View Full Version : HELP cant trust doctor
why cant i trust the doctor telling me I do not have cancer?
Ive now had 2 series of blood tests over 6 weeks which are not showing anything except high iron. My doctor says my swollen glands are because my body is flushing something out.
I just dont trust him?? quite a few posts online say bloods can be normal for lymphoma but my doctor says SOMETHING would show up. (high iron isn't one of them). but the online forums say this only shows up in advanced lymphoma.
last time i saw him he wouldnt even feel my neck - he said just by looking at me he could see my glands were fine. he also said that if i start to develop a 2nd adams apple then that's the time to worry!
i am supposed to be buying a house in a few weeks and im terrified that we'll move in and i'll take a turn for the worst or im going to be sent for biopsies and all sorts. we wont afford the mortgage if i have to give up work. my partner thinks im crazy that the doctor has practically given me the all clear and im still going insane with worry!!!
pAULspybeef
18-06-13, 21:57
Hi Darren I can really relate to what you're going through. I have what seems like chronic sore throat, tonsils sore on can swell as with neck glands, get cough, blocked sinus feeling an sometimes eyes feel gooey. Last time I saw doc he said post viral Infection can take months to get out of system and only thing to do is see it out over time as there is no antibiotic or magic wand. After a massive MS anxiety episode 2 years ago from which I'm well on way to recovery, my mind is trying to push me down the lymphoma avenue but I'm trying to see it with a logical mind.
Hi Darren, I know what you're feeling. I'm probably not helping much by saying this but doctors can be wrong sometimes. There was once when my ENT told me I had oral thrush and gave me some mouth wash. The thrush is still there after 2 weeks and I panicked. I seek advice from a nearby GP, and it turns out that it's just my glands and it's perfectly normal that it looks like that.
It took me some time and trial&error to find a good GP who would listen and understand my HA issues. She admits that she may not be right all the time but at least she always manage to assure me that the worst-case scenario that's running through my head is not going to happen. And that helps me a lot. :)
alicegreen
19-06-13, 04:13
High iron can also be caused by being slightly dehydrated when the test was taken as the sample is more concentrated. Lymphoma would show up in a blood test, I honestly think you can be very reassured that you do not have this.
High iron can also be caused by being slightly dehydrated when the test was taken as the sample is more concentrated. Lymphoma would show up in a blood test, I honestly think you can be very reassured that you do not have this.
thanks alice
im going to try 200% to push this to the back of my mind today. i have a very busy day at work so that should do the trick.
i know for sure my symptoms are worst when im anxious so we'll see what happens
From your blood work and symptoms, I can confidently say you do not have lymphoma.
From your blood work and symptoms, I can confidently say you do not have lymphoma.
I hope so...i just wish some symptoms would ease so that I could believe it.
I have stopped wearing deodorant today to see if it helps my underarms.
My collarbone is really sore because I was franctically feeling a lump all day yesterday. It could be a muscle because when I pull my neck back the lump seems to move and change shape, peaks in the middle.
Today it feels more like a lump and is so sore :(
I've done 2 CT scans this year that were completely normal and I still don't believe my doctor, nor the scans. I'm convinced I have brain tumor that no one else sees. So I know exactly how you feel. I guess what's left for us is to stop overreacting, stop reading our symptoms on the internet and stop panicking whenever we think about our illnesses. Doctors are DOCTORS, they've dealt with thousands of cases where people had different illnesses and they probably know how to recognize when someone has a problem. You know, I'm aware of all these things, yet I can't convince myself that they are true, because I know how hard it is to make yourself believe that everything is okay with you, especially when you really do feel pain or whatever. I guess we should just encourage each other and tell our selves that everything is going to be fine.
High iron, you say? How high? Any irish ancestry?
Bloodwork unfortunately can miss lymphoma as my mom found out. But there are plenty of more benign causes of swollen glands.
Including high iron, afaik. Please keep an eye on those levels, and change docs if yours doesn't take it seriously. Genetic iron overload is a common disorder among men in parts of Ireland (and no, not from guiness), but very rare in other places.
Freaked, don't freak him out unnecessary. If his doctor says he's okay, then he is okay indeed.
Jimmy28, I'm not trying to freak him out, but docs and bloods said my mom was okay and she did indeed have lymphoma. It took a scan to see it. Darren1 is probably fine, but it's always better to get the more reliable tests done if they're non-invasive. It doesn't sound like lymphoma to me, but I'm not a doctor; I just know bloods can miss it.
I mentioned about the iron because high iron isn't really supposed to happen and is nothing to be messed around with. I assume if the levels were really high the doc would have been more concerned, but I have no idea how aware regular doctors even are of the disorder in areas where it's not common. It's recommended to go on medication and get annual blood tests. It's only normal if you're taking iron supplements or are on a crazy high iron diet. I assume the doc wouldn't be so incompetent as to let something like that slip, but i felt obliged to mention it just in case. If it was me, I'd rather someone worry me temporarily if it saved me more health probs :-/
But I'm sure I am worrying you unnecessarily, Darren1; did the doc explain the high iron to you? Was it just on the high end of normal or whatever?
Jimmy28, I'm not trying to freak him out, but docs and bloods said my mom was okay and she did indeed have lymphoma. It took a scan to see it. Darren1 is probably fine, but it's always better to get the more reliable tests done if they're non-invasive. It doesn't sound like lymphoma to me, but I'm not a doctor; I just know bloods can miss it.
I mentioned about the iron because high iron isn't really supposed to happen and is nothing to be messed around with. I assume if the levels were really high the doc would have been more concerned, but I have no idea how aware regular doctors even are of the disorder in areas where it's not common. It's recommended to go on medication and get annual blood tests. It's only normal if you're taking iron supplements or are on a crazy high iron diet. I assume the doc wouldn't be so incompetent as to let something like that slip, but i felt obliged to mention it just in case. If it was me, I'd rather someone worry me temporarily if it saved me more health probs :-/
But I'm sure I am worrying you unnecessarily, Darren1; did the doc explain the high iron to you? Was it just on the high end of normal or whatever?
Hi Freaked
Dont worry you didnt freak me out! He rechecked my iron levels 2 weeks later and they have come down but still high. I dont remember the figures.
He said that iron and other toxins can get clogged in your system and could explain the way Im feeling.
Darren1, I apologise thoroughly in advance of this post, but...
He said that? 'Toxins' aren't really supposed to get 'clogged in your system' if you're healthy. That's the kind of thing you normally only hear in alternative medicine. It's definitely a good sign that it's fallen, but high iron is poisonous to one degree or another, and the body is supposed to be able to absorb the right amount as it's a vital nutrient. If it's not doing that consistently and you're not eating like three raw steaks a day, then it can be a sign that something's wrong, or it can be a (treatable) problem in and of itself.
Have you considered seeking a second opinion on this? I spend most of my time here trying to help people to trust their docs or trying to trust my own, but it's better safe than sicker sometimes. If the doctor's taking the issue seriously and planning more follow ups, all well and good, but he sounds a bit blasse from here. The doc's certainly right that the high iron might be making you feel crap, and if you managed to get your levels back to normal, you might find that a lot of your symptoms disappear.
But again, I'm not a doctor, so don't freak out too much just cos I think something seems odd. I'm just telling you what I would do in your shoes.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.