Hi all,
I've been freaking myself out off and on for the past few weeks that I have some sort of mouth cancer. I'm not sure what sparked this, but I do suffer from anxiety/depression--a result of PTSD from the military. I end up obsessively thinking about things and working myself into a mess.
In the military and since then I've used chewing tobacco off and on around 12 years. I also spent a few years in Iraq and Afghanistan where garbage is burned openly on base and I was constantly inhaling carcinogens. While in the military, the dentist would check for cancer and nothing ever came up. I quit chewing tobacco for good a few years ago, but will sometimes have a nicotine lozenge or nicotine pouch when I'm stressed out. I also drink a few times a week which I've heard can be another risk factor (Dr. Google)
For several years I've had this feeling like there's something caught in my throat. I'm not sure when it started. That feeling seems to intensify when I really focus on it, and sometimes it's not really there. I never really worried about it until recently. When I focus on it, it feels like when I swallow or breathe, only the left side of my throat is involved. Last year I looked in the back of my mouth and it looked like the tonsils on the side that was bothering me were larger than the others. It also felt like my lymph node below the jaw on that side was a little larger than the other. I also felt a tiny bump on my soft pallet on the right side and behind my second molar. I apprehensively discussed oral cancer with a dentist and he screened the inside of my mouth with one of those weird flashlights and special glasses. He told me my mouth was cancer free. That calmed my nerves for about a year, but recently I started using nicotine pouches again to help keep me alert while writing papers for my masters degree. That led to me researching more into whether or not nicotine can cause cancer, and down the rabbit hole I went. I stopped using the pouches, but now I obsessively concentrate on how it feels to swallow, keep poking at my lymph node, and continually prod that tiny bump in the back of my mouth with my tongue. I panic when I start to think how everything is happening on the right side of my mouth/throat. The logical me tells myself that it can't be cancer because my lymph node and tiny bump haven't grown in over a year, and the lump in my throat is likely due to anxiety. The illogical me thinks my dentist missed the cancer last year, and the cancer isn't growing outword but has been spreading laterally instead or the growth has been slow so I can't tell a difference.
Has anyone experienced these same symptoms?
Reply With Quote
