Fears regarding oesophagal/throat cancer

[louise123_uk]

I worry about having various types of cancer from time to time, but one that is a peristant worry to me is oesophagal/throat cancer. I am someone who goes out quite a bit to restaurants/nights out which usually involves a fair bit of alcohol, and I do probs get thru one too many glasses in the house. I dont hav a drinking prob, I mean I just consume alcohol regularly as a lot of people do in todays society and recently I have started to panic that this is going to cause or may have already caused oesophagal or throat cancer. I have one tonsil much larger than the other side and that is much lumpier and bumpier and unsual looking than the other. My doc says its just the way you are but I worry its not and think this first started worries over my throat and the oesophagus the bits you cant see in the throat, as sometimes I can feel something at the back of my throat, wihich is due I think to the large tonsil on one side but then my panicing mind take over and I wonder if this is true and the possibilities of it being someting much more sinister. Oesophagal and throat cancer are scary because of the high mortality rates and the fact its in a usually unseen area of your body that would stop it being easily caught early.

I dont really have many other symptoms apart from the fact I do get a fair few sore throats that usually last about 2-3 days everytime I develop a cold, and I have just started to have acid reflux in last 3 to 4 months, something Ive never had before, which is causing concern as it is a symptom of oesophagal cancer I think. Am going on hol in 2 days time, and my fears always ramp up when going on hol for some reason :-( Sighs trying to find a way to get this out my head before I go, so can enjoy some prosecco in Italy without panicing that every mouthful is causing some cancer.

[SG]

I have this exact same fear about cancers in my throat/neck area. In the last few months I've moved from worrying about throat cancer, tonsil cancer, lymphoma, now its thyroid cancer I'm worried about. I too have one tonsil bigger than the other and am paranoid about the way they look, always checking them and feeling my glands etc. I also have the difficulty swallowing and lump in throat. I really believe the more we think about a certain area of our body, the more we notice how it feels and we start to convince ourselves of things that don't exist. Currently trying to train myself to relax the muscles in my jaw and neck because tension makes it all feel worse. Hope you feel better soon, you're definitely not alone in this fear.

[louise123_uk]

Yeah I agree with that, the more I think/worry about my mouth the more I detect things or feel there is an ache or soreness. I became really aware of swallowing for a while and convinced myself something felt weird, when I got distracted by something else in my life it stopped feeling weird.

Currently having a bad day looking at my tonsils and throat, I dont know why I bother with wine, I beat myself up next day thinking I have probs caused the start of throat cancer :-(

[sunshine1]

i was worried about this too. I went to the doctor in a panic because of a lump in my throat, turned out it was a lymph node, enlarged due to infection.I think my acid reflux is also a symptom of being anxious. I tried to remember that there is the phrase 'having a lump in your throat' and that people use this phrase when they are nervous etc. and therefore must be due to being anxious. Like you when I was distracted from my thinking, my symptoms disappeared. That's a good thing.