Need brain tumor statistics please! Need reassurance, feel like im loosing my mind

[emanticoff73]

I have read Brain tumors are rare but reading all the comments on this site has scared me. It seems a lot of people know someone who has had one so how can it be so rare? Any statistics that would put my mind at ease would be greatly appreciated. I have two children and my mind has not allowed me to focus the way i should on them. So i need your help.

I have suffered with this god awful curse of health anxiety since I'm little. All started with my first boyfriend. After making him wait a 2yrs to have sex i finally gave in. After the feelings of guilt sank in and i swore i had been given Aids. Why you ask? Because god was punishing me for not waiting till i was married. That was the beginning of hell for me. It's 22 years later and i cant kick this feeling i dont deserve to be happy or live for that matter. When it comes to my kids i feel there must of been a mistake made up in heaven. Why would god give me such beautiful children if Im undeserving. So i constantly think something is going to happen to me or my children. I don't deserve happiness and don't you dare try to be happy.

I have had every disease under the sun and so have my children. Its quite exhausting. 10 months ago i had my first really bad headache. Didn't take all but 5 minutes in that headache to think " holy moly Im dying of brain cancer :wacko:". I spiraled in to a mania of epic proportions. 3 Days later i was at the doctors office and told him about my horrible headache. For which he replied "I'm sending you for an MRI of your brain". I almost fainted. Why i asked. He said well your telling me you don't have headaches and now your having horrible headaches. Okay don't ask me how i made it home. I got in door and whaled. Called my mom to tell her i was dying and the doctor knew it. Well i had the MRI the same day and it came back normal. That was 10 months ago. Fast forward till today. No headaches up till 2 weeks ago. Headaches began with dizziness. Never had dizziness so this really sent me in to a panic. Had jaw pain, deep headache on top of my head, tightening like a muscle spasm that causes pain and then releases. temple pain which was new and muscle twitches. Mind you i was 3 weeks late for my period. I was not pregnant. I'm 44. Was this hormones? No it has to be a brain tumor. I cried for a week. Went to the doc and he checked my reflexes and my eyes and said he didn't see anything to warrant a scan. Went to my Optician and he took a pic of the back of my eye and said no papilledema, no optic swelling. Funny because i almost past out from the pain in his office my headache was so bad.

Still have not had a scan. Which means my HA brain will not allow me to relax until i have one.:blush::lac: The headaches have gotten better but i have weird sensations in my scalp or head of crawling or moving. It's freaking me out. Also have occasional pressure and temple pain. Which seems to be relieved by my sinuses clearing. My family is no help especially the husband. I'm the boy or girl who cried wolf. So that's why im asking for your help. I had an MRI October of 2016, 10 months ago. What is the likelihood that a tumor has appeared since then or worse brain cancer. Also are there any reassuring statistics you can give me so i can calm down. And try to think rationally. I would appreciate it with all of my heart. Feeling very alone.:weep:

[Gary A]

Statistics mean nothing to the mind of someone with health anxiety. For instance, literally every living person on the planet will at some point in their lives experience a headache, yet when you got one you were convinced it had to be being caused by a brain tumour.

As for everyone on here knowing someone who had a brain tumour, well that's just silly. How many people does each individual person "know"? I count probably thousands that I "know", whether directly or indirectly. I honestly can't think of anyone that I "know" that has had a brain tumour.

As for your headaches, well, they're certainly not being caused by a brain tumour, for one simple reason. Brain tumour headaches do not get better. They get progressively worse. One may wake up with a blinding headache that eases a little as the day goes on, but they're there constantly and will get worse as time progresses.

Of course, with no signs of pappiledema, that also is a good pointer that you're not suffering from any rise in intracranial pressure, so again we can safely say that your headaches are not being caused by that.

What is causing them? Well, it seems fairly obvious to me that you're suffering from simple stress headaches. Your discription matches them perfectly, they're caused by tightened head, neck and shoulder muscles. I'll bet my life savings that if you pressed deeply on either your neck or shoulders it would hurt. That's tension, and as the head, neck and shoulder muscles are very intricately connected, it can easily manifest in the head area.

[Fishmanpa]

Gary is correct. For what it's worth, you could have undeniable definitive proof and still doubt. That being said, of the tens of thousands of fears and worries here, I've never seen anyone with a brain tumor fear have it realized. I know of two people who actually had something going on and both are fine. In fact, their anxiety took a back seat while they dealt with it and it's actually remained there after the fact.

Positive thoughts

[emanticoff73]

Thank both of you for taking time from your day to reply to me. I truly appreciate it

[SolidSteak]

I absolutely feel your pain with thinking about brain tumours. I've also had awful headaches confined to one area, stabbing pains in my head, temples and a constant battle with problems with my vision. It's really hard to accept but if your tests are absolutely clear then you've nothing to worry about and 'statistically' you would be very unlucky to be someone with an actual brain tumour as it's actually pretty rare!

Do you ever find if you rub your head to try and relieve your pain it actually makes it worse? That's a very typical sign of muscle tension as your brain doesn't feel any pain whatsoever. My GP said to me that headaches are often a sign of a more advanced tumour because of this and are pretty rarely a sign of BT. Usually only around 2% of people with them present with headache as a symptom I've read.

With you being in the states I'm not sure if you have access to these but there is a pain relieving tablet called Migralieve which is specifically for migraine style headaches and you can buy them over the counter. May be worth a try?

Hope this thread gives you some peace and make sure you take it easy!

[emanticoff73]

Wow thanks. That helped. Than you for your reply. If I could be of help to anyone let me know.

---------- Post added at 14:30 ---------- Previous post was at 14:23 ----------

What do you think the odds are of getting a brain tumor or brain cancer 10 months after a normal brain mri. My irrational self thinks it did.

[SolidSteak]

I wouldn't even hazard a guess as to an answer there but the likelihood is probably the same as before you had the MRI 10 months ago. Also don't forgot MRI's don't use any form of radiation so it isn't even possible for that to have caused a 'possible' increase in your odds of getting it.

I know it's easy to say try not to worry about it but it's an entirely different thing to do so. Heck I'm in bed with horrendous headaches and stomach cramps as I write this but you can't let these things get on top of you otherwise they will totally ruin your life!

[emanticoff73]

Thanks for the reply . I hope you feel better soon
All these replies help more than you know. People on this website are some really great people I wish I knew in my life. :)

[Fishmanpa]

Cancer in an uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells. It doesn't come and go nor does it stop once it starts.

You said: "The headaches have gotten better but i have weird sensations in my scalp or head of crawling or moving.... Also have occasional pressure and temple pain. Which seems to be relieved by my sinuses clearing."

And: "I had an MRI October of 2016, 10 months ago." (which was clear)

I know what your HA is telling you but based on the above, what is the "rational" conclusion?

Positive thoughts

[emanticoff73]

Yes when you break it down like that it makes sense it's not. But I have had a really abusive childhood. My father was an alcoholic and beat my mom daily. He stabbed himself in front of me at the dinner table. My ex would beat me as well. I also experienced September 11 th first hand. I have a shit load more horrible things that have happened in my life. So i am use to the bad and not the good. I see things in a catastrophic way instead of rational. My HA is the result of all the bad in my life. I guess I feel I'm cursed.

[Fishmanpa]

Yes when you break it down like that it makes sense it's not. But I have had a really abusive childhood. My father was an alcoholic and beat my mom daily. He stabbed himself in front of me at the dinner table. My ex would beat me as well. I also experienced September 11 th first hand. I have a shit load more horrible things that have happened in my life. So i am use to the bad and not the good. I see things in a catastrophic way instead of rational. My HA is the result of all the bad in my life. I guess I feel I'm cursed.

I'm truly sorry to hear that. No doubt, your life experiences have hurt, influenced and scarred you. There is, and more now than ever, negativity, hate and abuse in the world. It's hard enough to cope and thrive with what's going on around us let alone having to deal with abuse from people who are supposed to be your cornerstone.

Have you explored therapy or meds to help?

Positive thoughts

[emanticoff73]

No therapy yet. Started luvox 5 days ago and ativans. Ativans is tricky though. Once you start taking it you have to keep taking or your anxiety comes back with a vengeance. Now i feel stuck on it. I just want relief of thinking I'm dying all the time. Especially from a brain tumor. I have 2 small children. :weep:

[Leah88]

[QUOTE=Gary A;1709424]Statistics mean nothing to the mind of someone with health anxiety.

This is very true. I have spent hours upon hours calculating (or making my maths brained husband calculate) my chances of a particular disease. My odds were incredibly low and it made no difference at all to my worry. An anxious brain doesnt see reason or odds and just believes they are unique and must be that one in a thousand ( or less in my case).

Like all reassurance, it just fuels the fire in the long run.

I have not broken the cycle myself yet. Have been stuck on one theme for 2 years. I'm on meds and cbt. It's just taking a while.

I've started some new muscle memory excercises to break my OCD but I'm only in the early days so hopefully I'll have some luck. And I'll let you know if it works.

[emanticoff73]

I hope it works for you and you get some peace.

[Annaboodle]

Hi, I know how difficult it is, but the "knowing the odds" thing is just another reassurance that won't work, because we folk with HA always tend to think we might be the exception: that we are among the whatever the small percent is, or that we're that one person the doctor has catastrophically mis-diagnosed. Pretty much any statement in your head or on here in response to being presented with rational evidence, that starts with "yes, but..." is your health anxiety talking. Your anxiety may be the result of the appalling things that have happened in your life, but some sort of pre-destination towards terrible illness isn't - the feeling that you're "cursed" - that's the thinking that's gotten messed up and needs working on x