Rational thoughts needed over lumps

[anxious]

Sometimes this forum can 'trigger' my anxieties. There has been quite a mention of lumps recently. Looking for lumps has always been my worst ha obsession. I have made myself sore on numerous occasions (breast & neck)and have found myself wondering if that can cause problems in itself. I read a post earlier about cheek chewing and mouth cancer, so i'm obviously not the only one with these sorts of fears.
Any thoughts? please no one tell me prodding causes cancer or il'll need a straight jacket:ohmy:
When i'm in rational mode i know the worst i'm doing is making myself sore and miserable BUT when i'm alone and anxious..........well you know how it is!
I need a CBT thought please. Also i over check for lumps, do you think if something was really wrong you would just notice it without going looking?
Sorry for long post

anx x

[ksmith]

Hi Anx

I don't have this sort of ha but I have never ever heard of prodding and poking causing cancer! To put your fears into perspective think about contact sports and all the 'prodding' that goes on there, boxing for example.

When I asked my doctor once if he was sure I wasn't physically ill, and how was he so sure, he just said something along the lines of, you'd know if you were really ill.

On a lighter note anx, think about the work out you get from contorting your body! You must be extremely supple with healthy joints (lol). Hope you get some more replies and that they put your mind at rest!

Kay x

[anxious]

Hi Kay,

thanks for your reply. Nope not particuarly supple and unfortunately i have the type of anxiety that makes me eat. I always thought anxious people were slim?

anx xx

[neptuno]

Hello !
Its so easy to get into a stressful cycle of worry and fear isn't it ! Jump off this merry-go-round, you don't need it. If you have lumps that worry you then see your GP - there are better things in life to get het up over - like how many easter eggs will I get this year !!!!!!!

Be kind to yourself

[strawberrie]

hi anxious, i am exactly the same about lumps, even the word 'lump' i have problems with.

I'm not very good at this but the rational thoughts i use are that my doctor has told me that 'bad' breast lumps are usually quite large, hard, and not moveable, and in most cases are quite obvious. Of course I worry about the 'in most cases' but it does help me and it has made me more rational about breast lumps. Although generally i will still go and get them checked by the doctor i won't work myself up into a complete nervous breakdown beforehand.

I had a lump recently which was hard and not moving and even my husband agreed that it felt different. Strangely though, I felt weirdly calm about it. It was like it was out of my hands, the lump was there, and i knew that the only course of action to take was to get it checked. Luckily the lump disappeared very quickly and my doctor confirmed that it must have been just a normal cyst, but it did reassure me that when what i have always dreaded actually happened (finding a hard lump) i was actually very calm.

For a lot of us ha sufferers i think the main fear is not getting a symptom checked early enough to be able to do something about it, so we have this constant fear of 'should i, shouldn't i get this checked out', and this is where the anxiety comes from. Once i had a genuine symptom that i knew needed to be checked the anxiety wasn't there so much, cos i could take some control by doing something practical about it. I hope that makes sense?

Someone else on this forum, but i can't remember who (sorry :blush: ) said that their doctor told them that you don't find breast lumps, they find you, and you don't need to go looking for them. Repeating that to myself has helped a lot too.

Anyway, :hugs: , ha is horrible isnt it!

mag

[anxious]

Thanks Mag and yes you do make sense. My problem is wondering if ive found a lump or not. If i did i would obviously go straight to my gp but its the is it or isint it that i cant cope with. People without ha can't understand as they simply say go to docs, but if i did i would have to move in.
Glad yours turned out to be ok,
thanks
anx x