to be very thorough in the tests that she is running and this dos not sound like she is overlooking anything. It sounds more like she is trying very hard to uncover your problem.
Try not to focus on your doctor missing things. Instead, try to imagine your doctor diagnosing you; this is far more productive. Do not listen to what your anxiety is telling you.Emphasize to your doctor the severity of your anxiety. I did this when I had run out of hope and options and it led to my diagnosis of IBS. A seemingly insignificant detail can get you answers, Ask for more tests.
maria47829 pippa58442
Posted
you always have the best advice
Guest pippa58442
Posted
thank you so much for your advice.
i think a lot of it is mental as yesterday i was at my partners house so i wasnt on my own and as soon as i thought about dinner my back was aching everywhere but i managed to eat quite a bit and enjoy it which tells me i was more relaxed.
i did stool this morning which seemed a bit less yellow but was a bit of a mess and floated but my partner said it will probably take a while for my bowels to go back to normal after stressing and starving myself.
you have reassured me a lot and i will try to trust my doctor as she does seem to know what she is talking about.
i definitely do have ibs as before this i was always getting caught short if id eaten something a bit dodgy the night before. i am really worried about the weight loss as my hips are sticking out a bit but as i had been losing weight for quite some months but i did walk a lot and eat a bit less due to work so im trying not to worry too much.
i will await my blood tests and i have a follow up appointment following the antidepressants etc. you are definitely right about them, i couldnt tell if it was side effects or me getting ill as i have been on these before with none but i was waking up in the night my heart thumping and feeling sick which is probably down to them.
thank you for your kind advice ❤️
pippa58442 Guest
Posted
I think there is a correlation between worrying about eating and your symptoms since they appear after worrying.Try relaxation therapy to resolve this cycle of anxiety. Monitor what you are eating to see if certain food types are triggering symptoms. You may need to see a counselor to give you techniques to help you with your food and health anxieties.Doctors always like to suggest medications for all sorts of things when in fact there are much more effective natural solutions which do not have side effects. You will know if you antidepressants are disagreeing with you if you feel symptoms coming on after taking them.
IBS and anxiety are linked and food intolerances are also common. Try doing things you enjoy and take up light exercise such as walking. Keeping your mind occupied on things other than your health can help your symptoms.Controlling your anxiety is key to tackling IBS. My IBS only flares up if I allow anxiety to take over.
Guest pippa58442
Posted
thank you pippa. so much! do you think my weight loss is relating to this too?
pippa58442 Guest
Posted
Weight loss can be strongly linked to anxiety; You will need to get out of the cycle of anxiety to get better; try getting help for your anxiety. I can loose huge amounts of weight in a week due to worrying. Diarrhoea can also cause weight loss. Try relaxation therapy, see a counselor try distraction techniques, try a food diary/low fodmap diet to see what foods cause symptoms. These are useful tools to managing IBS. IBS can be controlled and a large part of this condition is anxiety. Once I controlled my anxiety, my IBS got better because mine was diagnosed as stress related IBS. The more you stress about your health the food you eat and your symptoms, the worse your anxiety will be. Don't focus on your health, and bowel movements so much. Try doing enjoyable things and it will help you to feel better. My symptoms always improved when going out with friends; when I was alone with my own thoughts, my health anxiety moved in and symptoms came back.
My anxiety was focused on why nothing showed up on tests, my doctors telling me I had nothing serious going on but not being able to prove it and give me firm answers. This allowed plenty of room for negative thoughts to run riot in my head and in the end I was consumed by it. Telling my final doctor about the extent of my worrying was the key to getting my diagnosis and stopping worrying . I realised that what I was so desperately wanting was a diagnosis.
Ask your doctor to disprove your anxieties one by one, Write all of them down to help you remember them when you see your doctor. These techniques worked for me. Many IBS patients start worrying when their symptoms change and they start getting test after test for other things and when nothing shows up, they panic more and keep asking for a repeat of these tests and the cycle of worry and worsening symptoms continue. You need to find an escape for your anxiety.
Guest
Posted
update: i ate some of a sandwich this morning and now my backs hurting between my shoulder blades and i got full quick so im worrying again!
pj15429 Guest
Posted
Hi
Did you ever find out what the problem was. I am having exactly the same symptoms as you. Your reply will be really appreciated and I hope you are OK
mike95113 pj15429
Posted
iam having the same pain in the lower life side . my back aches aswell . but my anxiety is bad at the moment my stools are different every morning but ive had gut issues for years iam 56 male . got told i had ibs about 8 yr ago . alcohol and stress triggers mine off. but if dont worry about it and iam in company i feel fine but dont reading in websites its cancer
Guest
Posted
today i ate a sandwich and my back started to hurt near my left shoulderblade and i have had dark yellowy brown diarrhoea?
devin89488 Guest
Posted
hello, your second stool pictures look like mine with that bubbling foam i dunno what is that. do you any growling sounds in your abdomen? i always having loose mushy stool every morning
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Posted
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