worried stomach cancer

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Hi. I wrote earlier comment about acid reflux. But now im even more worried. I had endoscopy 18 nonths ago. All clear mild redlux and herbia. However past 5/6 weeks I have ibdigestion/ heartburn and bloated ecerytime I eat. I now am driving myself crazy thinking I have stomach cabcer, is it possible after having endoscopy 18 months ago (clear) that now I can possibly have stomach cancer. I was with my consultant last week and prescribed me labz and augmentum.Extremely stressed. I will be making apt with consultant again in new year. Tnx

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13 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi paddocks

    If you had an endoscopy 18 months ago from what I have been told by my consultant it takes upto 5 years on average before advanced stomach cancer is diagnosed, and then again the symptoms are vague and unpredictable and affects individuals differently & uniquely. I suffer from abdominal pain & just like you I have been worried about cancer. I have had 4 endoscopies, ct scans, barium swallow test, MRI scan, blood tests etc, nothing malignant found. Getting stressed up with anxiety just increases your symptoms, but it is understandable. I think you are right to make appt with your consultant as cancers need alot of other tests like CT scan, Abdoman ultra scan,blood tests etc before a diagnosis can be given. Have you any other symptoms apart from bloating/indigestion? It may be that you have an infection or acid reflux and the reason you have been prescribed medicine. I hope that you find out from your consultant what is causing your symptoms. Best of luck and keep your stress levels down.

    • Posted

      Hi Diplo. Thank you for reply. I also have what feels like swollen tongue, weird taste in mouth. I know you are so right stress makes it worse. I eat and cramps start. Definitely have acid reflux lump in throat feeling. I know i am extremely anxious. I forgot to mention i had a hernia but was found withiut symtoms during endoscopy. Did you have your symptoms as bloating, throat soreness etc Diplo? Thank you Gill. Ps I am 39 years old and smoke😕
    • Posted

      my problems started about 11 months ago when I experienced burning pain in the stomach on & off. Bloating after heavy meals. Then i had severe acid reflux & pain in stomach. I suffer from loss of appetite, nausea and generally sick all day. in my endoscopy they also found a small hiatal hernia, gastritis, osaphagitis, duodenitis. I am 49 and never smoked and very occasionaly drank alchol,  had a healthy balanced diet and was generally very active,never had problems such as these, just happened suddenly. However I must stress that I was worrying and was under alot of stress before the symptoms. I still worry but I  try my best to be stress free at times. i do not get throat soreness but I do have problems swallowing at times.  It would be quite rare to find stomach cancer at your age but  you should stop or cut down on the smoking.Keep taking your medication as when I was prescribed Lansaprazole it helped with the acid reflux & I don't get that anymore. Please feel free to write on this forum, peoples experience helps each other. Good luck.
    • Posted

      Hi Diplo. Thank you again. I just feel so stressed and am anxious to get endoscopy. This is silly question prehaps but if i had endscopy almost 2 years ago all clear except mild reflux and hernia. Would they have seen anything abnormal and now 2 years later I may have stomach cancer? I suppose I am asking can cancer progress over 2 years? Tnx again Gill
    • Posted

      Hi Paddocks

      You state you had an endoscopy almost 2 years ago & it showed mild reflux & hernia, although cancer can develop at anytime,  in your case you need to have another endoscopy and if there are any suspicions they will ask you to have more tests ie, ct scans, blood work etc. An endoscopy is not all that is used for diagnosing stomach cancer. I should not worry untill you have had your tests. Your symptoms can be anything other than stomach cancer. I can understand your anxiety in this matter but untill something has been diagnosed you are just worried.Try to focus away from your symptoms & think it may just be something mild.I too thought the worse but after so many tests behind me & they have'nt found anything malignant I have forgotten about cancer & just try to deal with my symptoms the best I can. Good luck & best wishes.

    • Posted

      Hi Diplo. Now I am really worriedsad. Do you think cancer can actually progress on space of 2 years even thou they hust found h herbia and mild reflux? From research I gathered it wold take approx 5 years for late stage cancer to progress. Given i had endscopy 19 mths ago? Surely it wld have showed something more serious? Tnx G
    • Posted

      Paddocks in your endoscopy they found mild reflux & hernia so at that time there was no other concerns raised. Since the endoscopy how long have you been suffering from other symptoms? You state that the problems your having are in the past 5/6 weeks which would be early for an average cancer. I am no expert but like you I was also very worried untill my consultant told me about diagnosing cancer. I replied to you earlier wait for more tests and don't panic!  You have not got stomach cancer untill it is diagnosed!! OK I hope this helps you. Take care.
  • Posted

    You can ask for h pylori test and SIBO test. Bloading its one of the symptoms. Check on the web. You need to be out of any medication to do the test. I had test done came back negative because of the ppi (dr did not mention) I did it again and its positive (severe).

    • Posted

      hi olga

      You state you had h pylori did you clear it with antibiotics? What were your symptoms? How did it affect you? please tell me your story.

      Thanx

    • Posted

      Hi 2diplo I dont have h pylori but I have SIBO. I was feeling nauseas and strong taste of acid on my mouth. I went to the gastro he gave me omeprazole and after a few days I had and endoscopy. I was diagnosed with acid reflux and he said I have to do h pylori test again because I was taking ppi (funny because he was the one who gave me that medicine).

      I was feeling really bad on omeprazole. Burning 24/7, difficultty swalloing, etc. I stop the pill and went to Naturophatic Dr. She gave me DGL, aloe vera, mucosagen and ortobiotic for 1 1/2"month to deal with my acid reflux. She mentioned that to have the test I have to be clean that means no antiacid, zantaxz, ppi, laxative, antibiotics, etc.

      After that she order h pylori test (come negative) and SIBO test (come possitive severe).

      Dr said that SIBO its the root off my acid reflux. She put me on herbal antibiotics, probiotic and on a diet.

      I hope she is right. Living with acid reflux its terrible. Im glad that I change my Dr because now I know I have SIBO and that bacteria can cause a lot of problems. Gastro dr told me to take omeprazole for the rest of my life. He said that the drug its safe but in my case almost kill me.

      The treatment for SIBO its for 3 months. She said that in 2 months a must fell better. Im still feeling burning and acid but a lot less than before. Nothing compare to what I feel on an ppi.

      I want to mention that when I start with the acid reflux problem before the omeprazole. I took an antibiotic and I was fine for a few days then I finish the antibiotics and the symtomps return. All the time I was thinking I got a virus or bacteria...did you take any antibiotic while having acid reflux? Did you feel better during that time? My naturophatic dr said that usually people with h pylori or SIBO find temporary relieve while on antibiotics. Even if the antibiotic its for something else like when going to the dentist, etc.

      I hope this help. Most of the time dr give us medicine without doing any test before.

    • Posted

      Right your story is interesting. I am still on omeprazole but i take it as and when I need it. I don't have acid problems but my main problems at present is loss of appetite, stomach pain & general fatigue. I feel the medical people have missed something in the abdoman area but every test shows negative results. i have been 3 or 4 times to emergency room but they only carry out blood tests & send me home, so I don't bother anymore & just suffer with these problems on a daily basis.As for the antibiotics I was prescribed earlier in the year but the side effects were terrible. Yes you are right drs give medicine without any tests.
    • Posted

      I dont have any of the typical sibo symptoms just acid reflux and the test shows severe sibo...you never know until you do the test...base on my experience if we keep going to same kind of drs we will get the same answer. Go to a different dr like naturophatic you dont have nothing to loose..I dont think you have cancer or something like that...dr told me that gastros put patients on ppi for everything stomach pain, ulcer, h pylori (plus antibiotics), sore throat, gastritis, etc.

      My dr did a stool test too and base on the results she told me that I did digestive enzymes. Now I dont feel like the food took forever to digest...still feeling sick but at least better.

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