Acidomoduso
26-01-10, 02:59
Hi guys....
Well, i said i'd post eventually! Sorry for the long post and thanks for reading, but... here goes!
OK. My wife said the immortal words " It's becoming a joke now!" tonight and even though i agree with her it has played on my mind. Don't get me wrong... she is being very supportive but she doesn't want to pander to me which i appreciate.
Recently i've had issues with constantly checking my glands - neck, collar bone, armpits, groin etc, convinced that they are swollen. I've also been a little obssessed with my abdomen area. This has morphed into weird tender, burning feelings in my neck tendons (i think). The strange thing about this is that i can trace a line from my right jaw, down my neck, down past my nipple and to my abdomen area and it feels tender. It seems to radiate out from my collar bone to my armpits, too. I also have a little tickly cough sometime and that seems to run along this imaginary line (from my chest - kind of in between the nipple and the sternum - to my throat)
I am also convinced that i can feel what could possibly be my liver (on my right side, as i breathe in and out, i can feel a ridge rub past my fingers) and a hard area just below my sternum (if i press relatively hard - but no harder than a doctor may press). This is coupled with a nervous/tingling feeling in my upper abdomen area, a nauseous feeling (i haven't actually been sick but it feels like i could easily be) and restlessness.
I am struggling to sleep and often wake up with this nervous feeling and everything that i mentioned aching/tingling/sore aong with feeling sweaty.
I just don't feel 'right'. I feel kind of spaced out. I had a little bit of a panic attack just before i left work this evening which is my first in maybe 7-8 years. It was only mild (well i can only describe it as panicky feelings and not a full blown attack) but i don't know whether it was a plain old panic attack or symptoms of what i'm feeling.
So, to delve a little further, just over two years ago i had pneumonia and (i think) since then i haven't felt right. I've been going back and forth to the doctors with all sorts. I had what they suspected was a gallstone issue (severe stabbing pain in my far right side), which they sent me to have an ultrasound - results clear (they also checked the liver and pancreas areas along with my kidneys)! I had issues with pains along the top of my abdomen about a year ago... the doctor felt a ridge where my liver was and sent me for an x-ray and bloods - x-ray came back fine but with a comment that there was something "vascular in nature" in the lower right quadrant of the x-ray (basically where my liver was). The doctor was happy with this and explained that it was probably a vein. He was also happy with my bloods - the liver reading was slightly raised but he said it was only by a few points (i.e. if a normal reading is, say, 47 mine was 53). He said that anyone with a problematic liver would be raised in the multiple 100's.
I recently had bloods for a prostate check which came back clear (this was on the back of my wife's grandad dying of cancer - we watched him deteriorate in weeks and were there at his death. I think this affected me psychologically). I also noticed a 'flow' issue down below :blush: but this may be down to age!! :D
I think the point i'm making is that i've had a lot of checks this past year or so but nothing has ever been evident. Could this have changed in a year? Highly unlikely but not impossible!
OK, so these last few weeks have been stressful :wacko:; especially the last few days - i have been trying to get a wedding photo shoot finished and the response they came back with kind of dampened me - i've never had anyone say they 'hated' a particular photo before! On top of this... work has been very busy and there have been big changes involving redundancies; i was studying for an exam before Christmas (which i passed, btw); it was my eldest boy's birthday last week and my youngest's this weekend just gone; i'd had an argument on the phone with my mum; my wife is still suffering from PND, is stressed and is on medication; we have financial worries; my father-in-law was recently made redundant and we had many discussions on moving in together to ease the finacial burden. Now he is working away and i am becoming the male role model throughout the week... the list is endless!
I suppose what i am saying is that i am worried about the usual things - life threatening illnesses like some kind of lymphatic problem, cancer or some other incurable disease! The question is... is this really all anxiety/stress related or am i just using that as a cover? Do my symptoms sound like a serious illness or just a psychosomatic response to my stress? I'm worried about going back to the doctor for fear of looking silly - i'm sure they have me marked as a hypochondriac on their notes :blush:! The last time i went about my stomach, the doctor had a go about me using up an emergency appointment (the receptionist gave me the time slot - i didn't ask for it!) so i'm worried they'll have a go and tell me to stop wasting their time.
I really don't want to be feeling like this for ever! I know my wife is right but, what if...?
Well, i said i'd post eventually! Sorry for the long post and thanks for reading, but... here goes!
OK. My wife said the immortal words " It's becoming a joke now!" tonight and even though i agree with her it has played on my mind. Don't get me wrong... she is being very supportive but she doesn't want to pander to me which i appreciate.
Recently i've had issues with constantly checking my glands - neck, collar bone, armpits, groin etc, convinced that they are swollen. I've also been a little obssessed with my abdomen area. This has morphed into weird tender, burning feelings in my neck tendons (i think). The strange thing about this is that i can trace a line from my right jaw, down my neck, down past my nipple and to my abdomen area and it feels tender. It seems to radiate out from my collar bone to my armpits, too. I also have a little tickly cough sometime and that seems to run along this imaginary line (from my chest - kind of in between the nipple and the sternum - to my throat)
I am also convinced that i can feel what could possibly be my liver (on my right side, as i breathe in and out, i can feel a ridge rub past my fingers) and a hard area just below my sternum (if i press relatively hard - but no harder than a doctor may press). This is coupled with a nervous/tingling feeling in my upper abdomen area, a nauseous feeling (i haven't actually been sick but it feels like i could easily be) and restlessness.
I am struggling to sleep and often wake up with this nervous feeling and everything that i mentioned aching/tingling/sore aong with feeling sweaty.
I just don't feel 'right'. I feel kind of spaced out. I had a little bit of a panic attack just before i left work this evening which is my first in maybe 7-8 years. It was only mild (well i can only describe it as panicky feelings and not a full blown attack) but i don't know whether it was a plain old panic attack or symptoms of what i'm feeling.
So, to delve a little further, just over two years ago i had pneumonia and (i think) since then i haven't felt right. I've been going back and forth to the doctors with all sorts. I had what they suspected was a gallstone issue (severe stabbing pain in my far right side), which they sent me to have an ultrasound - results clear (they also checked the liver and pancreas areas along with my kidneys)! I had issues with pains along the top of my abdomen about a year ago... the doctor felt a ridge where my liver was and sent me for an x-ray and bloods - x-ray came back fine but with a comment that there was something "vascular in nature" in the lower right quadrant of the x-ray (basically where my liver was). The doctor was happy with this and explained that it was probably a vein. He was also happy with my bloods - the liver reading was slightly raised but he said it was only by a few points (i.e. if a normal reading is, say, 47 mine was 53). He said that anyone with a problematic liver would be raised in the multiple 100's.
I recently had bloods for a prostate check which came back clear (this was on the back of my wife's grandad dying of cancer - we watched him deteriorate in weeks and were there at his death. I think this affected me psychologically). I also noticed a 'flow' issue down below :blush: but this may be down to age!! :D
I think the point i'm making is that i've had a lot of checks this past year or so but nothing has ever been evident. Could this have changed in a year? Highly unlikely but not impossible!
OK, so these last few weeks have been stressful :wacko:; especially the last few days - i have been trying to get a wedding photo shoot finished and the response they came back with kind of dampened me - i've never had anyone say they 'hated' a particular photo before! On top of this... work has been very busy and there have been big changes involving redundancies; i was studying for an exam before Christmas (which i passed, btw); it was my eldest boy's birthday last week and my youngest's this weekend just gone; i'd had an argument on the phone with my mum; my wife is still suffering from PND, is stressed and is on medication; we have financial worries; my father-in-law was recently made redundant and we had many discussions on moving in together to ease the finacial burden. Now he is working away and i am becoming the male role model throughout the week... the list is endless!
I suppose what i am saying is that i am worried about the usual things - life threatening illnesses like some kind of lymphatic problem, cancer or some other incurable disease! The question is... is this really all anxiety/stress related or am i just using that as a cover? Do my symptoms sound like a serious illness or just a psychosomatic response to my stress? I'm worried about going back to the doctor for fear of looking silly - i'm sure they have me marked as a hypochondriac on their notes :blush:! The last time i went about my stomach, the doctor had a go about me using up an emergency appointment (the receptionist gave me the time slot - i didn't ask for it!) so i'm worried they'll have a go and tell me to stop wasting their time.
I really don't want to be feeling like this for ever! I know my wife is right but, what if...?