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What’s going on?

Posted , 7 users are following.

kate27245
kate27245

Hey everyone. So im a 20 year old female who’s fairly healthy but I have been worried sick about having pancreatic cancer. I have been having a constant discomfort in my left abdomen area right below my left rib cage. It’s not a pain, but more of a discomfort. It feels as if something is there that shouldn’t be there, like something is pushing on something. Anyways, when I first complained about this discomfort about a year ago they ordered a CT scan and everything came back normal. I keep going back to the doctor but they keep turning me away saying it’s muscle related. I’m terrified I have pancreatic cancer. Some of my other symptoms are extreme fatigue, irregular bowl movements, constipation, and abdormal stools. I don’t know what to do anymore. Do you this it’s pancreatic cancer? Should I ask the doctor for more tests? Thanks 

1 like, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • Doublej29
    Doublej29 kate27245

    Posted

    Hi Kate,

    I can (as well as a whole bunch of others on here I'm sure) very much so appreciate where you are coming from. It's hard to keep emotions and the stress of trying to figure out health issues when you aren't getting answers. Given your age alone, it's extremely unlikely that you would have pancreatic cancer. That said, I don't doubt for a minute that you are experiencing discomfort, etc. I myself am still working through similar issues with no diagnosis. For one, it can be a variety of things that are causing you the discomfort and it's very easy to jump to the worst case scenario. For starters, try starting with the simple things you can control and see if it improves your symptoms, ie, exercise, eating healthy, reducing stress, and getting rest...and also do your best to stay positive. 

  • Averagejoe01
    Averagejoe01 kate27245

    Posted

    Hi Kate,

    I totally sympathize with you as I have been having the same discomfort since January. Along with the pain under left ribs, I have floating stools that dispel some weird yellow liquids (gross I know), and have become hypoglycemic.  I have had a barium contrast CT, MRI Abdomen w/ MRCP, and upper endoscopy with biopsies. All clear. One thing I have been really reading about is fructose malabsorption which is said to effect 1 in 3 people. It can cause a lot of the same symptoms, and a lot of times it is driven by...SIBO!  SIBO itself can cause the same symptoms.  A lot of doctors do not understand it, or test for it. I am working on getting my records transferred to a University hospital to be tested for it, and try to get help there.  Another thing to look into is a gastroperisis.  Slow stomach emptying can cause trapped gas which can get caught in the splenic flexture and cause similar pain. Lastly, a lot of the celiac disease forums I’ve read through describe similar pain and symptoms. Have you been tested for Celiac? I hope your symptoms resolve too! I like you are young and PC isn’t likely, but it’s always that bought in the back of my mind.  Best of luck! 

  • dink35744
    dink35744 kate27245

    Posted

    Dear Kate! Pancreatic cancer doesn't occur at your age. No doubt about it.

  • Averagejoe01
    Averagejoe01 kate27245

    Posted

    Hi Kate,

    Any update on your condition or diagnoses? I fee I myself am constantly getting worse. I finally got a referral from my old useless GI to a large University Hospital, but I am three weeks way from the appointment. Hope you are doing better! 

    • kate27245
      kate27245 Averagejoe01

      Posted

      HI there. I’m glad you got an appointment set up at a larger hospital. My doctor refuses to refer me to GI speciality because he does not think there is anything serious wrong with me. Of course I think otherwise. There has been no progress with my diagnosis. It seems to me as if they are making up things that I could have just so I stop bothering them. But none of their suggested “treatments” help. You are lucky that you were able to get so many tests. Hopefully that helps ease your mind a little bit. I only had a CT scan a year ago so that scares me. I also had blood drawn last week that checked lipase and liver function and all that was normal the only thing wrong was I had slightly high protein and potassium in my blood. I really don’t know where to go from here. I’m supposed to have a follow up in six weeks. Part of me just wants to go to ER so I can get all the tests over with. I hope you find some answers I know how frustrating this is and I am sorry you are also suffering
    • Averagejoe01
      Averagejoe01 kate27245

      Posted

      Hi Kate,

      Any update on your condition?  I hope you are doing well. I went to the University Hospital a few weeks back, and now have a test for SIBO in a few weeks. They also confirmed through labs, that I do have a vitamin b12 deficiency, but we already knew this.  Best of luck, and stay in touch! 

  • Averagejoe01
    Averagejoe01 kate27245

    Posted

    I’m sorry Kate your struggling with your doctors. I hate the state of the medical industry today. They use blanket terms like IBS or Fibromyalgia (I’ve been told I have both) as a “catch all” when they can’t come up with a diagnoses. As far as your situation, if you are really concerned the ER may be an option in regards to getting scans. I don’t know that they would do any special tests, such as SIBO, checking for Celiac, etc, but you could get some do the scans taken care of. I tried this option and was able to get the CT and some generic labs like the CBC, liver function, enzymes.  You may could get a referel to a gastro from the ER as well.  I hope you get better, it’s a tough anxiety ridden journey to heal from this s**t. 
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