Health anxiety- is there any underlying reason we suffer this much? Also LIPOMAS

[Lilly13]

Hey all,

It has been awhile since I posted, I have tried to manage my health anxiety- mainly by becoming avoidant of medical tests and doctor ( probably not the best mechanism of healing.) I have also been avid into CBT for many years. However, I am sick of needing to fight against my own thoughts and my own mind ( which is sometimes what CBT feels like.)

I am wondering if anyone else has figured out any underlying trauma/cause of health anxiety? Death is unarguably scary yet other people seem to navigate it without living their entire life in fear. If we cherish life so much, we really should be living-not pushing loved ones away and living in dread of death.


My other question was around Lipomas- I have a big-ish squishy bump in the muscle of my back. My logical part tells me that Lipomas are common and that I should just believe the doctor. He said that this was 99.9 % a lipoma and did not think any further testing was necessary. He does not want to perpetuate my health anxiety and he is confident it is benign. Fair. However, silly me googled the one other cancer that can cause this type of a mass. I won't name it as this is a safe place for people with anxiety. Logical part of me again says this other cancer is extremely rare - mainly only found on the legs and abdomen.

Can anyone else tell me about their own lipoma experience and your ability to trust and believe doctors?


Yours,

Lilly:flowers:

[Carys]

HI Lilly,

I have a number of lipomas, I have always been prone to them through my whole life. I also get small permanent nodules after some insect bites - called Dermatofibromas. I had one Lipoma removed when I was an adolescent as it was in an annoying place, but the rest remain as they are and where they are and I'm in my 50s now. One I had on my back actually resolved by me pressing and massaging it loads over a year, and kind of breaking it up.

I will say this about them - they are REALLY obvious to identify for a GP from their feel. I went about one on my ribs, which I wasn't quite sure about a few years ago, and the GP said immediately what it was; Fatty lump/Lipoma. She did a quick ultrasound on it, as it was fairly large, and showed me that the grainy appearance ,indeed made it certain that it was Lipoma (yes it has increased in size since then, and no I'm not worried about it). My dog gets them too and as she has aged more have appeared here and there, through so much experience of feeling them on myself and her, I can identify them immediately and when she has her yearly jabs the vet feels them and confirms I am right. So, what I'm saying is this - the way they move, their position under the skin, the shape they have, the lack of other surrounding 'symptoms' or changes, the texture when being pressed etc - makes them really obvious to anybody used to seeing them. Your GP is used to seeing them ! Its as simple as that, they can identify if anything is alarming and they must see SO MANY Lipomas all the time, they are very very common, that of course they would know if there was anything that needed further investigation. If I can tell a Lipoma, they more than definitely can :roflmao: I never googled anything else - and that is the key here - you stop yourself going any further than the opinion of the professional you have seen.

I'm not going to comment on the massive HA causes issues, as time is at a min today , I'll leave that to someone else. ;)

[NoraB]

Bottom line: health anxiety is the fear of death, or it's the fear of us dying and leaving those who depend on us, or it's people who we depend on, dying and leaving us.

Ultimately, it's fear of death and a non-acceptance of one's own mortality (or that of others)

[Scaredtoo]

I went through this about 15 months ago. I came across a squishy lump on back of my thigh. I called my orthopedic doctor who said that is def a lump. He said I don’t think you need an MRI but let’s get an ultrasound. He said his worry was low. I went off. This led me to being super panicked and it was not fun. My mind said his worry is low. But he’s still worried. So off I went for my ultrasound. I spend that entire week trying to figure out how I was going to die etc. It was a lipoma. Damn things stress me out so much. Many people have more than one. I literally googled it which was stupid because it led me down the rabbit hole. You’re okay. I promise