Changed mole. Need facts. Refusing to google.

[WorrywartAus]

Hi everyone.

Since I've been on escitalopram, my HA is slowly dying down. Unfortunately, I have an ACTUAL changed mole. I am coping okay and I'm refusing to google but, there's still a bit of anxiety there.

The GP said he wasn't sure but I've made an appointment for a skin cancer Dr in 2 weeks. Until then, I have to wait.

I have annual skin checks and this particular mole has been phoyographed so we could see it had changed. It's only TINY though. It's only because I'm super vigilant that it's noticeable.

Can I please get some help calmingmy brain panic? Is there any facts that are reassuring?


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[lofwyr]

Well, tiny is good. Do you know it changed, or have you overstudied it enough to believe it changed?

Also, change does not necessarily mean melanoma. I have moles that form on top or next to other moles, which irritatingly looks like a changed mole, but is in fact two moles.

[WorrywartAus]

It's a tiny spot next to a higher risk mole.
No. Confirmed by gp via previous image although, not obvious unless you look closely.
Happy I saw it. Only by chance too.

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---------- Post added at 17:32 ---------- Previous post was at 13:56 ----------

And the reason I'm freaking out a bit is because I read about a lady who had skin cancer. It was a tiny spot next to an existing mole on her foot!

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[AnxietyGirl30]

Great that you are so vigilant and even if it was anything which i doubt it is they will be able to deal with it quickly :) it is the waiting bit that is hard, I had suspected melanoma on my toenail and had a 2 week urgent referral I made myself so ill with worry I didn’t eat or drink. Everything turned out ok but the waiting is absolute hell! I wish you luck and know you are going to be fine :) let us know what happens

[WorrywartAus]

Great that you are so vigilant and even if it was anything which i doubt it is they will be able to deal with it quickly :) it is the waiting bit that is hard, I had suspected melanoma on my toenail and had a 2 week urgent referral I made myself so ill with worry I didn’t eat or drink. Everything turned out ok but the waiting is absolute hell! I wish you luck and know you are going to be fine :) let us know what happensOh you poor thing!
The nail is a high risk place too, so that would've been horrriiiible waiting for those results!!

How was the biopsy on that? I bet that was painful!

Yesss.. well my HA started after I had a series of breast lumps and a few lumps on my thyroid. I hate waiting too!!

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[lucymarie]

9/10 skin biopsies are benign and out of the 10% that aren’t, 9/10 of those are considered early stage. And that is for those that are even biopsied, many many others don’t even get that far. So IF they request a biopsy (which isn’t even a guarantee) you have like a 1% chance of anything serious. I’m rubbish at maths so my apologies if that calculation is wrong, but you catch the drift. Hope that helps. :hugs:

[AnxietyGirl30]

Oh you poor thing!
The nail is a high risk place too, so that would've been horrriiiible waiting for those results!!

How was the biopsy on that? I bet that was painful!

Yesss.. well my HA started after I had a series of breast lumps and a few lumps on my thyroid. I hate waiting too!!

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Tbh it wasn’t that bad, i feel more relief when I’m actually getting something seen to and sorted. It’s when nothing Is happening and I have to wait is when the real anxiety kicks in! This is actually when my HA started I never had it before then I was a care free happy person now i live in fear every day. I think making people wait is what brings about the HA if I had been seen sooner I don’t think I would have spiralled into this hell that I still carry with me a year later.

I hope you don’t work yourself up to much it’s honestly not worth it especially when you are going to be fine.

[WorrywartAus]

9/10 skin biopsies are benign and out of the 10% that aren’t, 9/10 of those are considered early stage. And that is for those that are even biopsied, many many others don’t even get that far. So IF they request a biopsy (which isn’t even a guarantee) you have like a 1% chance of anything serious. I’m rubbish at maths so my apologies if that calculation is wrong, but you catch the drift. Hope that helps. :hugs:Thank you for your reply. :)
Regardless of your math skills, the odds seem pretty remote.


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---------- Post added at 20:10 ---------- Previous post was at 20:08 ----------


Tbh it wasn’t that bad, i feel more relief when I’m actually getting something seen to and sorted. It’s when nothing Is happening and I have to wait is when the real anxiety kicks in! This is actually when my HA started I never had it before then I was a care free happy person now i live in fear every day. I think making people wait is what brings about the HA if I had been seen sooner I don’t think I would have spiralled into this hell that I still carry with me a year later.

I hope you don’t work yourself up to much it’s honestly not worth it especially when you are going to be fine.Yes you're right. I'm lucky I'm taking medication. It's definitely more under control!

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[darkside4k]

How many millimeters wide is the spot?

[WorrywartAus]

The old one is about 1.3mm but it's two pigments and very dark. The new one is tiny.
The don't like this one because 1) it's on my foot 2) It's an irregular shape and 3) it's colours.

The new one is indeed tiny. But it's so close to the first, you'd think it was apart of it.

These days, especially in Australia, we don't pay attention to size. Melanoma can be in any size.

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[lucymarie]

The old one is about 1.3mm but it's two pigments and very dark. The new one is tiny.
The don't like this one because 1) it's on my foot 2) It's an irregular shape and 3) it's colours.

The new one is indeed tiny. But it's so close to the first, you'd think it was apart of it.

These days, especially in Australia, we don't pay attention to size. Melanoma can be in any size.

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Please whatever you do - do not google. I say this with experience of destroying the past 6 months of my life reading about acral melanoma. Don’t go down that rabbit hole I beg you, really I do. Your derm will very quickly be able to tell you if it’s something to worry about. Moles on feet have special patterns that tell them what they need to know. On the small chance it’s something it is so tiny and you’ve caught it so quick that cutting it out would likely be the end of it. If they even need to! The wait is hell between appointments but the very best thing you can do for yourself is not research it and end up with information you can’t unknow and probably isn’t even relevant to you like I have.

[WorrywartAus]

Oh lucymarie..
Is everything okay with you now then?

Thanks for advice.
I've done the google thing before. It's ridiculous isn't it? I never diagnose myself anymore!! Too much heartache.

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[lucymarie]

Oh lucymarie..
Is everything okay with you now then?

Thanks for advice.
I've done the google thing before. It's ridiculous isn't it? I never diagnose myself anymore!! Too much heartache.

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My derm said the spot I am concerned about is fine - obviously I didn’t believe her because of all my googling :doh: so now I live in constant fear something has been missed and spend most of my time in a state. Hence the advice :roflmao: If I hadn’t been a fool and googled I wouldn’t have even know about the condition and would have implicitly trusted the derm. So it’s my own fault :noangel:

I’m so glad to hear you don’t self diagnose, you should be really proud, it takes a lot of strength with HA :)

[WorrywartAus]

You poor thing.
This was me last year.
I had 6 biopsies and every time I had an ultrasound that cane back clear, I didn't believe it!!! It's horrible and I feel for you.
It's the only way I could learn my lesson though. Bet you won't do it again. Xx

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[lucymarie]

Oh I’m so sorry to hear that :( I think one thing that can be gained from our HA is we can be truly empathetic towards others because we truly know how it feels. It’s horrible to think anyone else goes through it, really it is.

I’m glad you are doing better now though. In a way I think you are right - maybe this was the bitchslap to the face I needed to cut the googling for good!

[WorrywartAus]

Haha. It is true though.
We need to mail ourselves so hard that we finally realise; it's just not worth googling!!

Are you on meds?
From one HA to another, after almost 2 decades of struggling without meds, I don't know why I didn't try it sooner!

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[darkside4k]

The smallest invasive melanoma EVER recorded is 1.6mm... so... if this was melanoma you would literally set a new world record. I think you're fine.

[WorrywartAus]

The smallest invasive melanoma EVER recorded is 1.6mm... so... if this was melanoma you would literally set a new world record. I think you're fine.Ha! Thanks for that.
That's truly sedated my anxiety. :) [emoji173]

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[lucymarie]

Haha. It is true though.
We need to mail ourselves so hard that we finally realise; it's just not worth googling!!

Are you on meds?
From one HA to another, after almost 2 decades of struggling without meds, I don't know why I didn't try it sooner!

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I have to admit, I’ve avoided them. Standard HA - scared of meds lol. My GP wanted me to try but I said I’d try CBT first, although honestly that isn’t doing a thing as of yet :scared15: