Health Anxiety - Part 4

[polkadotpixie]

I hope no-one minds me starting a follow up thread. I know some people were waiting for me to update so I thought I would but happy to ask MNHQ to delete if one of the long term posters wanted to start it 😊

They don’t get worse when lifting my arm but now I’ve just lifted my arm I can see a little dent just under my breast but I can’t tell if it’s part of a stretch Mark or not. Feel like I’m spiralling now :(

The lines are in the on the inside of my left breast

Try not to spiral, it’s probably just stretch marks. Can your husband see them too?

This appeared 1 week ago. No pain. Not aware of any injury. Got appointment tomorrow. Any thought?

Picture attached!

@Earlgreyandcake looks like a blood blister to me. I had one after I broke my toe, it lasted for weeks!

It's flat - I've convinced myself it's melanoma or some rare fungal thing I found on google. I do have atheletes foot and fungal nail. It appeared overnight so I'm hoping melanoma wouldn't appear so quickly

@mrswhites I will ask my husbands to have a look later. Are dents supposed to be visible in normal lighting and without lifting arms up?

Hi @Goolies sorry you are so worried. They do sound like normal breast marks.

Dents are caused by the tethering of skin to an underlaying growth, if your dents straighten out, ie the skin can be pulled straight, then I'm sure they're fine.

Thanks @Skyliner001 so now I’m acting really crazy, I checked a different mirror and used a torch and I think where I see the dent in the other mirror is the top of a stretch Mark, does this sounds feasible?

Stretch marks do look like dents right, when I whine about he torch on it it’s white but from the side it’s darker and wider

I could've written your post, I spent hours and hours about two weeks ago examining my best from all angles with the torch, and definitely things look deeper and darker when you shine from the side, or from above! It definitely sounds like a stretch mark, or just normal skin doing its thing, I found it helpful to shine the torch onto the bits of my body, and realise my skin is not smooth like a dolphin throughout! Sending thoughts, you're not going crazy, but it is almost certainly your health anxiety speaking on this occasion!

Thanks so much @Skyliner001 honestly I’ve had the worst day so far. I closed all the curtains as I thought my husband and son were going to be long shopping, he walked in unexpected and asked what I’m doing and I said I’m preparing for a cinema afternoon?! Couldn’t tell him I’m shining a torch on my breast for the last hour! Thanks for your reassurance it really means a lot

It's no problem! I was in the same loop about two weeks ago, so completely understand! I was in the bedroom after dark with all of the lights off, shining the torch!😬😳😎

@Goolies like @Skyliner001 said dimples usually get worse when you lift your arm up because they are caused by something pulling the skin inwards, if they look white they are probably stretch marks, mine look silvery in some areas and a more purple ish colour in other places. I’ve also been there with the torch before!

@Earlgreyandcake my blister was flat too! It eventually cracked and peeled away, it didn’t have fluid in it, apparently it’s just like a bruise.

Thankyou so much

Big achievement for me this afternoon...had a bath without the urge to check. I mean I was covered in about 2 feet of bubbles but still I’m proud of myself.

I have had a tiny bit of spotting this morning but this has happened to me before after sex when my period has not long finished. Finished on Tuesday and sex was on Thursday. A nurse has mentioned a cervical erosion to me too during smears so i’m trying not to spiral.

Hope everyone else is doing ok today!

Have failed miserably today! Been anxious must of the day and really tried to fight the urge to check but failed . I don't think there is anything there although my mind is trying to tell me different, I only had a few examination from a GP on Wednesday and don't think anything would of appeared since. I have taken a propranolol in hope that it helps! I bloody hate feeling like this.

Well done on your achievements. Maybe there is hope for me yet x

Amazing achievement @MrsWhites 💚🌈

@KAP232 I'm the same, had a setback today, but trying to get back on top of it now. Ended up doing a full breast examination, with some obsessing about various areas of concern. Trying to be good now X

Well done @MrsWhites what a huge achievement! Trust me I know how difficult it is, I dread having a shower or bath and it’s my shower this morning that has set me off!

I get spotting if I have sex a few days before mr period is due and after it ends. I try to keep those days off bounds now as it causes me too much stress even though I know why it’s happening!

Hi everyone, hope you’re all well. I understand what you all mean about the constant needing to check. I’ve had a bad day today and I’ve went from convinced I have cervical cancer to now being convinced a have ovarian cancer as my stomach is really swollen. Also can’t stop checking behind my right ear, it feels lumpier than the other side and I can’t stop prodding and comparing sides. Hoping for a better day tomorrow once I can finally nod off and I’m back at work on Monday after being off since December due to lockdown so I’m hoping this keeps my mind busy.

@Earlgreyandcake how did you get on at the drs. My son had exactly the same thing on his foot which fell off after a couple of weeks x

Appointment is this morning. Phone consult through medical insurance. Did your son remember injuring it? Mine just appeared

Morning, so woke up at 4am panicking for no reason. Tried to resist not to poke but I couldn't so I did a full check and wrote a note in my phone to say I had and that all was ok. I am now going to try and not check again and if I feel like it then read the note on my phone. Hoping my kids keep me busy today being Mother's Day and aren't glued to their iPads .

Happy Mother's Day everyone!!!

Sorry I missed the start of the new thread. I hope everyone is coping ok? I'm having a horrible week, my reflux, IBS and chronic tension headaches have all flared at once and have had them since Tues constant which makes my anxiety shocking so I'm then obsessing about heart rate, blood oxygen, temperatures etc on top of the pain, nausea and stomach cramps 🙈

@Skyliner001

Sorry for another of my random questions, but this has been making me wonder recently. Out of all of you who suffer from health anxiety, who finds that they want to avoid the doctor, and that tests really really scared them, and they will do anything to avoid that? And who prefers to go to the doctor, and get the reassurance and have the test. I've always been someone who tended to want to avoid the doctor, I think because of my previous lymphoma, so it's just massively triggering.

I'm somehow a mixture of both. I go to the doctor when I'm really worried even though it's usually nothing but most of the time I try to convince myself a doctors appointment is not necessary as I don't want to either embarrass myself or hear bad news.