Signs and symptoms

Good morning Joe,

Thank you getting in touch and welcome to our online community. I hope you find it supportive. I’m Helen, one of the cancer information nurse specialists here on the Macmillan support line.

I’m sorry you are experiencing aching joints, back pain and some pain when eating.

It’s understandable you’re trying to piece things together and make sense of your current symptoms. Whilst it’s natural to look up symptoms online, this can potentially lead to self-diagnosing and cause increased worry and anxiety.

To manage anxiety and reduce concerns about your symptoms, try to refrain from going online. The internet can offer a wealth of information at our fingertips, it has no filter, and we often find ourselves in places that are irrelevant to our circumstances.

Although many people would share your worries about cancer, most would find their symptoms were caused by another illness or condition.

The best way to find out what is causing these problems is to visit your GP as soon as you can. They can examine you and arrange any necessary tests. NICE provides clear guidance to GPs on which symptoms may lead to a cancer diagnosis. We are not able, as nurses on the Macmillan Support Line, to offer a second opinion or make a diagnosis from your symptoms.

If you find you’re having trouble controlling worrying thoughts and anxiety, your GP can also support with this and refer you to local services if needed. Anxiety UK or Mind have some useful resources and strategies for managing anxiety.

You may also benefit from talking to us about your fears and worries. Talking things through can help us gain a better understanding of what’s happening for you and give you the best guidance on what to do.  

I hope this information is helpful but if you have any more questions please don’t hesitate to get back in touch.

Best wishes,

Helen, Cancer Information Nurse Specialist 

You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or email us. 

Ref/HeP/SH

Hello,

Firstly, thank you for your reply, I take your point re going on line and to be honest, completely agree. Maybe it is hard in such an impersonal environment to put enough information across, but I should say that although I am concerned about the risks, this is maybe a 'little' less of a blind doom scroll situation, and possibly a little more considered, however, your point is right and I do need to arrange a meeting with my PG, which I have done now.

Just for reference, it really has no real value to your point, but my reason for seeking advice pre a GP meeting is because my GP/surgery is almost falling apart, taking up to 4 hours for them to answer a call and then hanging up, my doctor has resigned the practice, and my feeling is that the NHS, despite spiking taxes, is drowning in challenges - woefully under invested. Trying to get an appointment can be up to a month unless I sound stressed, and I am really not sure I should be doing all that to an underpaid receptionist who doesn't understand the first thing about cancer or paranoia.

It is also worth mentioning that it was research that helped me find the Iqoro 4 years ago, way before the NHS found it, and without it I could potentially have much bigger issues than I have, the Iqoro is now available on the NHS, my research and early thinking was ahead of the curve and prevented the NHS higher costs on PPI's for me.

And on a different note, my experience with GP's and the NHS in general, is they are not geared up to prevent disease, after all we live in a capitalist world and the system is based on this, so doctors are taught what to prescribe after the event when it can be too late, not pre the event to help avoid ill health.

So going back to my question of 'are aches more associated to more apparent oesophagus cancer or not, therefore I would be much more aware of ill health when at that stage', was an effort to avoid unnecessary strain on an already struggling NHS system.

I have however up'ed my PPI use and the pain while eating has subsided, so my assumption is that the pain was from an inflamed valve where acid has been rising more than it should, and so I 'feel' I have partly discounted the risk to some degree. That said, I have now an appointment with my new GP and will get further advice from there, and in the meantime, may where practical seek further information in the most reliable places I can.

Again, I do thank you for your message, although the GP appointment was an obvious one, I suppose it was ok to hear it, and I am sure you have much more important questions to answer.

All the best,

Joe