Swelling in one armpit please help!!!

[SheilaH921]

Please can someone help me, i am driving myself crazy with worry :weep:

Last week i noticed that under my right armpit is swollen more than my right one. It isnt like a lymph node, its not a small hard lump but more like a mass of tissue thats thicker and bigger than my left armpit. If i rub my hand along my left armpit its smooth and flat but on my right theres a definite lump. I am terrified because ive googled like crazy and everywhere it says that breast cancer can present like this. My mum had breast cancer which is what started my health anxiety in the first place. I am 28 years old.

I went to the doctor on thursday and ive an appointment at the breast cliniv next tuesday. Its scaring me how my appointment was so fast. I feel like im going to lose my mind between now and then.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? Im so scared. I would be grateful of any advice/support.

Thanks

Sheila xx

[Gary A]

There actually is tissue mass under the armpit so it's possible you're only feeling that. What did your doctor say about it?

[SheilaH921]

Thank you for your message. Yes I know theres tissue under your arm but the lump under my right armpit def wasnt there before. (I obsessively check myself so i would have noticed it).

The doctor said the usual things, 'im not too concerned, try not to worry' etc

But i dont think shed worry me any further by telling me shes concerned :/ she obviously put it through as urgent though cuz im being seen within 2 weeks.

Im literally making nyself sick with worry. :weep:

[ktdid2000]

It's pretty common I think to notice something on one side that's not on the other. Breasts are mostly symmetrical but not always. I've seen tons of people on here comment about how one breast is lumpier or thicker than the other.

I myself have some thicker feeling breast tissue on left side of my left breast. Not a lump per se, but sometimes its hard to tell because I don't have too much breast tissue so lots of times I am pressing on bones and other stuff in there.

I was worried about it because it felt thicker on the one side and was tender to the touch if I really jab at it (of course I poke at it a lot too since I'm worried), so I'm getting an ultrasound on Friday just to be safe. 3 practitioners haven't been able to feel any kind of lump though, just dense tissue is what they say.

I think you can also get lymph nodes that swell near the breast for some reason or another and they should go back down on their own within a week or so.

[SheilaH921]

I dont think its a lymph node. Like your exerience it feels like a mass of tissue. If you run your finger over your armpit theres probably a slight feeling of a 'bump' well on my right one it is alot more prononuced. This has defienetly only appeared over the last few weeks and wasnt there before. I wish you luck on friday, i dont know how i can cope until tuesday.

I really appreciate your reply.

Im checking here constantly as im trying to not google so would really appreciate support from anyone. Especially if you have experienced symptoms like this xx

[feelthelove]

i think we always have one side bigger than the other if we are right handed the right side will be slightly bigger .

[SheilaH921]

I am right handed and it is the right side. But im sure its new as i check under my arms alot so im scared why its suddenly like this.
Ive drove myself insane on google, its all i can think about. Its so hard to function and do normal things when you are so frightened.

[ktdid2000]

Well breast cancer HA is a new one for me, but I've been having HA about something for about 15 years now! It pretty much stinks.

Usually what happens is I'll notice something that has probably been there in some form for a while (arm mole, freckle, lump somewhere) or notice something normal that feels abnormal to me (muscle tissue under the breast can feel like lumps if you press really deep for example). Since I don't know what it is, I consult Dr. Google - who is a really awful doctor by the way! Almost everything I would search comes up with the absolute worst possible outcome. I read stories about people who found something similar and it was the worst possible outcome, or the doctors mis-diagnosed it or something. Commence freakout.

I obsess over it/try to diagnose it myself until I panic enough to go to the doctor. Depending on how bad I've panicked over it, if they tell me it's nothing I feel slightly re-assured and then panic again the next day feeling like they missed something or didn't think of everything I've been Googling OR I will dismiss their opinion outright and make an appointment somewhere else. You can see how this gets really time consuming and expensive!

Anyway, I'm currently in the latter with my breast issue. My gynecologist looked at it twice and did a clinical breast exam and found nothing suspicious, no tests ordered based on those findings. Of course I think she has not been able to feel what I do. So I go to my GP yesterday and she does an exam and still feels nothing but orders an ultrasound for my "peace of mind". Of course this makes me happy because I feel like now we'll have a real test and see what's going on - but there's the lingering doubt they will miss something or worse, find something! :scared15:

Health anxiety is just the worst. Honestly, it really is. ::hugs::

Anyway, I have a feeling they are going to find "dense breast tissue" which is just a practitioners way of saying "you have normal young woman boobs and not old lady boobs that are practically transparent on an x-ray." Probably just like what they'll find on me despite all my panicking about it!

[SheilaH921]

Yes thats pretty much what i'm like, its hell isnt it. I lay in bed googling on my phone last night and scared myself silly. Read a story a mother put up about her 29 year old daughter finding a lump under her arm and she was dead 7 weeks later. That was me in a mess, crying and couldnt sleep until 2am. :(

Do you think it could be 'dense breast tissue' under my arm? But why would it suddenly appear? Xx

[lyndau63]

ktdid2000 this sounds SO familiar. It is a dreadful thing to be terrified of your own body all the time which is basically how I am. Everything you have said is just like me and, as I am sure you have found on this site, it is a relief to know that others are the same and I am not just a freak.
SheilaH921 I really feel for you but, although it is scary having the appointment so quickly, it would be agony waiting two weeks. One of my armpits is different from the other and I know how hard it is to convince yourself that nothing has changed but you may just be feeling it on a slightly different way...I have done things like that many times. Anyway, I wish you all the best and please let us know how you get on.

[ktdid2000]

Read a story a mother put up about her 29 year old daughter finding a lump under her arm and she was dead 7 weeks later. That was me in a mess, crying and couldnt sleep until 2am. :(

The worst ones are the young mother ones I've been reading lately where they were 31 or 33 or something like me with young kids and suddenly they are Stage IV inflammatory breast cancer and practically dead. Those just make me want to curl up in bed and never come out until someone reassures me that every inch of my body is normal and always will be (yeah, right!).

It sounds like you've been checking yourself more than I generally have until the past 2 weeks or so, so you might know your body and what's normal a bit better. But remember that "normal" for someone like us is a relative term. I'll be honest and admit that as much as I poke around in there I can't even tell what's normal in a boob - everything seems weird to me and breasts change so much over the month that unless you did a check every day you might not notice something that's normal for you and then proceed to think it's abnormal. I think that's why they say to check only once a month and at the same time each month so you have a baseline for comparison.

Anyway, dense breast tissue just means the breast doesn't feel completely smooth, soft, and flat (i.e., not old lady boobs). There are lumps and bumps and active milk glands being stimulated by hormones and growths and changes that happen under hormonal influences alone, particularly during the second half of your cycle after ovulation when progesterone takes hold of them.

You might also be feeling muscle tissue under the breast tissue. One way to differentiate that is to (a) get the muscles out of the way by laying down with your arm over your head like they have you do for BSE or (b) try to put your finger on the "lump" and then move in all sorts of positions and move your arm around. If it changes with movement or moves along with the muscle it's likely a muscle I would guess. if it's independent of the muscle or doesn't move then it's probably in the breast tissue somewhere. I've been doing that myself and have noticed some of my "lumps" only appear when I move my arm a certain way. No idea why that would be unless it was either on the muscle or a muscle itself. At least that's what I'm trying to think!

[SheilaH921]

Thanks for your replies. Im glad we have each other, especially in waiting between appointments when you drive yourself insane! Lol.

Yes young mom stories frighten the life out of me. My mum had inflammatory breast cancer so its a huge fear of mine. I will try that under my arm later ktdid2000 (im trying to not look at it too much lol) there does seem to be a normal 'bump' in the armpit, its just that ones more pronounced than the other.

On a good note i havent googled since i posted this in here so thank you very much everyone! Xxx

[SheilaH921]

If anyone else has went through this or could offer support please do. Im tryin so hard to stay off google lol. Thanks :hugs:

[SheilaH921]

3 days until my appointment. Im getting so anxious again :unsure:

[TheScarecrow]

Hello, I am newly signed up for NoMorePanic. I found this site through many of my HA related consultations with Dr. Google, and I found this thread specifically after googling around looking for answers about a problem which sounds very similar to OP's. I would love to know if you found an answer as to what exactly the lump under your arm is. Mine is just how you described yours except I've had mine for at least 5 years, and who knows how long it was there before I discovered it.

[golddustgirl1000]

I’ve been having swollen painful lymph nodes alternating different armpits for the last 3 months... I worked myself up into thinking it was cancer... I’ve also been on two antibiotics and two rounds of steroids for an infection that won’t go away... right now I currently have 3 swollen nodes in my right and two in my left... super painful... I also have cystic breasts and am 2 days away from period... my dr did complete workup and my blood is perfect, except my vitamin d... I’m ten points low.. so right now my immune system sucks... I live in Southern California... who would have thought... everyone get yours checked too... anyway.. I totally understand.. trying not to worry.. as I’ve been told it’s hormonal, especially cause they are painful
And keep
Shrinking down... think positive thoughts!

[jhopley]

Sheila did you find out what the problem was?

[Fishmanpa]

This thread is three years old. the OP was last on in May. Suffice it to say, it was a benign issue.

Positive thoughts

[SheilaH921]

Hi ladies, I was told it was just 'fatty tissue' and nothing to worry about at all :)