Worried I could have lung cancer

I am worried I could potentially have lung cancer 

I won’t lie I am a heavy smoker, not a chain smoker but I do smoke a lot

I have started tasting blood in my mouth, have aches all over my body, have a constant cough and feel more tired and fatigued than usual 

Should I get this checked out? How would I go about getting it checked?

  • A very warm welcome to the forum Lucy although I'm sorry to hear about your symptoms and for the worry they are causing.

    If things don't improve, or get worse, it may be worth booking an appointment with your GP to get this looked at. Even if it turns out to be nothing, it's always good to get any persistent or unusual symptoms checked out, if only for peace of mind.

    Hopefully some of our members will offer their thoughts and advice to you soon but in the meantime, we hope your symptoms start to improve and everything will be o.k.

    Kind regards,

    Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

  • Hi Lucy
    This sounds similar to my journey, in short I am a smoker of 20 a day and over the course of December developed a bad cough and was coughing up blood, I was tired and fatigue but work as a chef so put it down to being busy, and developed pain in my back that was restricting movement
    I booked a emergency GP appointment for the same day (phoned at 8am, check with your GP) the Gp checked me over and due to coughing up blood sent me for an emergency Xray which the radiologist was sufficently worried about to book me for a urgent CT scan (results I am waiting on)
    If I were you I would go down this route, for piece of mind more than anything, 
    Hope you get better news than me

  • Well, it can't be much fun having all those symptoms. So it makes sense to make an appointment with your GP.

    If you're worried that you might have lung cancer (and I hope you're wrong) you could ask to have a CT scan. Note that an x-ray might not show a lung tumor, from what I know.

    My best advice to you is to stop smoking. Easier said than done but the best thing you can do for your health.

    Wishing you all the best. Sharon