Brain tumour

[sugarsweet]

hi everybody.
mum is making me come on here although i really do not believe it's health anxiety i have! i think i have a brain tumour, i seriously am convinced. have been checked twice by opticians, and had my eyes and nerves checked in many hosps. i think they've missed something as i have most of the symptoms.
anyone else gone through same? or have same worry / symptoms of brain tumour?

would opticians have picked it up?

please help.
many thanks

[AntiLove_SuperStar]

What symptoms exactly?

I had grainy vision for ages, ("visual snow") thought it was a brain tumour, but nope. I have great sight and have had this type of vision on/off for years, usually when anxious. Anxiety can make your sight go wacky.

[TalkingHead]

Most of the time a tumour is picked up when either an optician or your GP looks in your eyes,they are looking to see if your optic nerves are swollen a condition known as Papilledema it is caused by pressure building up in the skull usually caused by a tumour,the fact that your opticians didn`t see anything can only be good as they would have sent you straight to the A+E if they did!

[ikimasu]

If there's one thing I understand worrying about, it's brain tumors! Every little thing worries me. Something weird happens with my eyes, and I worry. I type something incorrectly, and I worry. I get upset about something, and I worry. I feel tired, and I worry. Even seeing something in the news about brain tumors worries me (surely it's a sign )! And of course the feelings I get from panic attacks (like feeling like I might faint) scare me, which only makes the anxiety worse!

But I try to look back and realize some things. For instance, with my panic attacks, I can control them through various methods (laying down, distracting myself, etc.) - something I could not do were it a tumor. I also have to realize just how much anxiety can do. For those of us who deal with anxiety, it can be tempting to be convinced that something mental like that could not possibly cause such physical symptoms, but this is just us underestimating the power of anxiety. I also try to remind myself that I am exponentially more likely to have something mild than I am to have a brain tumor. I mean, what's more likely? That you are dealing w/ anxiety or that you have a brain tumor? Statistically you have well under a percent of a chance of that - it's like .001 percent of a chance or less, I'm pretty sure, and that's including all types of them - even ones that have simply spread from another cancer. On the other hand, there's well over a 1% chance that you'll have some sort of anxiety symptoms, or as a worst case scenario, a medical condition that is easily treated.

I know this sounds weird, but one of the best things most of us who deal with health anxiety can do is stop living in denial - we are not terminally ill!

[sugarsweet]

Awww thanks for such quick reply guys. To Anti_love superstar, my symptoms are pressure on my head and cheek, numbness and weakness in right side of body, dizziness, general fatigue and malaise, and tremors (well more feeling like im vibrating all day), with slight tremors in night time when trying to relax. Loads of these were symptoms of brain tumours when i typed in on Google, and stories of people's who's brain tumours were misdiagnosed for sinusitus (as my doc has told me i have) and it's just really scaring me. planning on paying privately for MRI Scan on 10th September and blood results are coming back on Wednesday.
I'm also going to counselling just in case it is anxiety

[ikimasu]

I regret that anyone ever started putting all those symptoms up of brain tumors online. One site I have seen has symptoms listed not even by doctors, but by patients who offer no proof that these symptoms were even related - they just think that they were. Why make something like that available to the public? What does it do other than freak people out?

A lot of things can be brain tumor symptoms, but all of the symptoms you just described can be related to anxiety as well, and again statistically, you're far more likely to be suffering from the latter than you are the former.

But yeah, do what you need to in order to get peace of mind. But just make sure you actually allow the results to give you peace of mind. This is one reason I've never asked for an MRI. First, the doctor has never been concerned about a tumor. Secondly, it might give me peace of mind for a bit, but not forever, and the cost would outweigh the benefit.

[anxious elephant999]

I too think i have a brain tumour even though ive had MRI which came back fine , my symptons are Constant dizziness that never goes away , tiredness, cant concentrate on anything , no energy, no motivation, strange things happen with my vision and so forth, everyone keeps telling me its just anxiety i just wish i beleived them then i might improve ,but im sure yours will just be anxiety ( Can give advice to others just cant take it myself )

[sugarsweet]

Thx for replies guys..
Mum is also telling me its anxiety as are docs, starting CBT (actually going to a session in an hour and a half) but i just really do not believe it is anxiety. I've got all the symptoms of a brain tumor :( and if it is not that then i know I'll move on to a different type of cancer (worse case scenario) cos i've never been sick like this before, and it came so out of the blue and has debilitated every aspect of my life seriously. Just don't know what to do. :'(

Getting blood results on Wednesday, if there is something seriously wrong will it show up in the bloods? Had 2 checks at different opticians, ECG, chest x-ray, checks to do with nerves, blood test a few weeks ago, urine tests, tests on my eyes, ears, throat, etc etc, also got an ENT appointment for 29th September. What's everyone think? Would a really serious illness have shown up already, or show up in bloods on wed?

Thanks to everyone replying it's really useful.

Sugar x

[cricketjar]

Hi Sugar

I have gone through all these tests too as i thought something was seriously wrong with me. It would def show up in your blood if something was seriously wrong as i have been told by doctors. i know its tough to believe them but you really have too. I was like you a couple of months back absolutely adament something was seriously wrong but all my tests came back clear. It is so hard to understand because like you mine was completly out of the blue and i fully understand that makes you worry more as it did with me. I lost alot of weight still struggling to put it back on which still worries me. I am better then what i was but the thoughts are still with me. I am now going about ways to treat my anxieties.

I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL take comfort that your results are coming back fine.

[Joeturner2]

if you look at all the symptoms of anxiety they more or less mimic so many other illness/viruses such as brain tumour, glandular flever, you get my drift lol, more then likely your just dealing with anxiety, i have so many months were i kept saying im not anxious so how can i have anxiety, my doctor just laughed at me and said yes your are anxious your worrying about your health and bam thats when it hit me