Going out of my mind cancer anxiety

[CoraB]

I need help please i am going out of my mind with worry about my health at the moment. Sometimes I just feel so shaky with anxiety that i can't focus on anything else.

I've had pain in my breasts and one feels swollen, aching in armpit. back, shoulder and neck pain. After 3 docs visits - each exam they found no lumps etc - I persuaded him to refer me and I also had them examined by a consultant and had an ultrasound on my right breast which was all fine too. Leading up to the appointment I had to stay off work and couldn't stop crying and shaking with anxiety. They appointment reassured me though and i felt a bit better.

Less than a week after I am nearly as anxious as before, although my back is better i now feel like under my arms is swollen and achey and I have pain in my left breast. My throat feels swollen too. i feel like I'm going mad with it - one minute I convince myself i have been checked and they found nothing and they are the experts and the next I am convinced they have missed something, that it is spreading, that it must be terminal or maybe lymph nodes cancer or something etc etc - hence mega panic.

Has anyone been though anytihng similar and come out the other side? Or going through similar anxieties? I need someone to talk to who knows about this as my family and friends are totally fed up of me and can't understand why I am still worrying.

Please help

[lyndau63]

Hi,

I am so sorry for you and know exactly what you mean. I have had HA for many years and tried carious things. Currently on Citalopram which has been the best. As you say, you come home form doctor reassured and within a few days there is another supposed lump. It is really hard for family to understand and my husband does not understand at all and gets quite cross with me. Friends are very supportive and my daughter-in-law is great but they are not there in the middle of the night when I feel desperate. My doctor is great too but I can't be there all the time. Would like to have a resident one really!

I can't take away your fear but I do understand and, in the case of breasts, if ever you do have anything real, you can be sure it will be dealt with quickly as you check so regularly. When I was having CBT it did help to try to postpone checking breast for half an hour, then an hour, building up to a whole day etc. by which time I had often forgotten where the strange sensation or feeling of pressure had occurred.

I have checked my breasts today and had a bit of a panic but my current main anxiety is with post menopausal bleeding although I have recently had a scan. I will post that separately as this is about you.

I do hope things improve. Contact me on here any time. I will do my best to check every day though I do have a lot of grandchildren and elderly parents making demands on my time at the moment.

All the best.

[KLP]

Just a suggestion, go for a private mammogram, about £250. With will ease your mind. And it doesn't need a referral from your doctor!