I am 27, i have suffered with health anxiety for years which I tend to get bouts of. Ive been feeling fine for a few months up until this last month or so where it has returned and hit me for six.
I decided to become vegan after researching the effects of meat and dairy on health which frightened me so much having read about the link between meat consumption and breast cancer. Around two weeks later I found a lump on my breast , seen the gp who has referred me to the breast clinic but seems pretty sure it's a fibroadenoma (benign)
That reassured me but only for a short while. I have since had a constant mild headache daily (I don't suffer from headaches generally) so this is unusual for me, also been having pains in my shoulders which has now subsided but I have this constant pain in my back around the kidney location (again back pain is something I have never suffered with)
I am absolutely terrified I have cancer, either a brain tumour, breast cancer or throat cancer or a kidney problem. I have two kids and the thought of dying and leaving them without a mother whilst they are still so dependant on me is breaking me. I feel like I'm falling apart, it's taking over my life. I don't know what I'm trying to gain by writing this .reassuramce maybe? Support? I'm just so scared .
Hi there!
You must be so scared. First of all I'm not a medical professional but you're 27 and thats wicked young for breast cancer ESPECIALLY if it doesn't run in your family. In fact a women's chances of getting breast cancer before age 30 is 0.44% so that's less than 1%!!! Plus lets play worse case scenario- you have it, and if not breast some other cancer. The treatment they have nowadays is fantastic and cancer isn't as scary as it used to be. So breath. Everything will work out.
Hugs
-Brianna
Thank you Brianna. No I don't have a family history of breast cancer, in fact I am fortunate enough to not have a family history of any type of cancer.
I'm obsessive over what I eat beliieving that certain foods will be causing cancer or feeding a tumour if I already have one. I've woken up again with a headache. It has been continuous since last Friday now. I'm scared to take pain killers incase they cause cancer. I worry that if I see the doctor again they will fob me off especially because I've been diagnosed with health anxiety so my credibility tends to be poor and a headache is such a common reason for people going to the gp with it being a benign cause more often than not . I just know my own body though and this is not normal for me to suffer a relentless headache.
I don't know what to do, I feel like I'm losing my mind
Hi again!
You're very lucky not to have any family history of cancer! As far as your headache goes... excessive stress/worry can cause this.
I'm a cancer researcher by profession and can tell you with quite confidence that ibuprofen/Tylenol will not cause cancer- so please get some relief!
Also dehydration is a common cause of a lasting headache so please make sure you are staying hydrated.
You can't spend your whole life worrying about getting cancer cause the truth is that you might get it in your lifetime and you might not. But you can't let your life pass you by while being constantly worried.
I get the anxiety. My mom and grandmother had breast cancer so I'm ALWAYS worried about getting it. But I'm only 22 so I know this is highly unlikely, and since I have a predisposition I know what to look out for.
The truth is you're doing the best you can. Checking for lumps/ following up with your doctor. That's all you can do.
Hugs
-brianna
You are absolutely right about letting life pass me by worrying all the time. In my rational mind where My anxiety is at bay I always believe this ,but it's jus so difficult to apply this logic in the midst of it!
I'm sorry that your mum and grandmother had breast cancer.
Do you think my headache sound like anything sinister? It is more or less a constant but mild dull ache located at the front of my head. It isn't throbbing or causing a great deal of pain, but it's there niggling and it's constant.
X
Hi!
Honestly I think your headache is just a symptom of stress and anxiety. Again I'm not a doctor so please don't take this as any definitive diagnosis but anxiety can cause a great deal of physical symptoms, and being a fellow anxiety suffered myself I think that's all it is.
If I were you I would drink a ton of water, take an over the counter pain med, and get some rest. If the headache is still there in a week or so I would follow up with your doc.