The Student Room Group

is unintentional weight loss most likely to be cancer?

I've lost 1-2lbs over the past week despite binge eating and drinking on almost every day. I usually eat around 900 calories a day but the past few weeks ive been eating and drinking like 3000 calories a day. I gained 5 lbs over the first two weeks of doing this but am now losing weight despite the amount I'm eating. and unintentional weight loss is one of the most common first cancer symptoms.

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Reply 1

Long time no see. If you are worried about cancer (which you are statistically unlikely to have, considering your age, but no one on the internet can tell you), TSR is not the place to come and you should see a doctor.

Reply 2

Original post
by black tea
Long time no see. If you are worried about cancer (which you are statistically unlikely to have, considering your age, but no one on the internet can tell you), TSR is not the place to come and you should see a doctor.

I've seen a doctor and they bas8vally just tell me to go away lmao
Original post
by Anonymous
I've seen a doctor and they bas8vally just tell me to go away lmao

Well in that case it t sounds like you don’t have cancer, and asking unqualified folk who have never met you isn’t going to lead to a more accurate diagnosis.

I seem to remember that you were worried about a brain tumour or somesuch not so long ago. That would suggest that either your general health is poor, (leading to a lot of a different symptoms), or you are just very, very worried about your health in general.

Reply 4

Original post
by Admit-One
Well in that case it t sounds like you don’t have cancer, and asking unqualified folk who have never met you isn’t going to lead to a more accurate diagnosis.
I seem to remember that you were worried about a brain tumour or somesuch not so long ago. That would suggest that either your general health is poor, (leading to a lot of a different symptoms), or you are just very, very worried about your health in general.

My health isn't poor but I always have the symptoms I am reporting, and doctors often send me away refusing to do any tests at all/insisting they aren't needed which doesn't put my mind at ease at all. It takes weeks of booking every appointment I can to even get standard blood tests, and I have requested MRIs but always just get told they're not willing to refer me for one on the NHS and I can't afford to get tests done privately. I have also asked if there's anything they are willing to prescribe me for the persistent symptoms and they always refuse. Some issues I have been seeing doctors about since I was around 12-13 (8-9 years) and have made no progress due to doctors thinking I'm either making stuff up for some weird reason or just believing it's acceptable and normal to expect me to live with near constant and sometimes debilitating pain.

Reply 5

Original post
by Anonymous
My health isn't poor but I always have the symptoms I am reporting, and doctors often send me away refusing to do any tests at all/insisting they aren't needed which doesn't put my mind at ease at all. It takes weeks of booking every appointment I can to even get standard blood tests, and I have requested MRIs but always just get told they're not willing to refer me for one on the NHS and I can't afford to get tests done privately. I have also asked if there's anything they are willing to prescribe me for the persistent symptoms and they always refuse. Some issues I have been seeing doctors about since I was around 12-13 (8-9 years) and have made no progress due to doctors thinking I'm either making stuff up for some weird reason or just believing it's acceptable and normal to expect me to live with near constant and sometimes debilitating pain.

How many medical appointments do you have a year?
Original post
by Anonymous
My health isn't poor but I always have the symptoms I am reporting, and doctors often send me away refusing to do any tests at all/insisting they aren't needed which doesn't put my mind at ease at all. It takes weeks of booking every appointment I can to even get standard blood tests, and I have requested MRIs but always just get told they're not willing to refer me for one on the NHS and I can't afford to get tests done privately. I have also asked if there's anything they are willing to prescribe me for the persistent symptoms and they always refuse. Some issues I have been seeing doctors about since I was around 12-13 (8-9 years) and have made no progress due to doctors thinking I'm either making stuff up for some weird reason or just believing it's acceptable and normal to expect me to live with near constant and sometimes debilitating pain.

Debilitating pain for over a decade is poor health.

Reply 7

Original post
by ageshallnot
How many medical appointments do you have a year?
about 5 for each issue, then I give up for a while when they continuously refuse to help me

Reply 8

Original post
by Admit-One
Debilitating pain for over a decade is poor health.

I'm not doing anything to cause my health to be poor though, I have a relatively healthy lifestyle and have followed all advice doctors have given me

Reply 9

Original post
by Anonymous
about 5 for each issue, then I give up for a while when they continuously refuse to help me

How many issues? How many appointments in total?

Reply 10

Original post
by ageshallnot
How many issues? How many appointments in total?

I had 4 over Christmas which were all concluded with them refusing to help me but I'm not in the UK anymore so I can't have anymore until I go home. The last time before that was last summer when I went 1-2 times a week for around a month before eventually being given a blood test then just being told that everything's normal so they're not going to take any further action.

Reply 11

Original post
by Anonymous
I'm not doing anything to cause my health to be poor though, I have a relatively healthy lifestyle and have followed all advice doctors have given me

Except not eating enough, drinking unhealthy amounts of alcohol and taking opiates, which you have been told multiple times are only making your issues worse.

Reply 12

To echo another comment above: A forum such as this with students in is not your best source of medical information.
There is a multitude of reasons for some of the symptoms you’ve talked about, not necessarily always cancer.

If a qualified doctor has told you that your condition is not of concern, then their judgement far outweighs any suggestions here.
If you have only seen one doctor for all these appointments you can ask to speak to another impartial doctor for a second opinion - but I gather the impression this is multiple doctors telling you the same things here.

Having persistent anxiety over your health is a medical condition. So if you find yourself concerned about your health almost every day, then that is an anxiety you should seek help for.

I’ll ask you a final question, with the number of appointments you’ve attended, which do you want more - a diagnosis, or symptom management?

If it’s a diagnosis you want, then are you going in with the wrong priorities?
If it’s symptom management you are looking for then it’s better to approach the situation as “I have symptom X, and want some advice”, rather than “I have cancer, I want you to confirm that for me”.

Reply 13

Original post
by RMS23
To echo another comment above: A forum such as this with students in is not your best source of medical information.
There is a multitude of reasons for some of the symptoms you’ve talked about, not necessarily always cancer.
If a qualified doctor has told you that your condition is not of concern, then their judgement far outweighs any suggestions here.
If you have only seen one doctor for all these appointments you can ask to speak to another impartial doctor for a second opinion - but I gather the impression this is multiple doctors telling you the same things here.
Having persistent anxiety over your health is a medical condition. So if you find yourself concerned about your health almost every day, then that is an anxiety you should seek help for.
I’ll ask you a final question, with the number of appointments you’ve attended, which do you want more - a diagnosis, or symptom management?
If it’s a diagnosis you want, then are you going in with the wrong priorities?
If it’s symptom management you are looking for then it’s better to approach the situation as “I have symptom X, and want some advice”, rather than “I have cancer, I want you to confirm that for me”.

I have only mentioned cancer on a few occasions on which I have asked if it could be ruled out. Doctors are refusing to help me with any sort of symptom management. One of the ongoing issues I've been having and seeing doctors about for nearly 10 years now is migraines, which can sometimes last for up to a week and be debilitating, yet I've only ever been told that "some people just get more headaches than others" and that I should take paracetamol, that can barely even be called symptom management and is more akin to them just saying go away and live with your pain without bothering us.

Reply 14

Original post
by black tea
Except not eating enough, drinking unhealthy amounts of alcohol and taking opiates, which you have been told multiple times are only making your issues worse.

Alcohol and opiates weren't mentioned here and aren't a part of this issue. Other issues such as the migraines I've had since I was a child.

Reply 15

Original post
by Anonymous
Alcohol and opiates weren't mentioned here and aren't a part of this issue. Other issues such as the migraines I've had since I was a child.

But they are contributing to your poor health whether you like it or not.

Reply 16

Original post
by black tea
But they are contributing to your poor health whether you like it or not.

If my other health issues were actually being treated then I would be able to stop the drinking and painkillers

Reply 17

Original post
by Anonymous
If my other health issues were actually being treated then I would be able to stop the drinking and painkillers

you claim to drink because you enjoy it

Reply 18

Original post
by Anonymous
If my other health issues were actually being treated then I would be able to stop the drinking and painkillers


Can you see from an outsider perspective how this can be a continuing cycle?

1) you decide to drink, and/or take drugs (medicinal or other).
2) your symptoms continue
3) you decide that the drugs and alcohol are unrelated to your symptoms
4) you still feel symptoms and so decide to go back to Number 1

And on the cycle goes.

You sound extremely certain that your symptoms are completely unrelated to these behaviours - how can you be so sure?

Reply 19

Original post
by black tea
you claim to drink because you enjoy it

I enjoy and it helps with my mental health and physical pain

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