Breast cancer fear yet again, terrified, anxious

[ImObsessedWithGlee]

I'm so sorry I feel like I'm annoying everyone that I keep posting here but my anxiety is just killing me the past few days and I'm trying really hard to stay away from google because that just makes it so much worse.

Basically I'm posting right now because I can feel that one of my breasts is a lot firmer than the other. And when I say firmer, I mean it feels like the breast tissue is closer to the surface of the skin than the other and I'm absolutely terrified it's cancer.

I should also add that I'm 19 years old (20 in 2 days time) and there is no history of breast cancer or any type of cancer for that matter in my family. I was also diagnosed with fibrocystic breast changes back in March and a symptom of them is lumpiness and thickening of the breast (which is what I'm experiencing right now) but I'm just so so so terrified it's not the fibrocystic breast changes and that it is cancer :( I should probably also add that I just started taking birth control pills the past few weeks. I'm on the last week of the first pack right now so these changes might also be caused by that? And the lumpy areas are very sore when I press in on them but that's probably because I spent about 5 minutes last night pressing in hard on them. The lumpy area is in my left breast and I'll add that my left breast had always been a bit bigger than my right so could it feel thicker because of that too?

If anyone could help reassure me that I'm absolutely fine and there's nothing at all for me to be worried about, I'd greatly appreciate it! The anxiety is making my life hell right now :(

Thank you so much!

[Fishmanpa]

The question is: Can anyone reassure you that you're fine?

You're not annoying anyone. I think all you need to do is look at your threads over the last couple of weeks and see the answer to your question. The reassurance you received on your other threads helped but only for a very short time.

Reassurance is like crack to an addict. It works for a short time and then you need more... and more... and more. Sooner or later you have to learn to reassure yourself. Therapy and CBT are two ways to accomplish this and break out of the cycle. Meds can be beneficial as well. You're young (I have a daughter 21) and have a lot of life ahead of you. Look into getting some help with your anxiety and controlling the dragon ;)

Positive thoughts

[herbie73]

Bless you,seriously I've been having the same worries as you and I'm 41, I did go to docs who said all was fine but my anxiety won't let it go, I'm currently on 40mg of prozac, so hopefully once they properly kick in will start making me feel better, there are loads of other posts on here similar to yours, it obviously more common than we think, hope you feel better soon, if you need to chat there are many people on here including me xxx

[ImObsessedWithGlee]

The question is: Can anyone reassure you that you're fine?

You're not annoying anyone. I think all you need to do is look at your threads over the last couple of weeks and see the answer to your question. The reassurance you received on your other threads helped but only for a very short time.

Reassurance is like crack to an addict. It works for a short time and then you need more... and more... and more. Sooner or later you have to learn to reassure yourself. Therapy and CBT are two ways to accomplish this and break out of the cycle. Meds can be beneficial as well. You're young (I have a daughter 21) and have a lot of life ahead of you. Look into getting some help with your anxiety and controlling the dragon ;)

Positive thoughts

Thanks so much for your reply :)

I'm doing my best to try and reassure myself by telling myself that these are completely normal fibrocystic breast changes (which I'm fairly sure they are) but the worry that it could be cancer just makes me think irrationally :(

I've asked already for some therapy and CBT back when I was 17 because I was suffering with really bad anxiety from HOCD but my parents refused to pay for it. I did eventually get over it and the same with all the other health anxiety problems I've had in the past. I probably will eventually get over this one too but I'm just really struggling with it at the moment :(

---------- Post added at 18:16 ---------- Previous post was at 18:14 ----------


Bless you,seriously I've been having the same worries as you and I'm 41, I did go to docs who said all was fine but my anxiety won't let it go, I'm currently on 40mg of prozac, so hopefully once they properly kick in will start making me feel better, there are loads of other posts on here similar to yours, it obviously more common than we think, hope you feel better soon, if you need to chat there are many people on here including me xxx

Thank you so much for your reply :)

I think I will go to the doctor if all my symptoms are still there in a few weeks but it's just the waiting to see if they'll go that kills me :( This anxiety is literally the worst thing in the world, I wouldn't wish it on anyone :(

[Fishmanpa]

There's a free CBT (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=131665)course offered here that's quite good. It would be worth doing some self help by checking it out ;)

Positive thoughts

[ImObsessedWithGlee]

There's a free CBT (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=131665)course offered here that's quite good. It would be worth doing some self help by checking it out ;)

Positive thoughts

Thank you so much! I'm going to try it now to see if it helps any bit! Thank you! :)