Weird armpit sensation

[Lu88]

This site is an absolute life saver!! My HA has been pretty manageable over the past 12 months or so, I have had a few "scares" but luckily found some tools to deal with them and put my thoughts into a logical process, but now I have a new issue that is starting to take over, why does it always come out of the blue?

I have suddenly decided that I might have breast cancer, and although I know it is highly unlikely, it's impossible to not fear the worst, my HA has taken over.

About 4 weeks ago, a week before my period, I noticed that my left armpit felt strange, it kinda felt like when your clothes are too tight around your pit, but I was naked at the time. Because I was leaning/lying on my left side I put it down to strain, but the next day without me even realising, HA started to take over. I started checking my breast for any changes (there are none), started feeling for lumps, bumps, lymph nodes, pain, tenderness in my armpit - there were none. Once my period arrived it went away and I forgot about it, but last week it came back, or atleast my HA told me it had, I started focusing on it in a very obsessive way. Every move I made I had to compare how my left arm/armpit felt to the right one.

I can't explain it, there is no pain, no changes that I can see or feel. Sometimes it feels like I need to lift my arm and re adjust its position, almost like there is an extra layer of skin folding under my armpit, sometimes it's when I have my arms by my side and the left arm feels like it's leaning against a rib, it just feels strange. However if I really focus on my right armpit, only sometimes do I feel a similar (but not as intense) feeling....is it possible to focus so much on a sensation that it becomes worse in our minds?

I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but my left breast has always been bigger than my right, and fuller (no changes to this either) and I have recently lost some weight, could it just be that because I have more breast tissue on the left side that due to losing weight the smaller breast is simply just that and what I am feeling is the normal extra tissue? Could I just have some swelling in my arm? (It doesn't even look swollen or feel swollen when I examine). Sometimes I don't even know if the sensation is coming from my armpit or the arm itself!

Has anybody else experienced this?

I'm a 30 year old woman with absolutely no history of cancer whatsoever in my family so the likelihood of it being that is slim, I do know this. It doesn't stop my mind from playing all sorts of tricks on me.

I know this sounds mad, it's really hard to explain the feeling. I suppose I am just very aware of my armpit being there haha and all the normal body parts that my upper under arm can touch.

Any insight or logic would be appreciated !! Thanks so much guys X

[Munchlet]

For years on and off I've had a sensation of something under my right armpit. I used to convince myself it was a lymph node but Dr's have never felt one. I once saw the wellwoman doctor at my surgery who said I have more breast tissue that side but it was perfectly normal.

So it certainly sounds like yours could be that. I used to find mine was worse before my period which would make sense as you retain more fluid. To be honest I still get it from time to time but don't worry too much now as I've had it for years and years.

It doesn't sound like anything to worry about particularly as you can't feel anything but I do totally get what you mean.

[Lu88]

Thank You so much for this, I appreciate it! The breast tissue thing does make a lot of sense, I think I have just become really hyper aware of the feeling due to HA.

Thanks darling X

[Mark1974]

I've had this for several weeks now on and off (I posted about it on the symptoms section a few weeks back). Doctor said it was muscular after having a poke about, as everything else health wise appears normal (blood tests etc). Heavy lifting seems to aggravate it for me.

[Lu88]

Hey Mark,

That is another option, I'm a musician so regularly carry heavy equipment - probably not in the right way and there may well be more weight on my left side considering it's my weaker side so to speak.

It could just be a combination of everything!

Thanks for getting in touch, it really helps knowing other people have been feeling a similar thing!! I thought I was going crazy xxxxx

Has yours got any better? Sending love & good vibes to you! <3

[Mark1974]

it was bad on Sunday, but I was doing some heavy lifting on Saturday so have put it down to that (it all started off originally after using an electric saw to cut some wood about a month ago, they were aching for days after that but it died down after I went to the doctors - he sent me off to the chemist to buy a tube of Ibuleve)

[Lu88]

Hopefully you can start to recover now :) I hope things work out quickly so you can carry on with your life. As the day has gone on I am starting to think more & more it is a muscle, I carried a lot of heavy equipment on Sunday and some muscular aches and pains have started to appear, I am also putting the sensation a few weeks back down to the same thing as it is a frequent occurrence with the heavy lifting !! I do carry more with my left arm (I kind of loop a heavy Saxophone case over the arm and balance mic stands over it so I can carry with ease the amp in my right hand) - so this all makes sense to me.

Sending love! X