Constantly worrying about cancer

[catnap56]

Ive been feeling really off for the past few weeks. Tiredness, aches, burning feeling in stomach that comes and goes and diarrhoea. My whole adult life I’ve had issues with my bowels - mainly urgency and diarrhea. It comes and goes. I am 39 and have had two colonoscopies (both clear - albeit 15 and 6 years ago respectively) and lots of blood and FIT tests. The last one was about 6 months ago and was clear.

I have known people die from cancer suddenly and young. It’s just so scary how it can creep up from nowhere. On paper my symptoms match some of those associated with bowel cancer (also had a lot of rectal bleeding but this has been going on for years and diagnosed as piles).

Reading real life stories online shows that everyone’s symptoms can vary and some people don’t even get any at all, it’s only picked up from routine FIT tests.

I need to find a way to shake this worry but it’s very difficult when you feel crap all the time. Equally if I keep going back to the GP I feel like I’m going to look neurotic.

bump

You've had symptoms for most of your life so nothing changed significantly since your last FIT or before then. I might be helpful to speak to your GP about health anxiety though and continue with normal annual checkups.

Have you been tested for coeliac disease?

Perhaps talk to a professional therapist about this particular anxiety?

Your constant stressing could easily be the cause of your physical problems.

My Mum spent many, many years worrying that she'd get breast cancer like her mum. She died of pneumonia at 96.

Id be pushing for testing around digestion and stomach stuff rather than cancer if its ongoing

Sounds auto immune to me , could they have missed an inflammatory condition like crohns or coeliac like someone mentioned above.

I read FIT test are unreliable. The best is colonoscopy, but it's recommend you come at 40/45 age.
Do you smoke or eat lots of meat with nitrate and nitrites? Nitrates and nitrites are also found in some cheese, vegan meat replacements and maybe other items too, but not certain on that.

I thought I had bowel cancer due to some of my symptoms so it was a relief when I was diagnosed with coeliac disease. It explained everything! It’s annoying and frustrating at times but way better than a cancer diagnosis!

I just did a qfit test online because the gp wont see me. A standard fit test is £15 or less. I would just do a regular one. They're not fool proof but it's as good as the screening process.

I would also push for a colonoscopy and bloods for celiac.

My diet is ok. I have been a big drinker most of my adult life but am cutting back significantly now. When I had my last colonoscopy 6/7 years ago it was off the back of a positive FIT test but the colonoscopy didn’t show anything so they said it was ‘just one of those things’. I can go months with relative calm but then I get bad weeks like this one where I have burning abdominal pain, diarrhoea and fatigue. It’s so hard to keep going back to the doctors. Their attitude is very lackadaisical and ‘you’re too young for anything sinister’.

Part of my anxiety comes from having young dc and no family support so the thought of dying young and leaving them terrifies me :-(

Push for a coeliac blood test if you haven’t already. Your symptoms sound very similar to mine.

New and changed symptoms are a red flag for cancer. If you have long felt like this, then you should be reassured that this is almost certainly not cancer. It could be lots of things like small bowel Crohn’s, coeliac, small bowel malabsorption or pancreatic insufficiency (or things like simply drinking too much alcohol or eating a poor diet).

Speaking as someone with advanced cancer who probably will eventually die from it before I get to see my children grow up, the worst thing you can be doing is spending all these healthy years worrying about something that might happen in the future. Get some support for your anxiety and get out and enjoy life. Don’t waste it stressing about FIT tests.

You either see your GP, pay private, or work on the worrying. Can't see a 4th option. Working on the worry will be easier once you have gone down the medical route. Unless you always worry about cancer that is.

Ah, so alcohol consumption. If you’ve been a heavy drinker (how heavy are we talking?), it will almost certainly be that. Drinking is awful for your gut. It completely broke my pancreas and now I have exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (which lines up with the symptoms you have). Is it worse after drinking? After a heavy, fatty meal? Ask for a faecal elastase test.

I understand @catnap56
A family history and a lot of cancer scares has left me really paranoid and anxious about it.
You're right to not ignore your bowel symptoms. Please do go back to the GP. I wonder if it's also worth trying stopping drinking altogether. That could well be the problem.

So in my twenties I was a typical weekend binge drinker. Drank all sorts of awful stuff as well - cheap cider etc. In my thirties I was more of an at home wine drinker. Regularly went over my units. Now I’m approaching 40 I’m realising I can’t keep abusing my body and expect no consequences. I don’t notice a correlation between drinking/symptoms. It can crop up anytime. But alcohol obviously isn’t good for general health.

Your symptoms could well be IBS related, especially if you have health anxiety. Have you spoken to your doctor about health anxiety and intrusive thoughts about cancer? I'd recommend that you do that and try and stop yourself looking online at stories about cancer or looking up cancer symptoms as that's only going to exacerbate your anxiety.

I think I do it because I’m constantly looking for reassurance but then I just end up seeing general symptoms that do apply to me (bleeding, diarrhea, pain, tiredness etc) so it really has the opposite effect. I know these things can all be linked to many other conditions but my brain only focuses on the worst case scenario.

Have you asked to be referred to a gastronentolorgist? I had stomach issues for years and was quite unwell but all tests were coming back normal. I was lucky to eventually get to an amazing consultant who took me seriously and she found that I had inflammatory bowel disease, plus severe bile acid malabsorption. When I was sat in her office discussing the diagnosis I was so relieved I nearly cried - sounds weird I know but I'd been struggling for so long, I'd been starting to wonder if it was all in my head! I knew something was wrong but I couldn't get any proof.

I wouldn't be unduly worried about cancer but I would go back to your GP if you're still having symptoms. I'm a similar age to you, and I had 3 colonoscopies before my IBD was found, the first two were clear.

My mum started having bowel symptoms (urgency blood in stools pain etc) in her late 20s when I was a toddler. She was convinced it was cancer due to relatives dying of bowel cancer. It was ulcerative colitis which was managed with medication until she had a colostomy age 70 and has been fine ever since (now 85).
Don't fear the worst.

OP, the reality is about half of us will get cancer. Most of us will be fine and some of us won't, but we're all going to die of something, so it's really not worth bothering about.
If you're this worried, maybe you need some counselling or therapy to help you manage your emotions? Otherwise you're just wasting your life in unnecessary worry.

I know there are lots of other things it could be. I think it’s notoriously hard to get a diagnosis for bowel related things. Once there’s been a colonoscopy that’s come back clear they basically shrug and say must be IBS. I’ve had rectal bleeding for years but because I’ve got piles it’s always attributed to that and don’t get me wrong, I know the overwhelming likelihood is that’s the case. But how do they know for sure?
I went out earlier and had some lunch and came back with horrific cramps and urgency. Thankfully it’s settled down now.
I know the best advice is see the GP but I have many times over the years and nothing ever changes. I know it’s my own anxiety causing the cancer worries but after seeing so many friends die young from it it’s always on my mind.

Seeking reassurance is one of the key markers of health anxiety. The way it goes is: you seek reassurance and get it, you feel calm for a short while, then anxiety sparks - often worse than before - so you seek more reassurance. On and on it goes with more tests, more "research", more second opinions ... The cycle is endless and each round is more destabilising than the last.
The only way out of this is to learn to sit with discomfort so your brain has a chance to rewire.

OP, have you ever really addressed your possible gut issues?
I have quite a few friends who had huge issues, everything you have mentioned and more.
When the seriously looked at their gut health they felt an enormous improvement within one month.
What they did.
They looked up all the foods that are good for your gut and added them religiously to their diet.
They removed the things they ate that harmed the gut.
They switched to sour dough bread.
The ate keffir yoghurts and drank keffir drinks every day...from the supermarket.
They dramatically cut sugar out too.

They wish they had done it years ago.
Take control back by doing things that could really help you feel better.
Back off alcohol as much as you can, just until you give yourself a chance to see if diet helps.

Oh love.
I was terrified about bloody cancer. It’s a MASSIVE word.
My sister died with breast cancer.
Then I had my first mammogram, and BOOM. Breast cancer.
I assumed I would just die.
But it really isn’t like that anymore, for the most part.
I had some surgery and radiotherapy. It wasn’t awful.
I addressed my diet. I cut my alcohol consumption.
My 12 month mammogram was fine.

I’m grateful for the diagnosis. I eat better. I’m healthier.
There is so much you can do to improve your health.
if you’re not feeling great, go and see the GP again.

The fear of the unknown is the worst thing, and the anxiety isn’t helping at all.

Hugs.