Hello everyone,
I’m somewhat new here, posted before a couple of years ago I think but for the most part I’ve had my health anxiety under control so haven’t needed to look at this (very helpful) site.
However, for the past few months I’ve had symptoms that separately could be nothing, but together make me very worried that I could have lymphoma or breast cancer.
I’ll try to make this as short as I can, as I have a tendency to waffle...
Since the beginning of the year, I’ve had an on/off rash appear on the upper outer part of my right breast. It looks a bit like a sweat rash you might get on your inner elbow but it’s not that. It doesn’t hurt, itch or anything. It just looks red and slightly bumpy. I always notice it in the evening, when I’m having a bath and it’ll stay there all evening until the next morning when I notice it’s gone. It isn’t there everyday, sometimes it shows up a few times a week, other times it can be gone for a few weeks before it makes its next appearance. My doctor doesn’t know what it is, but she’s not concerned at the same time. She referred me to the breast clinic as I wasn’t sure if I was experiencing some discharge from that breast too, along with that breast being more painful (as a whole) than the left side, but in summary the breast surgeon wasn’t concerned either. She didn’t perform an ultrasound or anything, just a physical check and I mentioned the rash and she said it would be a skin issue not a breast issue. So I left it at that.
2 weeks ago is where I started to unravel... I saw a nurse after having some ear pain and finding a small but rather hard lump/lymph node right behind my ear at the bottom just before the skull “stops” and she told me my left ear is completely impacted with waxing she couldn’t even see into my ear, so I’ve been using Optrex hydrogen peroxide ear drops pretty much everyday to clear it. It hasn’t been clearing great and I have to have it irrigated tomorrow. The lump is still there, quite hard but doesn’t seem any bigger.
I also found out I have oral thrush in my mouth, after being swabbed due to me complaining about my lips constantly splitting and oozing this horrid clear liquid (it’s hard to keep lipstick on! I know, not important, but I’m trying to stay silly.) For some reason, after this, I found myself to be really really itchy. All over my body; scalp, ears, face, neck, arms, legs, feet and everywhere else! It has been driving me crazy. I think it’s worse when I think about it, and I try not to itch it in the hope it will go by itself. It sometimes feels like burning prickles under my skin, other times it’s quite light. My scalp and feet are where it feels deeper but that is probably the locations. It will be in one place and then go to another. Sometimes if I don’t scratch it feels like it goes only to come back half a minute later. Over the past few days I’ve had good days where it hasn’t bothered me too much, other days I notice it and it bugs me and makes me worry it’s lymphoma. My husband says it’s because I’m thinking about it.
Last Sunday, I went to bed thinking to myself “at least I’m not having any night sweats.” Well, guess what happened next? Yep, I woke twice Sunday night with sweat dripping down my chest, and anywhere I have “folds” (so like elbows, backs of knees etc.) The back of my hair was also quite wet. Didn’t need to change my sheets but noticed there was some damp patches where my neck and chest/back were. They dried somewhat quickly, probably because I kept feeling them to see how wet they were! Every night that followed, I awoke at least once with the same problem. The worst was Wednesday night. It got to the point where I saw a doctor (a locum who I’d never met, not my normal doctor who knows my personality) on Thursday. I led with the fact that I thought my health anxiety might have flared up again, explained briefly that I have previous experience of it, so to speak. He advised the night sweats were possibly hormonal. (The logical part of my brain had wondered this as I was due on last week and did start my period later on Thursday.) And he briefly checked my neck and ear lump and said I have no lymph nodes (which, and I’m not in the habit of mistrusting doctors, isn’t true, I’ve had the whole lymphoma scare before after my dad died 5 years ago and have some permanent nodes that are up on both sides of my neck, particularly the right. I leave them alone though and they don’t bother me, one of them I’m actually kind of fond of now for some peculiar reason.) He advised me to refer myself to CBT again (done it twice, don’t rate it to be honest.) and tried to get me to consider an SSRI. I don’t want to do this unless I have to, the last 2 types I was on both made me put on a fair bit of weight. But that’s a topic for a different day. One I hope I don’t have to consider.
Last night after my bath, I had a pain in my right armpit. Not the skin. Hard to explain. Checked and there is a lump that is quite visible. It doesn’t really feel tender to move but the skin hurts like a shaving rash (I think because I’ve kept feeling it all last night and today.) plus I do shave everyday. I have some “bits” in the lump that wobble a bit. Not as much as they wobble the other side though. I checked the left side too and while I can feel something similar there, it’s smaller and there’s not a visible lump that side. The right side I can see a distinct swelling, though the swelling itself isn’t hard. I can almost roll the flesh there like a bit of flab (yuck!) It’s definitely not been there before. I would have noticed it. I notice everything. All day I’ve been conscious of it being there, like it feels like it’s in the way. And thinking about it, I think my armpit had a pain there last weekend on the inside but I didn’t go checking. I had a basic blood test on Monday because of the thrush in my mouth. It came back ok the doctor informed me on Thursday. It has left a nice green bruise on my inner elbow though, even though the blood test didn’t hurt. Could the armpit have swelled because of that? Shaving? Do these things all sound coincidental or is that niggling voice justified? I’m worried it’s lynphoma or some weird breast cancer that’s been missed because I also had the weird rash appear yesterday again (was gone this morning as usual though.) I’m making an appointment with my regular doctor tomorrow but today has been horrible, I’ve lost my appetite all this week and my family think I’m looking skinny now. I’m trying to keep smiley for my kids and husband but I’m breaking down with “what if...?” constantly in my head. My ears and face are burning with the worry. The itching comes and goes depending on how much my subconscious gets the chance to think about it. I’m sorry, that was long after all. Any thoughts or good feelings are very much appreciated. Thank you for reading.
Love Letti xx
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He also said it could be hormonal or anxiety or any number of things, but considering my blood work from Monday, he didn’t see it to be a serious issue. 
