Not accepting doctor verdict/health anxiety

[telltheking]

Hi everyone. I have a varicocele (which is a fairly benign problem) but I have a long standing fear of testicular cancer. It is what triggered my health anxiety in the first place. The varicocele has been causing me a bit of pain over the last 6 months, and i am OBSESSED with this extremely mild pain.

I have been to the doctors about my varicocele about 4 times in 6 years and every time they tell me its no problem. The last time I went was december where I was given a testicle exam and she said its a varicocele.

I just dont accept the doctors verdict. I tell myself I have cancer due to mild testicle ache despite NOT HAVING ANY SYMPTOMS OR LUMPS! I am literally sick of it and it is making my life a misery. I can't look forward to things I enjoy or concentrate on anything.

Does anyone have any help or advice?

[Fishmanpa]

If you're not accepting a medical professionals diagnosis and are convinced this is sinister, what can anyone say that will really change your thought patterns?

You have something that roughly 10% of the male population has. Telling you that and reassurance is a quick fix if that.

Therapy, meds, CBT or combination may be needed to re-train your mind and reaction to irrational thoughts.

Positive thoughts

[Sam123]

I agree there's not much anyone can say if it has become a fixation and belief that you have cancer. You need to retrain your thoughts and i'd advise CBT.

I've been where you are and have been utterly convinced for absolutely no reason that i had a brain tumor. That was 8 years ago.

I was convinced my heart was failing for absolutely no reason, that was 4 years ago and i'm now more active than ever.

I was convinced due to my muscle twitches and cramps that i had a condition such as ALS, 7 years later i have no muscle twitches and i'm fine.

You get the pattern, we tend to fixate on a certain thing for a long time until a new symptom comes along. I still get the odd irrational fear, but i'm far better and working on this. The only way is to tackle your anxiety, negative thoughts and beliefs.

I would speak to your GP about your worries, even if you feel silly.

When i was fearing cancer, which was many times, i tried saying to my self

'Ok so let's say i DO have this cancer, what does that mean?'

Because we automatically fear death. Do all people who develop cancer die? No. We're not only assuming we have cancer for no reason, we're assuming we will lose the battle. It's all negative thinking.

[Gambit1]

Dude. I've had the same trauma I mean look at my posts, one of the recent ones was "testicular cancer trauma" where I talked about how scared I was because of a lump on my testicle, (turned out to be harmless)
I understand what you mean, sometimes it's hard to accept the doctor's verdict after being sure you had something.
Here's something that might help,
the varicocele: CAUSES the pain you describe
Testicular cancer: causes NO PAIN AT ALL
See? It's more of a good sign rather than a bad sign.
Stay strong:)

[telltheking]

Thanks everyone, that helps.

Gambit - interesting to see you have a similar issue to me.

I find I do a testicle exam literally 2-3 times per day, which is ludicrous given that I am not going to find something that wasn't there a few hours ago! I think the varicocele makes the area lumpy which makes me think there could be a lump on my testicle, but there really isn't, nor is it harder or bigger. Its all normal. I just have a dull ache when sitting down which is what drives me insane. I think lots of men have this issue but its a bit embarrassing to constantly talk about it so that's why we think we have abnormal issues.