Monty1973
09-10-16, 21:10
Hi Everyone
I am really struggling with anxiety about lung cancer at the moment and I wondered if anyone had been through a similar experience or could give me some advice about coming to terms with the anxiety. I have been experiencing chest and back pain for the last five months. I do not have an incessant cough or have coughed up bloody sputum and I have not lost any weight. However, I have pain that moves around the upper back area, in the ribs, round the sternum and in the chest. This pain can be very intense and means it is hard for my mind to concentrate on other things. More recently, I also have experienced frequent headaches and sweating. Although these headaches and sweating could be from the withdrawal symptoms of coming off the anti-depressant I am off.
Around the middle of April I was admitted into accident and emergency with extremely high blood pressure. Basically, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling very dizzy and I had extreme pins and needles down both arms. During my stay in A&E the attending nurses and doctors gave me something to lower the blood pressure and had blood tests and a chest x-ray done, all of which were clear. Around this time I was also experiencing widespread muscle twitches and cramping, which were evaluated (I had a nerve conduction, emg, mri and clinical examination) as being of benign origin by a consultant neurologist.
What also makes the pains worse is that when I am lying down trying to go to sleep I frequently have these episodes where I feel I have to force a breath. In a way it feels like a mini seizure, but I am afraid if I don't force a breath I will fall unconscious. This got so bad again last week that I got admitted into Accident and Emergency again. I had this feeling again, but when I tired to get up I was stumbling all over the place and also felt confused. I had a CT scan of the brain which came back clear, although as a precaution I have been referred to the minor stroke clinic for an evaluation.
Apart from the blood work and chest x ray in April, I have had three further chest x rays since (the last one also involved a lateral chest x ray) and 5 sets of blood tests including tests for vitamin D and B deficiency and thyroid function, which apart from a slightly low phosphate level came back normal. Rather worryingly, I had a tumour marker done privately for lung cancer which came back slightly elevated. What has really worried me was that I had to have the last x ray with a lateral view because the doctors were unsure about something on the previous x ray. It turned out that when I had the lateral as well as the front view chest x ray that the radiologist suggested the thing that the doctors were unsure about was likely to be a fat pad around the heart area, which I have been told is quite normal. My GP does not suggest that any further investigations are necessary as both the last frontal and lateral chest x ray do not show anything. However, being a extremely anxious person doubts keep entering my mind about whether the doctors have got it wrong and that it is not a fat pad but a sign of cancer. I am now thinking about having a Mri scan of the chest and heart area just to check to be on the safe side. I just can't get these anxious thoughts out of my head particularly as I am still experiencing pain. The doctor has prescribed amitriplyine 10mg for the chronic pain and this has eased it a little.
I am really struggling with anxiety about lung cancer at the moment and I wondered if anyone had been through a similar experience or could give me some advice about coming to terms with the anxiety. I have been experiencing chest and back pain for the last five months. I do not have an incessant cough or have coughed up bloody sputum and I have not lost any weight. However, I have pain that moves around the upper back area, in the ribs, round the sternum and in the chest. This pain can be very intense and means it is hard for my mind to concentrate on other things. More recently, I also have experienced frequent headaches and sweating. Although these headaches and sweating could be from the withdrawal symptoms of coming off the anti-depressant I am off.
Around the middle of April I was admitted into accident and emergency with extremely high blood pressure. Basically, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling very dizzy and I had extreme pins and needles down both arms. During my stay in A&E the attending nurses and doctors gave me something to lower the blood pressure and had blood tests and a chest x-ray done, all of which were clear. Around this time I was also experiencing widespread muscle twitches and cramping, which were evaluated (I had a nerve conduction, emg, mri and clinical examination) as being of benign origin by a consultant neurologist.
What also makes the pains worse is that when I am lying down trying to go to sleep I frequently have these episodes where I feel I have to force a breath. In a way it feels like a mini seizure, but I am afraid if I don't force a breath I will fall unconscious. This got so bad again last week that I got admitted into Accident and Emergency again. I had this feeling again, but when I tired to get up I was stumbling all over the place and also felt confused. I had a CT scan of the brain which came back clear, although as a precaution I have been referred to the minor stroke clinic for an evaluation.
Apart from the blood work and chest x ray in April, I have had three further chest x rays since (the last one also involved a lateral chest x ray) and 5 sets of blood tests including tests for vitamin D and B deficiency and thyroid function, which apart from a slightly low phosphate level came back normal. Rather worryingly, I had a tumour marker done privately for lung cancer which came back slightly elevated. What has really worried me was that I had to have the last x ray with a lateral view because the doctors were unsure about something on the previous x ray. It turned out that when I had the lateral as well as the front view chest x ray that the radiologist suggested the thing that the doctors were unsure about was likely to be a fat pad around the heart area, which I have been told is quite normal. My GP does not suggest that any further investigations are necessary as both the last frontal and lateral chest x ray do not show anything. However, being a extremely anxious person doubts keep entering my mind about whether the doctors have got it wrong and that it is not a fat pad but a sign of cancer. I am now thinking about having a Mri scan of the chest and heart area just to check to be on the safe side. I just can't get these anxious thoughts out of my head particularly as I am still experiencing pain. The doctor has prescribed amitriplyine 10mg for the chronic pain and this has eased it a little.