Breast rash- my HA automatically jumps to IBC!

Hi! I have a history of breast issues and health anxiety. I have been diagnosed with GAD and have been through CBT for it.

My breast history started with a galactocele after mastitis that looked like IBC, which sorted itself out after a punch biopsy in left breast. In my right breast, a fibroadenoma was discovered and I had a lumpectomy. Waiting for the pathology results triggered my health anxiety. My health anxiety was extreme for 6 months, then gradually tapered off after a year with therapy to low levels.

During that period I also had a lot of bleeding from my backside, I had a camera up there and was diagnosed with diverticulosis. I also had a pelvic exam as not everything felt right and was diagnosed with a prolapse. I was convinced I had bowel c, or colitis, and ovarian c, and cervical c. I had a mole on my ear and marks on my back and thought I could have melanoma so I took photos every month! I checked my breasts every day! I looked at my poop colour for signs of blood! I paid attention to every little change. I stopped eating and feared food. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t stop myself googling. I was convinced I would die from the general anaesthetic of my surgery. It was a very dark time filled with fear. I always regret how much time was wasted. I have a wonderful family and a wonderful life but was so distracted all this time.

Everything is fine health wise but my mind health has been poor. During all this, the Covid pandemic hit and I lost my job twice which really impacted my anxiety also. I just went to the cremation of a dear old friend who died suddenly last week, he was only 40. And we buried my friends mother, who unknowingly had lung c and passed suddenly, her disease was so insidious. So bare all this in mind when I describe today’s problem.

Last week I thought I was bitten by a mosquito on the breast. It was itchy and red with a welt. I react badly to bites, often swelling and going hard with large red rashes.

I woke this morning to read a young actress succumbed to IBC. Whilst IBC was at the back of my mind with my HA I had managed to ignore everything because I’m pretty sure it was a bug bite. Then I googled the symptoms and my own. “Rare cancer looks like bug bite” etc. Then I proceeded against my better judgment and what all the counselling has told me, I googled myself down a rabbit hole. More common in younger women- tick. More common in overweight women- tick. Pictures of beautiful young women and their stories came up, seems like anyone could get it even though it’s ‘rare’, it wasn’t rare enough for those women. So if they got it, then why wouldn’t anyone else?

I then read C forums and realise there are many panicked women, and women who were afflicted having to counsel them. That’s how I came about this forum as I didn’t want to burden those who need support themselves, but people on this forum will understand that anxiety can be very overwhelming.

My current state is that I have a red warm rash on my right breast that’s been there for a week. I’m second guessing it was a bite because there’s no bite mark and my anxiety is really acting up. The itching has decreased but the colour is still there. I did scratch it a lot. Mark’s on my breast can take a while to resolve compared to elsewhere. My galactocele bruising took months to go.

I am booking myself at the GP in case it’s a skin infection but also I feel relief that I have actively done something. If it is something then I’ve acted as soon as I could, but if it’s nothing then I won’t waste time worrying.

My health anxiety is a little superstitious in that if I don’t worry about it, it’ll be that. I know that’s irrational.

While I await my GP appointment I wonder how others build mental resilience? Because I basically stop eating, and disengage with my life. I feel sort of detached from everything and carry a heavy ball of dread in my gut. I know rationally it’s a waste of time worrying and it robs you of daily joys, but I feel as soon as my guard is down I’ll be hit. Which makes no sense because that’s not how life works. This perpetual fight or flight wreaks havoc with my health.

A rational person would just say it’s probably a reaction to a bite. It might take a few weeks to completely to disappear. You get bad reactions to bites and the breast is sensitive. You also scratched it a lot which will cause discolouration. If it gets worse and not better, go to the GP and only react to the news as it occurs. Don’t google your symptoms as it’s full of the sensational worst cases, not the average mundane causes. Don’t waste your time with your family and the lovey weather fretting over something that might not be. And if it was, you have no control so you have to trust in others.

How do others manage it? Because I’m not managing. I thought my HA was under control, I check only the appropriate amounts, I leave things a week or so to resolve, I distract myself with podcast and cleaning. And most of the time I am absolutely fine. UNTIL there is a symptom I can’t ignore. Then mental breakdown. Especially if other parts of my life are unstable I’m prone to it.

Honestly? Do not google.

It sounds like you have things pretty well managed - if a symptom pops up, give it a week and see what happens. If it's still an issue, pop into a doctor's office. But whatever you do, do not google.

And, if you absolutely must google, search for things that aren't so frightening. In this case, all you would have needed to look up is "rash from mosquito bite" and you probably would have found dozens of images of similar things that are not at all sinister and just prove that what you have is harmless. Maybe you'd even get some tips as to what to put on it to soothe it.

For now, I would recommend just leaving it until after you see your doctor. Maybe write down a note about when you first noticed it, what it feels like, etc. as well as any questions you have, just so you are totally prepared for the appointment. But see your GP and believe what he tells you, then go back out and keeping fighting that HA - it is difficult!

Hiya,

Reading your post it felt like I was writing it myself. I know what tends to work for me to get myself out of the HA rut - although I'm struggling to motivate myself at the moment... I think I have a combination of anxiety and depression currently - which makes it harder.

For me, taking care of my physical self is the most helpful thing. Simply getting my 5 a day and going for runs. If I can run I know I'm not going to die any time soon.

Also, writing lists of evidence for and against my worry... Focusing on things that bring joy.

I think HA is sometimes a way of the brain coping with stress and trauma... We go into a state of high alert. You've had your fair share of that recently. Maybe taking the time you need to process it all will help.

All the best

Hey,
Thank you for posting, your posts make me feel better and less crazy. I hope you are fine and all your worries got resolved by now.
I have this particular worry going on and off for more than 6 years. About 6 years ago I was idiotic enough to google "itchy breast" and fell into the rabbit hole of IBC. Any pinkish spot on my breasts freaked me out, as I read through all personal stories and medical description(very vague btw) and non medical nonsense, everything indicating that I might have it( or not). I had MRI soon after(don't know how I managed to convince my doctor to order it) with normal results that gave me some relief, and because I can't forget what I googgled, I just stopped looking at my breasts. Since then I shower in the dark and don't look at myself in the mirror if my breast aren't covered. That worked for me untill recently.. It is very acute right now and started with a mosquito bite as well. When you google "mosquito bite on breast" literally first thing that pops up is "bug bite ibc". This is incredible, considering that IBC is extremely rare. No doctor will consider it as a differential diagnosis if your come with a bug bite. I took my time to research and find scientific articles that give statistics. IBC is rare! And this is a misconception that IBC affects mostly young women. It doesn't! The insidence rises with age as it does with any BC and is about 1-case per 100 000 women per year in the 30-40 years old group. This is less prevalent than male breast cancer! So it is really unfair and strange that an average internet user is exposed to information about this and any other rare condition on every occasion. I didn't need to know about existence of IBC. It made my life miserable! Anyway, I try to be reasonable and think positive, but sometimes catastrophic thoughts take over. You posts help me to cope. Thanks!