So scared an frightened that I have lung cancer

[Worriedadam1986]

Hi everyone new to the forum have joined in the hope that maybe speaking to others who struggle with panic and anxiety may be able to help me,
Il try and make it short firstly when I was very young I had epilepsy, this was controlled successfully with meds, fit free for 15 years! Anyway as a result of this i developed severe panic attacks then followed by anxiety and also health anxiety, plus mild ocd I can be a mess at times with worry but I seem to get by,
Anyway, about 6months ago I strated having chest pains on my left hand side, being a smoker since 15 (I know smokings bad I want to quit and am trying but my anxiety doesnt help its a vicious cycle) anyway I visited my gp explained my worries he sent me for a chest X-ray, chest X-ray came back clear, a few weeks on I was still experiencing pain so went back as the pain was in my mid left upper back also and hurts more as I rotate, and said I was frightened its lung anger he said im rather young and not to worry as X-ray was clear
But im still in pain frightened to death and ive read online X-rays can miss lung cancers I also cough up phlegm sometimes and feel tired a lot im unsure if the phlegm is just normal for smokers but just beside myself with worry and don't know what to do but it's really really affecting my day to day life this worry please help ️thank u for letting me join your group/forum
Adam

[androidz]

Hi everyone new to the forum have joined in the hope that maybe speaking to others who struggle with panic and anxiety may be able to help me,
Il try and make it short firstly when I was very young I had epilepsy, this was controlled successfully with meds, for free for 15 years! Anyway as a result of this i developed severe panic attacks then followed by anxiety and also health anxiety, plus mild ocd I can be a mess at times with worry but I seem to get by,
Anyway, about 6months ago I strated having chest pains on my left hand side, being a smoker since 15 (I know smokings bad I want to quit and am trying but my anxiety doesnt help its a vicious cycle) anyway I visited my gp explained my worries he sent me for a chest X-ray, chest X-ray came back clear, a few weeks on I was still experiencing pain so went back as the pain was in my mid left upper back also and hurts more as I rotate, and said I was frightened its lung anger he said im rather young and not to worry as X-ray was clear
But im still in pain frightened to death and ive read online X-rays can miss lung cancers I also cough up phlegm sometimes and feel tired a lot im unsure if the phlegm is just normal for smokers but just beside myself with worry and don't know what to do but it's really really affecting my day to day life this worry please help ️thank u for letting me join your group/forum
Adam

Due to your username I assume you're younger than 30. Cancers at your age are almost unheard of, you should NOT be worrying about getting one, doesn't matter if you were or still are a smoker.

There's so many things that can cause back pain, yet even with a clear x-ray you jumped to the worst possible scenario, a scenario that has only a chance of around 0.001% of happening. The reason you focus on a 0.001% hypothetical, negligible chance of having lung cancer vs. a 99.999% chance of not having it is a disorder in and by itself, you know what it is. And just because it's a problem with the mind doesn't mean it can be left untreated because as you can see right now, it's affecting you.

What can be causing your pain? I'd bet it's something musculoskeletal. Trigger points, sore tight muscles, slightly off ribs... who knows.

What I would do in your situation is ask for a CT scan, NOT because of the possibility of cancer, but because in your current situation I assume that you simply need to know that you don't have it and you need an accurate test that doesn't have the chance of missing anything. AFTER you get it done and you get the all clear (which is what will happen), then you have to focus on treating your anxiety before it has a chance of messing with you again.

Good luck.

[Worriedadam1986]

Thank you for you're reply androidz, iam 30 in June, my gp did say the same regarding my age, I really appreciate Ur message and for taking the time to reply, I shall try your advice and make another appointment with my gp and ask for a ct scan ️thank you for you're reply and for you're advice just hearing that has helped lift my mood today regarding my health worries, hopefully if it's clear I can try and focus on dealing with my anxiety it's been there as long as I can remember to be honest but due to constant pain at the moment and fear of it being lung cancer its The worst it's ever been, butwould love to be anxiety free one day
Regards Adam

[countrygirl]

Hi Adam. Lung cancer at your age is incredibly rare. I have a friend who was diagnosed with lung cancer 5 months ago and hers was picked up no trouble on standard chest x ray ( she is a none smoker). Her cancer was very very small as well but they still saw something that they were certain was cancer.
Obviously if a lung cancer is so early its at a cellular level then there is a chance it won't be picked up on standard x ray but thats true of all screening tests.
What does your Dr think your pain is from? Loads of none life threatenng reasons for chest pain from musculo/sleketal problems to digestive trouble etc etc.

[Elen]

Hi Just to let you know that I have merged your threads and deleted the duplicate posting.

This is nothing personal.

Elen

[Worriedadam1986]

Hi Adam. Lung cancer at your age is incredibly rare. I have a friend who was diagnosed with lung cancer 5 months ago and hers was picked up no trouble on standard chest x ray ( she is a none smoker). Her cancer was very very small as well but they still saw something that they were certain was cancer.
Obviously if a lung cancer is so early its at a cellular level then there is a chance it won't be picked up on standard x ray but thats true of all screening tests.
What does your Dr think your pain is from? Loads of none life threatenng reasons for chest pain from musculo/sleketal problems to digestive trouble etc etc.

Hi countrygirl thank you for you're reply im sorry to hear about your friend I hope they are able to treat the cancer an she recovers, my doctor was rather vague that's what worries me he said my X-ray was fine no abnormalities not clots nothing and due to my age not to worry, and that was all he said other than I may have pulled a muscle as the pain in feeling in my mid left upper back that sometimes is also in my chest can be muscular and there is a lot of muscles there, im just worried as surely muscle pain couldn't last so long? Plus im unsure as to how I could have hurt the muscle as it all came in very sudden Im trying my best to stop smoking and have started running to try and be healthy I do 3.5miles a night in the hope maybe it may help excercise and stretch those muscles the only other advice my doc gave me was to get a massage, im just worried as the testing didn't seem as extensive as I thought it would be to rule out the possibility of it and ive also read it an go missed on an X-ray 😞 thank you so much for your reply it really helps having someone to talk to regards Adam

---------- Post added at 17:27 ---------- Previous post was at 17:25 ----------


Hi Just to let you know that I have merged your threads and deleted the duplicate posting.

This is nothing personal.

Elen

Thank you Elen apologies about that ive not quite got the hang of the site yet but thank you for you're help and advice
Regards Adam

[countrygirl]

Did you start the running before you got this pain?? You don't need to have suddenly pulled a muscle for it to become a problem which is why it can be hard to realise what you have done.
When we were moving house I was constantly bending down to boxes but didn't ever do anything suddenly to hurt my thigh muscle but one day I was in agony when I walked with inner thigh/groin. The constant up and down to boxes had strained the ligament and it took 2 months to get better!

[Worriedadam1986]

Did you start the running before you got this pain?? You don't need to have suddenly pulled a muscle for it to become a problem which is why it can be hard to realise what you have done.
When we were moving house I was constantly bending down to boxes but didn't ever do anything suddenly to hurt my thigh muscle but one day I was in agony when I walked with inner thigh/groin. The constant up and down to boxes had strained the ligament and it took 2 months to get better!

No ive only started running the last two weeks in the hope it may help stretch/excercise the muscle if it is a pulled muscle, just worries me it may be something serious eg lung cancer as ive had the pain quite a while now 😞 iam a self employed kitchen and bathroom fitter I do lift objects at work but never had issues before well anything that has been long lasting like this which is another reason I worry

[Josh1234]

If your tumor is big enough to cause bad pain, it would 110% come up on an X-ray. Period. End of discussion.

[Worriedadam1986]

If your tumor is big enough to cause bad pain, it would 110% come up on an X-ray. Period. End of discussion.

Thank you for your reply and reassurance josh1234 since joining here today and speaking to the people ive spoken to ive found today has been an easier day with regards to my worry and anxiety on the subject

[Fishmanpa]

If your tumor is big enough to cause bad pain, it would 110% come up on an X-ray. Period. End of discussion.

Agreed.... Asking for a CT scan, besides being unnecessary, is very expensive reassurance and often the reassurance only lasts a short while before the fear returns or is replaced by another. The best course of action is addressing the real illness... anxiety. If you are to visit your doctor again, ask about a referral for therapy. It would be much more beneficial than a scan.

Positive thoughts

[mnaha]

Agreed.... Asking for a CT scan, besides being unnecessary, is very expensive reassurance and often the reassurance only lasts a short while before the fear returns or is replaced by another. The best course of action is addressing the real illness... anxiety. If you are to visit your doctor again, ask about a referral for therapy. It would be much more beneficial than a scan.

Positive thoughts


I agree with you on this FMP. I think that for the most part lots of things including mine comes right back to anxiety. I just hate it.. I wish I could make it all go away for all of us.