Im so petrified.please talk to me, feel like im going mad!

[ksludds]

hi everyone.About a month ago I noticed that I have a lump on the right side of my neck, its not painful and I dont really feel ill but the more I know its there, the more im poking at it and the more its getting me stressed out.

I checked the left side of my neck lastnight and I can also feel one there, theyre both about the size of an almond and they are hard to touch but slightly moveable.the more I sit and think about it the more im worried thats its cancer.Ive been to work today and all I could think about were the lumps.

everyone Ive asked keeps saying its probably nothing but go to the doctors to get them checked out but thats the problem, Im so scared of what the doctor will say that I honestly cant bring myself to go there.I feel as if im going mad sometimes, seems like im worried and anxious about everything all the time and I just want it to stop.has anyone else got glands up in their neck at the minute and is it normal to have these?? please help :)

[diane07]

read this and see if it helps

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=49912

di xx

[andypee]

Hi there,

I'm new to the forum, but having similar problems with generalized anxiety disorder and swollen lymph nodes. I went to the doctor straight away and ran some blood tests, but then didn't want to go back for what he might have found in the tests. But this is a process that we have to go through, if you have no other prominent symptoms it's likely you're just fine! But go and make sure to put your mind at rest, and if you have to have any tests ask for the next possible time you can come and get the results.

Hope you feel better soon

Andy

[lauren6]

They are always movable. Please stop worrying and irritating them by pressing them. Check out my post on books, I just re-posted it for you and the other people who are focusing on their glands. It's NOT the glands, it's our minds and our focusing. If it isn't the glands, it will be something else next. It has been that way for me all of my life and yes, it can make us feel crazy! Please get the books (I didn't write them and I have no financial interest in them...I just hate to see people suffer when they can be helped).

Let me know after you read them what you think. I could write a mile long post but these books are written by experts and I could never help you as much as they can but since this board is for help...for now, try to distract yourself, have some fun, and keep telling yourself that you are indeed fine. If you need to see a doc, see one and it will ease your mind, get a blood count. If that's the end of the story, great, but if you start worrying again about the glands or something else, some outside help with either the books or a good cognitive therapist will be the next step.

[ksludds]

hiya.andy the way u described your anxiety is EXACTLY how i feel about my body all the time.I was in floods of tears lastnight about these lumps and its almost as if im looking for someone to reassure me and say its nothing to worry about but yet I cant pluck up the courage to go to the doctor!, your really brave for pushing yourself into actually getting checked out coz the thought of any tests absolutely petrifies me so well done for that :)

just to add a little to my post.I know where my anxiety comes from, my friend who was 26 years old died from non hodgkins lymphoma 2years ago which started with a lump in her neck similar to mine, I know that the likelyhood of me having cancer is minimal but I just cant seem to calm myself down about this, its on my mind every waking minute of the day, im even waking up in the middle of the night thinking about it and I dont know what to do, it makes me feel like such an idiot sometimes

[andypee]

im glad you found my post helpful, i can totally understand why you would be anxious about this, and im so sorry about your friend.

even with just a little feel of your other lymph areas and a Complete Blood Count they can rule out a lot of things. People pay taxes so that us great unrelaxed can be reassured and go to the docs as much as we want. Get checked out! brave it, you'll feel better after you've done it.

andy

[robelros]

hey there ksludds - i just want you to know that i totally understand where you're coming from. that is a REALLY traumatic thing that you went through with your friend, and i i can't imagine what that does to a person. i myself have read about young people getting cancer and that is enough for me to have a panic, so i can't imagine what it is like to have a close friend suffer through it. it makes a lot of sense that you have so much anxiety as a result of that. i know it is hard to bring yourself to go to the doctor - i msyelf have put it off a number of times b/c in my head i can see her telling me that i have cancer and thinking that would ruin my life. so i know what that feels like. but lately i've gotten much better about making appointments as soon as i can, because let me tell you, the likelihood that she'll say you are fine is much higher, and that is the best feeling. don't put off getting to feel that way. i absoultely understand the tendency to be afraid to go (i bet most of us here do), but try and push yourself to do it. you will feel so much better afterwards!