Worrying about lymph nodes in armpit (Male)

[mark bucks]

Right here goes....... About 12 weeks ago i had a shoulder injury from lifting weights. Whilst having a feel around i decided to check under my armpit and i came accross a small lump. It's probably about a cm or so wide, it moves but its not soft its firm but not hard if that makes sense. So i have been checking it everyday and i sit and worry about it all day and night. After digging around in my armpit even deeper pushing harder i can feel another one! it is about the same size too.

Once i had established that these are my Lymph nodes i decided to locate the others to see if i could feel them. The answer is yes i can, they are in my left armpit although slighty smaller and i can feel them in my neck and groin! None of them are overly big and are not visible to the eye. The thing is all the reading i have done about them suggests that you should not be able to feel them unless they are swollen which would mean infected! or Lymphoma!!! i am not sick and for all i know they could have always been there.

I am a worrier at the best of times i panic about anything to do with health or hazards, i wont even let my children travel in someone elses car which my wife thinks is silly. I am ex millitary with multiple tours of Afghanistan and Iraq behind me as an infanteer (frontline). My wife blames my anxiety and panic attacks on this but i am not so sure as the lumps are there i can feel my lymph nodes, it is not my imagination.

I want to go to the doctors but i am slightly embarrassed and also scared of getting bad news. I had something similar back in April where i was convinced i had cancer, went to the docs who run a full blood test and sent me for a scan, all came back clear. now i am convinced that i have something wrong with my Lymph nodes and that the tests i had a few months ago mean nothing now as i must have got this disease after those tests!!

It is wearing me down and i am emotional all the time, i work away from home, spend a lot of time alone and i miss my wife and kids terribly, i think this makes it all seem worse.

I dont even know what the chances are of me having Lymphoma at my age (31) are. I really want to stop thinking about this, the trouble is i am away working again and i cant get to a doctor for at least six weeks.

Any advice or opinions would be really appreciated. Thank you.

[aggiecuttler]

I seem to always respond to these health anxiety questions in the same way, i would get some help from your dr for this as you dont need to go through this nightmare situation, so go and talk to your dr and get so help for the HA.
The lumps under your arm could be many things and not necessarily something really bad, when you had the tests done was this for the lymphnodes, or something else?
If you are very worried go back to your dr, and get them to check it out, i am sure all will be fine for you but you obviously need some reassurance good luck and blessings

[saab]

Go to the docs and get it checked out. And then when he/she tells you its nothing, talk to him about your health anxiety. The dr will have seen and heard it all before so no need to feel embarassed about it.

Also, I am with your wife on the origins theory. You have spent a long time in a stressful situation, having your fight or flight response ramped up to top gear, no wonder you feel like you do. I would imagine you have been trained to be aware of the worse posible scenario in any given situation - it's hard to switch that off and think of what the likeliest outcome is, not the worst.


In the same way, your worry about your children is your heightened sense of awareness of danger kicking in. You are living your life now as though you are still in a combat situation. No wonder you feel anxious.

These feelings will be intensified when you are alone and don't have your family to distract and comfort you.

What good will come of sitting and worrying about these lumps? Nothing good will come of it, you will just get more anxious until they disappear or the next thing comes along, so get off to the docs for a check up and a chat about your anxiety.

Edit: just re-read and seen that you are away from home for 6 weeks. If you are in the UK I am sure there is a system where you can see a local doctor, like people do when they are on holiday.

[mark bucks]

Really appreciate the replies, thank you for taking the time. I even feel slightly emabarassed reading back what i have written! I am still working away i now do private security in Iraq which is highly stressful!

I will get in to the doc as soon as i get home. Again guys, thank you.