jayau
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Joined: 30 May 2007
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 Posted: 05/30/07 - 20:26 Post subject: Am I at risk for stomach cancer? |
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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!
jay au |
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