Am I At Risk For Stomach Cancer? Posted: 05-30-07 18:12pm
First off, I want to thank the ones who
are patient enough to read this long
thread on mine.
Age: 28 Sex: M Ethnicity: Asian/Chinese
My last blood test was in December of 06.
I had pretty much everything checked in
the blood. My doc recommended that I do
the basic 24 type blood check, as well as
the lipid panel test. Results came back
all normal, except I had a slight increse
in liver enzymes, but that was because I
was drinking a lot between the ages of
18-22. However, prior to the blood test
in 06 was back in 2002. During that year,
I was constantly suffering from stomach
pain, which was temporarily relieved by
antacids. I learned about the
helicobactor pylori blood test, and sure
enough, I was positive. I was then
prescribed a 2 week dosage of antibiotics
specifically to target the h. pylori
bacteria. After that I never went back to
see the doctor, because the constant pain
was gone for good. Now my concern is that
prior to discovering that I was infected
with the h. pylori in 2002, I've had
constant stomach pain for a good 10 plus
years. I can remember that I started as
early as probably 10 years old. During
that time, a few days treatment of 100mg
tagamet antacid was good to relieve the
pain for a good few months. Eventually,
the pain would come back again. After a
few years down the line, I would climb up
to take up to 200mg of tagamet, because
100mg was no longer as effective. I did
see a doctor I think at about 12 or 13
regarding this problem, and the doctor
again prescribed tagamet. Now another few
years had gone by with the same old
problem, the pain coming and going away.
I think when I hit about 15 or 16, tagamet
didn't seem to work at all, as I was still
waking up during the night with severe
pain. My next medicine was pepcid, and it
worked real well. Therefore, I've been
taking pepcid all the way until I turned
about 22, and decided to get this problem
straightened out with my doctor. Again,
between the ages of 18-22, I was drinking
alcohol pretty heavily with friends. The
pain of course came more frequently with
added alcohol, and I also realized that it
was unusual for someone to live this way.
That's when I got my blood test in 2002
after learning about the h.pylori test. I
remember asking my doctor if I may have
cancer by now, after having 10+ years of
this stomach illness. I'm pretty sure the
h.pylori was in my system all throughout.
My doctor said don't worry because it
takes a lot longer time for someone to
develope cancer from h.pylori. Is this a
true statement from my doctor? I remember
reading an internet article saying that
h.pylori can cause cancer, especialy to
those infected for over 10 years. Then I
hear friends and family members tell me
that I'm too young to develope cancer. I
don't know who to believe. I'm just
worried that maybe I may have polyps
inside my stomach by now, and will soon
turn cancerous at an early age. Forgot to
mention that my last blood test in
December 2006 resulted in good results,
since my liver enzymes were all back to
normal. I stopped drinking from 22-26
years old. I then started drinking quite
a bit of alcohol again during the weekends
with my buddies knowing than my enzymes
were back to normal. Sometimes I would
drink a lot during a Friday or a Saturday,
and I drink mostly beer. Rarely do I
drink hard liquor. I think sometime in
March 07, I developed severe heartburn on
a Monday, after following a lot of
drinking from the previous Friday and
Saturday. It was pretty bad as eating was
difficult also. I also had some of that
same pain again which really scared me,
especially after so many years it had gone
away. But then I took a 14 day trial of
prilosec, and I was back to normal again.
Now really, this whole thread is just to
see if I'm over-reacting to my health
concerns. I'm fine right now with no
stomach pain bothering me at all. But
again, when I drink heavily during a
Friday or a Saturday, my stomach may
sometimes hurt a bit. Do you recommend
that I do a stomach upper GI at my age?
Sometimes I feel like I'm more prone to
having stomach cancer at an early age,
because I feel that my life style is so
different than most people out there. Am
I wrong about this? Please help. Thanks
so much!
|
Fairy Godmother
Supporter
Joined: 11 Oct 2003 Posts: 1492 Location: , Georgia USA
Thanks: 81
Thanked:116
Hi Posted: 05-30-07 18:35pm
I was recently diagnosed with H. Pylori,
went the two weeks of antibiotics, did the
breath test last week to ensure it was
gone and it was. My gastro Dr. told me I
could have had this bacteria for years...I
do hit the big 50 in a couple months. Have
you had an endoscopy? My problems with the
stomach pains were from gastritis. The
lining of my stomach needs to heal and
like you, bout hte time it starts too, I
hear CAPN/ MORGAN calling my name! I am
going ot begin taking Nexium in a coupl
days when pres. gets here. I have tried
all the others (Protonix, Previcid,
Pepcid, Zantac.you name). I do not believe
you have stomach cancer, I just believe
you need to allow you stomach time ot
heal. I had to give up coffee (that WAS
HARD) last Nov.......some chocolates kill
me too.....but i can drink Mountain Dew
and eat foods with Texas Pete! GO FIGURE!
Do you ahve a gastro Dr? It might be worth
seeing one jsut to put your mind at ease!
Hope I've helped some!
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jayau
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 30 May 2007 Posts: 4 Location: California
Re: Hi Posted: 05-30-07 19:58pm
Fairy godmother, do you mind me asking how
old are you? I wanted to also say thank
you for taking the time to read such a
long thread. I forgot to mention that
just recently, I would feel this tingling
behind my tongue whenever my stomach
growls. You know how you can sort of feel
your stomach retract whenever it's about
to growl? Well, I feel the tingling when
my stomach retracts. Do you know if it's
also true that when you're young like me
for example in the 20's, you tend to
recover more rapidly than if you're old?
What I'm scared about is that I may have
permanenet damage to my stomach already,
and that it's just a matter of a feel more
years will I start to develope cancer.
God, it's so hard to explain what I'm
trying to say here. It's like for
example, how I mentioned about my liver
with elevated enzymes at one point, and
that it was back to normal a few years
later? Now is being normal again like
having a healthy liver prior to the
elevated enzymes? That's what I'm trying
to say about my stomach. I guess I'm also
just worried because of my
depression/anxiety problems.