Please help me feel better/diagnose my random weird symptoms!

[Haggisfish]

Hello everyone
I have been feeling under the weather for a while with a feeling of 'congestion' in particular spots around my body - my neck, my groin and my abdomen in particular. I could never feel any raised glands or lumps, they just didn't feel quite right. I also have really odd sore 'spots' in my muscles - the same spot each time, on my thighs and arms. We had lots of friends round at the weekend and we all jumped in a hot tub together (nothing dodgy, I promise!) and the water was a bit grim the next day. Since then, I have got four glands sore and pea sized under my right arm. I have a weird severe pain (that I only feel when I lean on something or twist a certain way - it's definitely not muscular) in my upper left quadrant that I am convinced is either my pancreas or lymph glands there, and I also have a slight breathlessness that I am now convinced is caused by some large lymph glands pressing on my lungs. I really want my GP to refer me for an MRI - I am prepared to pay privately, but they keep putting me off. I went to them recently about an odd lump on my leg that turned out to be a slight hardening of soft tissue, for no apparent reason, possibly related to strenuous exercise six weeks previously.

Can you all come and reassure me and give me more realistic explanations!? I did go to the GP today, but had to see the advanced nurse practitioner who suggested a burst ovarian cyst, but then ruined my confidence in her by telling me my pancreas was on the opposite side to the one it actually is on...

Thank you if you have got this far and sorry for late posting - I am fretting away to myself!

Have you actually said the words 'breathlessness, sore leg and feeling unwell' to a health care professional? Because you really should. Asap.

Yes, I have - they did an ultrasound on the lump in my leg and it was an odd slight hardening of the soft tissue, not a DVT or anything like that.

Part of my concern is that I do worry a lot about my health and go to dr quite a lot about lumps and pains etc, but this just all seems a bit worse than normal. I'll go again tomorrow, was just after some late night reassurance that it's not lymphoma (Which I'm worried about!).

Haggisfish

I am so sorry you are going through this. I have to say that the health anxiety is speaking volumes in your post. I don't doubt you are feeling unwell etc but your mind is racing by the sounds of it with all the possible scary things. It's unlikely to be anything worriesome.

I have health anxiety. To the point of hysteria. I am on meds at the moment so this takes away the panic and fear to a controllable level. I have various ailments just now and still think I have cancer but it strangely doesn't affect me much day to day. As soon as I think the thought it passes. Weird.

Anyway if you want to pm I am here to hold your hand. I know the feeling of desperation when you feel the doctors are not listening to you xxxxx

I agree it sounds like anxiety. You're probably breathing difficulty or paying attention to breathing (air hunger!).

Most people, if their arm or whatever hurt when they twist it a v specific way they wouldn't do it!! It was probably just a random, normal bodily pain and now you're super aware of it. Try concentrating in your throat for five minutes straight and see how odd it/swallowing begins to feel.

If you had lymphoma your glands would actually be enlarged. Vague notions of them feeling congested sounds like anxiety.

The hot tub thing is odd - why are you linking the two? You probably just had a slight cold that you caught from somebody and am sure the water didn't make your glands go up.

Thanks for the replies. I have suffered anxiety for a long time and am generally aware of symptoms caused by it(vague aches and pains, slight breathlessness etc) but I know what you mean about the vagueness of congested. I linked to the hot tub because in yen morning the water was mingling because there wasn't enough chlorine in it, so I was a bit worried about a water borne human bug (as the hot tub was well aerated and at human body temp!). Interestingly, I mentioned this to dr and she said a similar thing happened to a colleague of hers! Anyway, she thinks the lumps in armpit are boils, not glands, and my stomach pains are getting less painful. And I'm def going to take happy pills again to try and stop being quite do anxious!!

Stomach/abdo pain was definitely not a normal pain, but I think it may have been a small ovarian cyst or a crampy tummy bug.

A lot of health anxiety is our minds trying to help us out. The mind is a 'meaning-making' machine. It needs a reason for everything. So it tries to link external events to thoughts in order to 'sense-make' our experience of the world. With health anxiety this is especially true. We might worry for days over a hot-tub experience (just to use your example) while happily picking up a chip that fell on the floor and eating it, or smoking a cigarette while obsessing about 'health'. So notice its only some things that catch our mind's attention not everything that could be 'dangerous' or a threat to our health. Do not believe everything your mind tells you. It is our brain and mind's job to link thoughts and events because that's how we learn. It is trying to do a good job for you, but sometimes what I call the 'Thoughts Police' do their job too well and our intellect links thoughts and events that may not actually be related...eg germs and Me Dying, that sore spot when I press and terminal illness, this small headache and a brain tumour. Really its about separation and loss and avoidance of uncomfortable feelings. We couldn't deal with separation from our loved ones, so our minds try to present every awful eventuality to us so we can be prepared for The Worst. Which is a worthy thing to be doing, but can cause us worry warts a few zillion anxious moments.
Self-compassion is a great help for health anxiety. 'I am anxious about my health because I am a good person trying my best. My mind is only trying to protect me from harm because separation from loved ones would be very painful for me and them. I am anxious about my health because being in the world with people I care about is important to me'.

So you spent several hours in a hot tub a lovely moist environment. Now you feel a bit shit, are a bit breathless and a few lymph nodes are slightly enlarged. I'm guessing you are not running a temperature, but most likely is mild self limiting viral infection contracted from hours in hot tub.

I'm running a slight temp but nothing to worry about (ha ha!). I feel ok in my head today-interestingly my period started today and the gp asked if the anxiety was linked to my cycle-I've never made the link before but maybe it is. I wish I was pregnant or bf again-bf was the best anti anxiety medicine!!