Results are fine - now what?

[sel123]

Well I finally got a face to face appt with my dr and she did a fully check of my underarm (could not feel anything) and assured me that the mammogram & ultrasound would have caught anything worrisome. She suggested I try physical therapy in case the pain is something physical. It just doesn’t feel like that to me but I’m not sure what else to do. Three drs have felt it and I’ve had the imaging done.

My anxiety has calmed down but the pain/sensation still lingers. I’m implementing my strategies and staying away from google etc.

it’s just frustrating to continue to experience this pain when there doesn’t seem to be an answer. Anyone else have a similar experience where the drs dont know what the issue is?

[NoraB]

it’s just frustrating to continue to experience this pain when there doesn’t seem to be an answer. Anyone else have a similar experience where the drs dont know what the issue is?

I have underarm discomfort on and off, and have done for years, but I have fibromyalgia and sometimes I only have to roll on some deodorant and it hurts. There's never anything visible or palpable with me, and my bloods are fine except for a few vitamin and mineral deficiencies - so it must be down to my condition.

With you it could be something as simple as a muscle injury - which can take months to repair itself. Think about what you were doing at the time the pain started? Exercising? Throwing overarm? Painting? Anything which uses those underarm muscles can cause a strain..

The main thing is that there is nothing to worry about, clearly, or the imaging would have found it and if imaging found the 'slight' inflammation deep within my buttock - you can be sure it's going to find anything under ya pit.

[pulisa]

What do you think is being missed here, sel? Is it the "unexplained" nature of the pain and the lack of further investigation that is worrying you? Would you prefer to have further tests? What would reassure you? I know it would be an explanation but maybe there isn't one?

[sel123]

Hi NoraB & Pulisa - thank you both for responding! You two give me so much hope with your wisdom. You’re right, the u/s would have shown anything sinister and all three doctors have said the same.

It is the unexplained pain which is driving me mad. I just had to take off my sports bra because it feels like whenever there is something close to my right armpit it becomes irritated and almost burning. I just don’t know what else to do.

Im no longer in my anxiety fog, have stopped going to sites that are feeding my anxiety and am engaging with life. But still the pain persists. My dr is at a loss and my husband thinks everything is fine and not taking this seriously. I understand his POV because over the last 25!years I’ve had my up & downs with HA for sure. I hate going to the drs but now I’ve done it, had the imaging, bloodwork etc but still no reason. My deep down fear is that it’s some type of cancer, if I’m being honest but I know the imaging would have shown enlarged lymph nodes.

I am seeing a naturopath next week as I was hoping to get on some sort of natural regime to help with my anxiety and I will talk to her too. She said she deals with all kinds of pain issues, so maybe she will have some insight. It’s been three months of this now.

Thank you again! This really is the only site I’m visiting these days as I find that the people here Really understand.

thx

[pulisa]

I've had a chronic pain condition since having pleurisy nearly 4 years ago. At first the GP thought I had shingles as the pain mimicked that but no rash developed and the burning and stinging continued. Nothing showed up on the MRI or bloodwork but my anxiety was really bad as I fought to cope with the pain alongside caring for my 2 adult autistic children.

Apparently it's the nerve endings which are irritated but the more stressed I am the more prominent the pain is. I've got to the stage where I'm really not bothered about it and have tried to make it a background presence. It doesn't play a significant role in my life. Chronic pain and acute pain are very different and you manage them in different ways.

See what the naturopath has to say and make your own decisions about whether her suggestions are viable? It could be a trigger point issue though Maybe have a look at this option? Trigger points are literally a right pain!

[sel123]

Thx for sharing Pulisa! Interestingly my therapist wondered if it could be nerve related as well. How did you go about figuring out that was the issue? How do they diagnose that?

[pulisa]

I actually had it diagnosed at a chronic pain clinic. I saw a chronic pain consultant and he knew what it was straight away. I also had psychological therapy for chronic pain management.

It may be worth you trying some ice treatment on the area? Anti inflammatories do nothing and I didn't want to go down the gabapentin route. I did try imipramine-a tricyclic AD which can be used for pain management at low doses-but it didn't do much and i didn't want to up the dose.

Nerve related pain is hard to treat with medication but I've been able to manage the pain better with specific exercises and treating it as a nuisance rather than a big deal.

[NoraB]

I just had to take off my sports bra because it feels like whenever there is something close to my right armpit it becomes irritated and almost burning. I just don’t know what else to do.

This could literally be down to something as simple as wearing a new (different) bra..

My deep down fear is that it’s some type of cancer

That's because you have health anxiety and HA only deals with worst case (and most unlikely) scenarios.

I am seeing a naturopath next week as I was hoping to get on some sort of natural regime to help with my anxiety and I will talk to her too. She said she deals with all kinds of pain issues, so maybe she will have some insight. It’s been three months of this now.

Great stuff. Orthodox medicine is great for dealing with disease of the body and it's excellent with physical trauma but it's pretty stuffed when it comes to conditions of the mind. Mind numbing drugs and CBT and that's the docs out of options, right? I'm all for a holistic approach with anxiety and GOOD ON YOU for being proactive! I wish I could see more of this on here. There's lots of symptom dumping etc but too many people just want a magic wand to be waved and they're Ok again..

Thank you again! This really is the only site I’m visiting these days as I find that the people here Really understand.

It is an awesome forum.

[sel123]

Just a bit of an update as it helps me to write things out. So I went to the naturopath today and it was great. We really discussed all my anxiety and she gave me some recommendations on some things to try and I was feeling really good.... for a few hours. You know what HA is like... a few moments of peace and then the 'what ifs' start.

My underarm has still been bothering me. I explained it to her and she suggested that maybe my recent weight gain could be causing the increased friction in my arm (I've gained 10 lbs in the last few months with all the stress eating) which actually makes a lot of sense to me as the sensations started around the time I was gaining weight. She looked at it quickly and didn't seem concerned and I was satisfied.

But.....(and here's where my HA kicks in!) earlier this week I started fixating on a part of my underarm which feels a little raised and then I noticed that when I flex my arm a certain way, you can see a bump under my arm. It's completely soft and again there is nothing under it - my GP just did a exam of my underarm three weeks ago - but I don't know if it's new. When I look back at pictures from a few months ago (I started taking pictures of the area a few months ago) I can definitely see the area, but I never tried flexing it, so I don't know if the bump has always been that visible and I didn't think to show her today.

Anyway I'm super frustrated and disappointed in myself. For a few hours this afternoon, I was feeling good and now the only reason I didn't go to urgent care is that it's Saturday night and everything is closed. It feels like I won't get passed this and now I'm worried again that it's 'something!'

[NoraB]

But.....(and here's where my HA kicks in!) earlier this week I started fixating on a part of my underarm which feels a little raised and then I noticed that when I flex my arm a certain way, you can see a bump under my arm. It's completely soft and again there is nothing under it - my GP just did a exam of my underarm three weeks ago - but I don't know if it's new. When I look back at pictures from a few months ago (I started taking pictures of the area a few months ago) I can definitely see the area, but I never tried flexing it, so I don't know if the bump has always been that visible and I didn't think to show her today.

Muscle, fat, or just your individual frame that you've never noticed before?

Stop taking photographs of your body. It's HA fodder. Go take pictures of the leaves changing colour. Or squirrels. Or whatever.

Anyway I'm super frustrated and disappointed in myself. For a few hours this afternoon, I was feeling good and now the only reason I didn't go to urgent care is that it's Saturday night and everything is closed. It feels like I won't get passed this and now I'm worried again that it's 'something!'

Reassurance from doctors should be the end of the matter, right? But it rarely is when it comes to HA because HA needs fear in order to exist. You have to learn how to challenge those irrational thoughts and to re-frame them. These thoughts will come. They'll always come, but the difference is in how we respond to them when they do come..

The human body isn't perfect. It isn't symmetrical, though a lot of people presume it is. We have lumps and bumps and fat can distribute itself anywhere on the body..

You felt good for a few hours? Great! Remember that feeling because you will get more of the same if you put the work in here, especially now when it's a lot harder!

Instead of beating yourself up because you 'would have gone to urgent care if they hadn't have been closed' to you not resorting to emergency care? That's a win with HA. There was another level here and you didn't go there, so well done!

You will get past this, but you have to work on those thoughts. Don't try and fight them. It's important that you allow them in. You just need to observe them and take them for what they are - annoying, attention seeking little blighters..