Please help toothache/sore throat/earache =Cancer???

[mintxy]

I really need some reassurance, I am new to this forum (and so glad to have found it!) but Im certainly not new to health anxiety. It comes in waves, sometimes lasting a couple of days, sometimes weeks or months. I have "had" every cancer going, scared myself sick that I may have some debilitating disease, or worse Im going of die of Adult sudden death syndrome (when I cant attribute my symptoms to anything more exotic). I have good periods (where I continue to increas my risk factors getting more overwieght and smoking) then I have really bad periods, the current period is all focused around my mouth and throat. around 2 months ago I got intermittant toothpain back left right; interestingly toothace has never featured in my anxiety so I happily went along with dentist instructions to take amoxicillin and be referred to Max fax for extraction; im still waiting on that one. So up until then I was fine. The toothache gets me down; waking me in the night always present early morning and seems to die down all day until early evening. Still not concerned. Until the arrival of the earache and sore throat, anxiety increasing, googling started guess what oropharyngeal cancer!!!! 1 month on I unluckily had a stomach bug, plenty of diarrhoea with blood!! my anxiety quickly focused on the stomach and bowel cancer!!! interestingly all of my tooth symptoms were gone during this 2-3 days. As soon as the infection cleared up back came my toothace, earache, sore throat and now metallic taste in mouth as of yesterday, also my tongue bled a little after eating an ice lolly (which I ever eat!. Im exhausted with the worry and Yes Im planning to stop smoking when I have my tooth out in 2 weeks and eat healthier but I have now got into this negative pattern of thining oh well I probably ahve tongue cancer or oral cancer and there would be no point to giving up!! Im stuck in a terrible phase of anxiety now and im terrified thatt when I see Max fax they are going to uncover something awful! any reassurance would be greatly appreciated!

[snowgoose]

hello :)

So sorry you are in the grip of the anxiety hell ................feel for you and I know what it is like .
anyway .....you know what I am going to say :blush:
your dentist first off would have spotted something amiss honest. toothache spreads to all those areas you have pain in ..............the eustachian tubes that link our throat,ears and throat .......even your sinuses sometimes . lots of nerves in that area love .
please dont fret about cancer .............your dentist would have spotted anything untoward .........and pain is not the first symptom .
Take care and hope toothache sorted soon xxx

[mintxy]

Thanks that helps alot, wish id have found this forum years ago!! im fascinated with all the posts and just realised im not alone:D

[snowgoose]

I wish I had found it years ago too .......might have saved us both lonely times .
please dont worry any more eh? honest xxxx
it is good to know we are not alone ............some lovely people here . :hugs:

[Anxious_gal]

your toothache is why your ear and throat hurt.

[mintxy]

Thanks Mishel but why do I have this metallic taste? and why isnt the toothache constant??? im itching to google but I wont!!!! thanks for reply by the way

[Taffy]

DO NOT GOOGLE!...Step away from the computer! (Unless your on this forum obviously :))

Seriously though listen to what has been said by the others, the ear, nose and throat are all interconnected and surrounded by nerve ending that can transfer pain all over your head and body.

I recently had a pain in my ear with intermittent throat pain, a headache, neck ache and pain behind my eye. I put it all together and got??....A brain tumour.

Only it turned out to be a waxed up ear that was effecting my eustachian tube and my throat and the head and neck pain was from this plus the stress and tension of all the anxiety and worry!

Looking back on it now I realise how obvious it was but at the time when the old HA had kicked in it seemed to block all that rational out. :doh:

Anyway my point is don't worry, toothache is a bugger and if it was anything sinister it would of been picked up by your dentist.

[mintxy]

Thankyou for all your replies, Im feeling slightly better today although still have twingesnow and then, havent googled yet so its a good start!!!

[padlock84]

hi mintxy im nick im a 27 year old man...iv just basically stumbled across your page and just registerd for this site purely to msg you because i recently have gone thru everything you have just mentioned regarding the (i think i might have cancer) post...every symptom and pain you mention is exactly the same as mine and i thought i would write to let you know a few things that i know regarding are symptoms.. about 3 months ago i was feeling generally unwell and lathargic all the time...different problems in differenent areas of my body....knee pain, back pain, headaches but i just got on with life quitely without visiting the doctor or worrying to much...untill 1 night i was watching tv and i got a sensation over my body that made me go cold..i felt i couldnt speak...my arms wer tingling and the pain in my chest was so severe that i thought i was having a heart attack...i was keeled over in pain for about 40mins because im the type of person that wont waste a doctors time i never called an ambulance...the next morning i woke with a funny taste in my mouth and a dead left arm...again i convinced myself i was still having a heart attack so i went down the medical centre who done all sorts of test and guaranteed me there was nothing wrong with me....i went home but the pains and numbness never went away so 3 days later i did visit my doctor who instantly diagnosed me depressed and anxious which i didnt agree with because im usually a laid back happy guy (i do worry in silence sometimes) but generally i didnt feel depressed...anyway what he said to me was take this tablet once a day for depression and it will cure the anxiety...now when i asked about the odd taste in my mouth he put that down to high stomach acid levels due to not eating enough...anyway to cut a long story short i took the pills and the taste went away but since that sensation i had every time i feel any twinge or wind or odd pain i convince myself i have a terminall illness..i have called 2 ambulances and got very annoyed with myself that by the time they arrive my attack has finished and i apologise and feel stupid....anyway i havnt had a big panic attack in the last 6weeks and the worrying has slowed down so i can only put it down to the doctor was right and i needed them pills...what happens to the body when a panic attack hits is you dont breathe very well so your body gets starved of oxygen and you feel pain that you wouldnt normally feel which makes you panic more and its a vicious circle...however i am starting to combat these thoughts by simply telling myself i have had pains for 4 months now...if i was dyeing i would of died by now and i convince myself im ok again...usually this works for me...i hope you feel well soon and i hope that this has helped a bit...good luck in getting treatment....i am still on anti depressants and i feel alot more in control now...they dont make me happier or giddy they do just balance me out so dont be affraid to seek medical help..

also i would like to ask did any of your loved ones die of cancer that you seen gradually happening because the cause of my fear was heart attack and i put that down to the fact my mother had 2 massive heart atacks 5 years ago and i nursed her through heart surgery back to health and i wonder maybe seeing the illness in front of us is making us panic that we will end up that way...

again i hope i havnt bored you and im sorry if you dont understand the way i write im not very educated ha

if there is anything you want to know or ask please feel free

take care and good health

nick

[swgrl09]

Hi, I just wanted to post and let you know that I went through all of those symptoms last summer for quite some time. I learned some important things though - Your teeth, sinuses, ears are all connected so pain in one area can very easily cause pain in another.

For me, after multiple courses of antibiotics and reoccurrences of my symptoms (teeth hurting so badly I thought I had infections in them - I didn't, facial pain, ear pain, headaches, metallic taste, etc.) I finally got diagnosed with allergies. The allergies kept causing sinus congestion and ear congestion, which would occasionally get infected. When my sinuses were congested, the pain would go down into my teeth. The bad taste also came from sinuses going into my teeth/gum area. Weird, but it's true.

Once I got started on anti-histamines for my allergies, it started to clear up. I still get occasional symptoms when they flare, but now that I know what it is I don't focus on it so much and it goes away faster.

It can work the other way too. If you have cavities or a root canal, the pain can refer up into your sinuses etc.

I was convinced I had tumors in my sinuses. Xrays and doctors visits finally convinced me I was wrong.

I hope you get to the bottom of your symptoms, but I am sure you are going to be just fine. Good luck!

---------- Post added at 23:29 ---------- Previous post was at 23:27 ----------

Oh and just wanted to reply to Nick - To answer your question I saw my mom die of cancer. She was diagnosed and then died a month later. It was very quick, unexpected, and traumatizing. I always was a little bit of a hypochondriac, but this really made my anxiety out of control. I think those experiences really can do a lot to us.