My mums losing ALOT of weight... really worried.

[Courtney10891]

Hi everybody need a bit of advice. My mum is 58 years old and I’m really worried about her. Since November she has lost 2 stone, she has lost 4 pounds in the past week. The problem is she isn’t trying to lose weight. She isn’t eating any differently and she hasn’t upped her excercise. I’ve googled it and the first thing that came up was cancer. When I was younger, I’m now 28, she had thyroid cancer and luckily everything was fine. I’ve been nagging her to go to the doctors but she’s not really taking me seriously. I’m so worried and scared.

Can you accompany her to the doctor maybe?

she really does need to go to the GP

She has promised me she will call tomorrow and get a emergency appointment for tomorrow. I just hope that she doesn’t have to wait long to get a appointment at the hospital. Does anybody know how it works? Will she get referred to the hospital and how long do you think tests and results will take?

Just to say, unexplainable weight loss doesn’t always mean cancer. I lost 3 stone in a few months and was extremely poorly and went onto be diagnosed with Addison’s disease (adrenal insufficiency - I take daily steroids to replace the natural steroids my body doesn’t make). You can also lose a lot of weight with type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune conditions. Or even something like coeliac or Crohn’s disease, both of which are treatable.

I hope you have some answers soon. If they are worried it might be something sinister they usually book hospital tests in for a 2 week turnaround.

Thank you for your reply. It’s just so scary I googled it and the first thing that comes up is cancer. Especially because she has had it before it’s extra worrying. I can’t keep but think the worse. The thought of anything happening to my mum breaks my heart.

My mother lost unexplained weight when she was 63. For no reason. She was convinced it was cancer. And baffled that 'they' couldn't find the cancer. Not so much, Maybe 1.5 stone.

She died of a pneumonia & a heart attack a few months later. Lots of pointless worry she shouldn't have done.

There are plenty of reasons for unexplained weight loss that are not cancer. However she needs to get it checked,if she had treatment for thyroid cancer in the past I assume she's on meds now, it could be a reaction to those.

Does she have any other symptoms that may suggest cancer - I know theres a lot of different cancer types and a myriad of symptoms - but I wondered if there was anything else that was worrying you?

I hope she manages to get to the GP and hopefully nothing serious and you can both have worries banished

Thank you for your replies. She started complaining in December that she was feeling extremely tired and it was around that time we started noticing she was losing quite a bit of weight. I think she is partly putting off going to the doctors because she is scared of what they could say. Apart from the weight loss and tiredness though she is pretty fine. She is still going to work and is still eating the exact same.

Diabetes could cause weight loss and tiredness. You could get a quick test at a pharmacy