Can anxiety really cause symptoms?

[mum-of-4]

Hi everyone

My HA is at an all time high at the moment :weep:

Over the past couple of months I have convinced myself I have breast cancer, Lymphoma (had a scan and breast lumpiness is fibrous tissue and lump under armpit is normal lymph node) and melanoma.

Funnily enough since having the breast scan I have had no breast pain/tenderness at all when before the scan it was constant to the point where I was always poking/proding myself and waiting for any little twinge.

Anyway, I have quite a few aytpical (unusual) moles.

At the moment the one on my stomach is bothering me. This has been looked at by 2 different drs and both have said it is fine. After having it looked at in december I stopped worrying about it. Now I have started worrying about it again thinking what if the drs are wrong. I've now started having a prickling sensation in the mole (this happened before and went when i had it looked at).

I just can't pinpoint if it started prickling before or after I started worrying about it again.

Anyway my questions are, does anyone have prickling sensations in their moles? And is it possible that anxiety can make these symptoms happen? It's definately been worse today since I've been focussing on it.

Please help. Any advice would be great.

Thank you so much!!!!!

[krees69]

Hi
Oh Yes, Anxiety can cause all sorts of 'strange' things to happen to your body. Over the years I have had several coronary's , AIDS several times, and all sorts of other 'diseases'. Its odd , because the more i used to focus on 'it' the more symptoms i got, even if the symptoms weren't really there it felt VERY real to me. Its also made worse by reading lots on the internet LOL i have literally developed sympoms as i'm reading them off the page! The trouble is of course for us anxious folk is how do you know what is a real problem and what is psychosymatic- i've never discovered the answer. I have a good GP who knows me and my friend anxiety very well-she is the rational voice in my often irrational worries. Interestingly . for me, I was once on my meds for about 5 years and didn't develop any 'illness' at all.
Hope helps
Kath

[Greenman50]

Should say i,m new to all this HA ......but i,m slowly comeing around to Kaths correct way of thinking . I,ve had allsorts and very real symptoms , which dissapear when the doc says its fine , but doesn,t always last :blush:


I just keep saying to myself , trust the doc , and i,m now getting some where .

[kah]

Hi, I've just answered the same question on another post and most definately yes is my answer. Last year I thought I had ovarian cancer, had an ultrasound, got the all-clear and the pain went. Then my HA went onto me thinking I had a brain tumour, ended up in hospital for the night, tests all clear and within a few days the pains had gone. Then thought I had breast cancer, lots of pain under my armpits, had ultra-sound, all fine and the pain went.

The mind is a very powerful tool. In my case I think I have a 'normal' pain which people without HA wouldn't give a 2nd thought to, focus on it until it becomes a huge deal and so on and so on......

At the moment I 'have' stomach and lung cancer and even though I've been through it all time and time again, my mind keeps telling me 'what if this time it's the real deal'. Crazy eh?
K xx

[pkm]

When you focus your attention on your body and whats happening (even if you think your not) you can bring on any number of symptoms/sensations.

Try doing an experiement where you really really focus all you attention on one hand or foot for a while and notice the sensations that you become aware of in the hand/foot.

I know this is easier said than do but by trying to focus outside of the body you can really help with this.

Best wishes