scared of cancer?

[Em.ma]

symptom list is:

stomach pain
groin pain
irregular periods/different periods
frequent peeing (and clear colour somtimes)
weird stools
groaning/squealching noises from stomach
burping a lot
also increased vaginal discharge when getting stomach aches- yesterday it was a yellow colour :S?
i used to get a lot of thrush like stuff but that went away on its own :S even though sometimes ill get a bit of it:\:unsure::angry:

cant relax at all

[Kells81]

Emma

You really need to stop focussing on every little sensation in your body, it is very normal to get aches and pains and all the other little things.
If it really is something serious such as cancer (and I am not saying that it is) then the only person that can help you with that is your Doctor.

I think you need to start focussing more on ways of stopping yourself from worrying about what is wrong with you instead of always querying all of your symptons. Next time you are feeling pain etc, dont ask what could it be-just tell yourself it is just anxiety and then do something to distract yourself from how you are feeling.

If you keep querying every sensation then you will just be thinking about it more so it wont go away.

:hugs:

[Em.ma]

thanks, i get skin rashes a lot. like little pin-prick red dots in a cluster on my arm and i get itchy/flaky skin on my arms a lot.
I find it hard to distract my self once my mind is convinced its cancer.
there was a point for 2 months when i cudnt be alone incase no one was there to phone 999 if i suddenly had a heart attack so i had to be out the house in a busy place when no one was in.

[Kells81]

Emma, stop thinking about the red dots and what they might be.

As soon as you feel pain or see something on your body then you need to say to yourself 'this is just a normal body sensation and it doesn't mean anything'. You need to try and stop the thoughts escalating to the point where you think you have cancer or something serious. You need to try and stop yourself from thinking about it to much.

It seems that you are looking at your body for signs that there is something wrong and that you are waiting for pains to appear-dont do this. Don't waste a minute of your thoughts on being ill.

Keep yourself distracted so you dont have time to think that there is something wrong with you. It may seem impossible but it is the only way you are going to beat this.

[Em.ma]

thanks:

the thing really concering me is this:
also increased vaginal discharge when getting stomach aches- yesterday it was a yellow colour :S?
i used to get a lot of thrush like stuff but that went away on its own :S even though sometimes ill get a bit of it:\:unsure::angry:

because im sure that cant be caused by anxiety were as the rest could. i think.
sometimes distraction works. for 3 weeks i was soing well and then all of a sudden headache/cold and bam back to square 1.
I cant stand that my stomach is keeps on making these noises aswell even though ive eaten a normal amount of today. :\
:)

[Kells81]

Emma

If you are really worried about the vaginal discharge then you will have to book an appointment to see the doctor-that is the only way you will find out if there is anything wrong or not, we are not able to tell you the answer to that.

If you did it for three weeks before then you can do it again. Keep reminding yourself about those three weeks and how well you did.

Unfortunetly there are lots of colds going around at the moment and we are all getting them but dont let that set your recovery back.

As I said before, you just need to stop querying all of the sensations you are feeling in your body. You can do it!!!!!:hugs:

[Em.ma]

thanks will try but i just look at the list i made and think "how can that not be cancer or something more serious"

[Kells81]

stop making lists, stop looking for marks on your body, stop waiting for aches and pains-all of this is just making you focus on illness and making you think there is something wrong with you.
With any anxiety the more you focus on it the worse it gets. Start getting your mind to think of something other than illness, read a book, play a game, go and talk to your parents or a friend-just keep doing anything to distract you.

[Em.ma]

will try to keep my mind of it. i dont mind the aches so much its the noises from stomach/discharge thats bothering me. :D

[Em.ma]

i think it could be IBS and acid reflux mixed BUT the thrush like stuff i had for months and the discharge/irregular periods scream cancer to me when mixed with the rest of the symptoms.

[macc noodle]

Emma if you spend all your time focussing wholly on your body and what it is doing and where the next pain is coming from you will always feel ill!

You need to try and stand back and ask yourself why it is cancer of the ovaries/bowel/liver etc etc today and last week it was brain tumours, breathing problems etc etc in the previous weeks - you really need to see that you can't possibly have all of this wrong with you in succession and what has happened to the brain tumour now that your are focussing on your stomach/pelvic area??

This may sound overly harsh and is not meant to me Emma, it is just meant to try and make you see that you are ill but your illness is Health Anxiety and Panic and that you do need to seek help for this to enable you to learn some coping strategies that will stop this taking over your life.

Please please go and see your GP and ask to be referred for CBT. You may even need a low dosage of something like Citalopram to take the edge of your anxiety and give you some respite from the constant checking and worrying.

It is hard I know, I have a daily battle with it and can remember only too well what it was like 15 years ago when I was exactly the same as you are now. But, with good help I have managed to not let it rule my life for the past 15 years and, although I am struggling at the moment, I know that it will pass and I will find my way back on track - as you too will do Emma if you seek help.

Take care

:hugs:

[Em.ma]

you know its funny because i was thinking my self "its funny how my head feels fine now- othen than a sinus headache)

Will be seeing my GP sometime next week but i am petrified of medication

[macc noodle]

Emma

Don't be afraid of medication - sometimes it really gives you respite when you are absolutely at the end of your tether with the anxiety.

I would really push for referral for CBT if I were you because you need to learn a different way of approaching your anxiety - it will always be part of you but you can learn not to let it take over.

Hun, I have been exactly where you are - I used to examine myself all the time, regularly convinced it was cancer of this and cancer of that etc and used to write lists of how I was feeling at that time and feeling the despair that if so much was wrong I had to be dying.

Now, if I write a list I think "well blow me down I had all that x years ago and I am still here to tell the tale" - perspective is a wonderful tool against the arch enemy that is health anxiety.

Glad your head is feeling fine btw!

:D

[penny09]

HI Em.ma

I would start by saying 'try not to worry' but we all habve issues one way or another with worry dont we! To me I cant see why you think you symptoms would be cancer.. To me, and like another person said, it sounds like IBS:

stomach pain
groin pain
frequent peeing (and clear colour somtimes)
weird stools
groaning/squealching noises from stomach
burping a lot

Stomach pain is what started my anxiety off.. I totally freaked out and the doc said to me is sounds like IBS.. I read up on IBS and other symptoms I had (like weird stools, burping etc) also tied in with that. Knowing you have it, is half the battle.

Kells81 you speak such sense! So much you said I need to heed...
"stop making lists, stop looking for marks on your body, stop waiting for aches and pains-all of this is just making you focus on illness and making you think there is something wrong with you."

"As soon as you feel pain or see something on your body then you need to say to yourself 'this is just a normal body sensation and it doesn't mean anything'. You need to try and stop the thoughts escalating to the point where you think you have cancer or something serious. You need to try and stop yourself from thinking about it to much."

Re the skin rashes you mentioned - Ive had a rash for a good 6 months now, been to the docs a few times, they dont seem concerned and iv tried diff creams - but its still there!

I think we both need to accept our anxiety - and work to overcome it :-)
We will succeed!!

[Em.ma]

thanks for the post. I know i should belieive its IBS or something like that but its the vaginal discharge that makes me thing "omg cancer" also i was just in bath and got a pain were my appendix is so now worried about that. is it just muscle pain from being tense all day?

[macc noodle]

The more you hold yourself in tense positions, the more aches and pains you will get.

The more aches and pains you get, the more you worry.

The more your worry, the more you hold yourself in tense positions.................

Get the picture!!!

Also you can get low down abdo pain with an IBS flare up Emma.

Sleep well hun

:)

[Em.ma]

thanks.
Today ive been in such a panic. I woke up with stomach pain was really gassy and was burping a lot to. Also been feeling itchy/pain down below but i dont know if its becaause i focus on it. Also weird feeling in my head still (it hurts now) i feel nasuses(how ever you spell it) and my nose/ears ache sometimes :(

[Em.ma]

also getting funny feelings in throat/next. it feels like its closing up, like i cant breathe right now :S

[Em.ma]

also i get a pain on the right temple area again :(

[Em.ma]

also my right eye feels funny, scared :\

[hanlo]

its anxciety you sound like me hun your really do im getting palpatation all over my body feel pulses ive been telling me self its anxciety but still hasent got rid of it..also negative adreline runs through soo much during these best thing id say is to buy some chammaile tea and go out with ssome frinds...but really yopu sound like me i have nobody to talk to my mum doesnt want to no xxx chin up

[Em.ma]

thank you x
got a really bad itchy rash on both arms which i just noticed whilst in the bath. its like litte red dots all over my arms :(
do u get rashes?

[Em.ma]

also got bad pins and needles in legs at moment :(

[hanlo]

well if im honest while in the bath i noticed little red spots on my arms like pin pricks but red??? and yes ive had the pins and needles i went hospital and got checkd for blood clot and my heart

tonight im coughing and its hurting wich has sent my anxciety high
what i always think is what if this time its real and nobody will believe me xx

[Em.ma]

thanks x
been a terrible today woke up with stomach aches :\ feeling nauseaus all day and been burping loads to BUT also had the pain in my nose and forehead back :( and one said of my neck is really painful/sore sometimes :(

[Em.ma]

also i hear sounds in my throar (croaking sounds) Very occasionly to.

[Em.ma]

also my eyes ached and felt fuzzy today