to be so worried - medical

[worriedsickandfedup]

I know I am, and for posting here, but please help me I'm worried sick

I will be ringing the doctors today.

I am mid thirties. For the last 2 years I have had pain right up near my ribcage join and throughout my abdomen, I have been scanned up as far as my stomach I believe and had checks on my intestines. They have been clear.

But now I am getting weight increase and itching in my hands particularly in the evening. I'm always weak and tired (have been for years and had basic blood tests that found nothing).

I'm just worried it's pancreatic (and maybe spread to liver) cancer. I know it is rare at my age, but living with it is really difficult.

I googled around the web and it says about floating stools which i sometimes have too so that is more to worry over.

Does anyone know what else it could be? I'm really terrified and want the doctors to take me seriously this time :(

Could it be Hepatitis?

Or Gastrointestinal Reflux Disease?

Sounds like it could be chronic pancreatitis to me.

I know two people who’ve had pancreatic cancer and their symptoms have come on suddenly and both have passed away very quickly (weeks rather than months) so having symptoms longterm is probably a good sign where that’s concerned.

I recently had what I was sure was pancreatitis as I’ve had it before 10 years ago and it felt exactly the same - but my blood tests were in normal range so it wasn’t acute pancreatitis.

Did they check for gallstones? Do you drink much alcohol?

Gallstones?

Thanks for the replies.

Hepatitis I haven't knowingly been in contact with anyone or anything that it could have been.

Gastrointestinal Reflux Disease the doctors initially said and gave me medication for - it did nothing.

@SinkGirl I drink zero alcohol, which I believe is the biggest cause of panceatitis. Pancreatic cancer is a massive killer because it goes years undetected I believe as the symptoms for most dont show until its too late, which is my concern that they are overlooking me due to age until its too late to do anything.

Thanks all for the replies :)

Weight loss would be much more common in pancreatitis than weight gain and your liver function tests unlikely to be normal (which you should have had done in a basic blood screen).

I always thought the gallbladder was lower for some reason? Is it higher up? And would the discomfort last for years without worsening much?

@dottycat123 thanks, the bloods were a long time ago now (a year or so I would say)

What does the doctor think it is? If it was pancreatitis, you would have been hospitalised before now. The pain it causes can be unbearable without powerful medication.
I occasionally get a similar pain to what you describe, but it's usually just trapped wind under my ribs.
Do you have health anxiety? I went through a period in my 30s of constantly being at the doctors as I thought every ache and pain was a sign of something drastically wrong with me that no one could see. I even ended up having an MRI because I kept fainting and lost weight rapidly. I now realise at the time I led a very busy life with a new born, a busy job and didn't eat!

Sounds gallbladder related I’ve had this for years on and off would be fine then have a random
Onset of pain that could last 2 hours to days but last year was so bad I ended up in out of hours doctors as the pain under ribs felt like a knife going through front to back and then a ring of pain and the itchiness for me was on my feet which went on the whole
Summer and got so bad as at night I would be scratching they all became infected with open wounds that had to be treated with medical horny and dressings being changed every 2-3 days.

Finally had a scan and I have 2 large gallstones measuring 5xm across one had moved and was blocking something (I can’t remember exactly) to my liver which was causing the itching. I have private medical insurance and so doctor recommended that I speak to them to get gallbladder removed (they were going to put me onto consultant on nhs)

Saw private consultant and I wanted to Try and avoid surgery for lots of reasons so switched to lower fat diet and other dietary changes, touch wood I’ve had a few minor flare ups but nothing like last year pain. I’ve also got hypothyroidism so my weight gain is partly to that but the diet is also helping with slowly reducing weight

Medical honey not horny (what a typo 😳😳😳)

Yes I do get health anxiety which I know doesn't help but this is a pain that has been there for years that annoys me so much not knowing what is causing it.
It's not an always there pain it's when it's touched and definitely inside not the skin.
The doctor never came up with anything - they said the tests they had done were clear so off you go basically.

Thankyou I will definitely ask about the gallbladder things then. It never even occured to me. Would it be a constant sore pain if touched? That's what this is pretty much. Sorry i realise now I didnt describe pain well in my OP :(

Less than 5% of pancreatic cancer sufferers live for a year. Less than 1% live for more than a year. If your symptoms have persisted for over 2 years then it’s almost certainly not pancreatic cancer.

@FenellaMaxwell I thought that was after diagnosis though? I read somewhere it can start 6-11 years before any symptoms, as symptoms come on late, which is why it is usually fatal?

My Dad had (and died of) pancreatic cancer. He did not have pain for years. He had no symptoms, and then suddenly he had diarrhoea, itching and jaundice. I don't think you would have pain for years with this illness as it progresses very fast. It's most likely some sort of muscular pain, diaphragm or something.

Regarding the hepatitis, you don't have to have been in touch with someone with it. Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver and can have multiple causes not just viral and communicable.
Go back to your GP and say that you want further investigation. In the meantime make an email to yourself with a pain score and of how the pain feels and where it is and all your symptoms and then go on a totally fat free and very low carb diet for six weeks and see if there is any change. Check back to your email and compare the two.

@Bifflepants sorry for your loss, and thank you for your reply x

Thanks GhostRider for that idea, will definitely start it

I doubt very very much you would have weight gain with pancreatic cancer. Most people have significant weight loss.
If you google right upper quadrant pain that will show you where most people have issues with gallstones. I doubt it is pancreatitis, you would probably be pretty acutely unwell and it can be incredibly painful and is usually as you say (though definitely not always) heavy drinkers. You would normally have visible signs of jaundice prior to skin itching, yellowing of the eyes and dark urine. They say ths most common causes of having gall bladder issues are being fat, forty and female. Though there is often a genetic component as well.

What is the itching like? Does it spread to other areas of your body? Could it be urticaria? That has an association with GERD. Have you tried antihistamines?

Op this could have been me a year ago. I was terrified! I had a scan and all was fine but I did have a bit of pancreatic inflammation caused by diet and too much booze! I know you don’t drink but it could be just one of those things? Don’t panic, if you had cancer I think your skin would be quite yellow?

Gallstone pain for me is like a sheet of pain going through my body- as if my diaphragm was inflamed. A lot of people also get pain under their shoulder blade. It's because the area around the gall bladder becomes inflamed as I understand, so pain isn't totally localised.

Suddenly going very low fat/fat free can worsen attacks, so while I would cut down (I try to stick to about 30g a day) I wouldn't be that drastic yet.

Thank you all for the replies. SilverDragonfly that interesting, I do get back pain and sometimes around my shoulder blades...

Booboostwo just my hands, and typically just evenings and overnight, through the day is usually ok