To visit the walk in centre?

[Sienna333]

The top of my bumcrack has a small white/flesh coloured spot on it and although it looks insignificant, it is stinging like mad and I can barely sit. AIBU to go to the walk in centre? I can't take a minute more of this and what's worse is that I am on my period :(

Ignore your mother.
An actual, medically qualified GP has posted on here to say you do not have symptoms of anal cancer, bowel cancer, pylenoidal cysts or anything else.
Run a bath, chuck in some table salt, sit in it. This will ease itching from any irritation, skin splits, scratches etc.
Please do seek medical help for your anxiety, because it's going to cause you this level of stress over and over again if you don't get it addressed.

I know you can't listen to reason right now but I'm going to keep persisting because I've been where you are and it was horrific. You have health anxiety.

You say your mum's reaction has made you more fearful. I'd put money on your mum being an anxious person too. I know from experience that's another contributing factor for developing HA.

You'll notice I'm not paying any attention to your sore arse. That's deliberate. The more attention you give it, the worse the fear.

When I was struggling I used to watch rubbish TV. Time Team was my favourite - nothing remotely health related that could trigger further anxiety.

Though it's probably a great injustice to call Time Team rubbish TV. It was wondrous.

Thanks for supporting me. I wish I could believe I just have something like internal piles or a stinging rash but can't make myself believe that. All I can think of is seeig myself updating that I have been sent for a coloscopy or other medical procedure and have an inflammatory disease or cancer. :(
It's truly terrifying even if it sounds irrational to everyone else.

Yes, my mum is very anxious too and it hurts me to see her worrying about me and does of course, bring up my own anxiety. I know she also thinks I have something chronic and hate the thought of her being up in the night worrying like I am. :(

Aww Sienna, bless you, it's hard right now but you will be OK. One of my rellies has diarrhoea a lot (for reasons that are understood and not dangerous) and gets cracks, blood and also yeast infections - all of which sting horribly. The GP needs to have a good look at your bot, but you must also explain very clearly how frightened you are and ask for help with the fear.

I don't want to insult anyone but I genuinely believe I am very ill and that people will be shocked when I come on here again to say what it is I have.

You were exactly the same on your last thread. Convinced you had all sorts of deadly diseases.

But it turned out just to be diarrhoea.

That may be linked to this though BeAlert

Thank you Gladys, I hope I will be ok x

I've got an inflammatory auto immune disease. It's damaged my body, limited my career choices, cost me jobs. I'm on a cocktail of 7 drugs including one that has to be administered at hospital.

And I can honestly say the health anxiety I had caused me more fear and distress than any of my actual illnesses ever have.

Having come out the other side I realise now that nothing can really scare me as much as my own brain. I guess what I'm trying to say in a clumsy way is that even if you did have something bad (and I don't think you do) from a fear point of view it probably wouldn't be as bad as what you're feeling now.

Please do seek CBT. There's a life that doesn't involve asking strangers on the internet if they think you're going to die, and I promise you'll be glad when you get there!

Did you know we lack pigmentation in that location of our bodies. Have you been on holidays or sunbeds where you have tanned? I found I had this after being on the sunbeds a few times and the doctor advised that the skin doesn't always change in this area when exposed to UVs.

Please please PLEASE see a GP or a therapist for help with your health anxiety

I have had pain exactly where you say and it was caused by a little scratch, and I can tell you know it bloody well hurt! More so when sitting down as the skin around that area stretches

I'm sorry but you really need to speak to someone about your concerns :(

Also reread what MadCatter has been posting, great posts you should take on board, she's right

I once scalded that area, just my bumcrack, in a camping shower. The pain was completely out of proportion. Could that have happened and it be a little blister?

My DS2 had a pilonidal cyst... it was nothing like you are describing. It was huge, swollen , angry and as he has autism he didn't mention it until he couldn't sit down. He is totally insensitive to pain so by the time he mentioned he was sore, it was awful. BUT antiobiotics sorted it ,

On the other hand DH gets very regular 'sore crack of arse' ..it's how he is built, and cycling, kayaking or any exercise makes it split. He just covers it with sudocreme.

I've shown this thread to my DD1 who is a doctor. She says you need treatment for your health anxiety but would bet her salary that you don't have anal or any other cancer. CBT is your friend here. It really helps.
I'm currently about to face treatment for what is very likely to be skin cancer (again... sigh, had it ten years ago) and honestly I'm not half as worried as you are because I trust the professionals looking after me, and when they go 'it's a squamous cell carcinoma not a melanoma' I go 'phew..'

That may be linked to this though BeAlert

No it's not.

Stop ignoring people. I have health anxiety but I got help and that's what you need to do too.

You can't just ask for advice repeatedly here and then cherry pick which posters you'll choose to believe because they're the ones that support your irrational hypothesis

Stop seeking reassurance - it's a vicious circle. Get professional help for ANXIETY. Stop talking to your family about it.

What did GP say last time you spoke to them about anxiety?????

THIS IS ALL ANXIETY. You need to recognise that.

"You can't just ask for advice repeatedly here and then cherry pick which posters you'll choose to believe because they're the ones that support your irrational hypothesis"

This. So much this.

What you're describing does not sound like a pilonidal cyst. My dp had one a couple of months ago and was literally in the worst pain I've ever witnessed and bed bound. It was easily identifiable as a cyst by medical professionals so I would trust the pharamacist.
I've had sore skin where you have before and I think it's just broken skin and of course where it is means it's so easy to irritate (clothes, sitting etc).

Op. Stop prodding and touching it. Painkillers and antiseptic cream until you can be seen by doc. A week isn't long for an abrasion in that area to heal if it's been touched a lot. You might need a different type of cream.

You have health anxiety, perhaps your mum does too? It's telling you there's something wrong. Of course any symptoms could be sinister, but the chances are, it's not something awful. You'll get this checked and then move onto the next scare. That's how ha works. It's horrible. There are some really effective treatments for health anxiety. Find one. Good luck.

Did you see your GP about your health anxiety after your diarrhoea thread? That's what everyone advised and you said you would.

Hi, OP.

I had severe health anxiety for years. I was so bad at times I could barely function. I went through a long period of believing I was going to have a heart attack and ended up crawling up the stairs so I didn't exert myself and die.

That followed by left arm pain that lasted months. The GP told me it was psychosomatic pain. It hurt like fuck, but he turned out to be talking sense.

I diagnosed myself with every cancer going and lived my life in terror.

I finally worked really hard in CBT and for a long time it seemed not to help, then suddenly it did. I had to work hard, I have to fight my anxiety often but I got there.

I was very ill with it, it ruined my life for a long while.

Get all the help you need. It can get better, you can stop living with this much fear. You need to get help and work hard.

People telling you to get a grip is not helpful. It's like telling someone with depression to cheer up. HA is often misunderstood and many people see it as an attention seeking thing when the reality is we are genuinely petrified every second of the day that we are seriously unwell. It isn't logical but it feels very real. I was scared all the time. Scared to even walk up the stairs. I couldn't get a grip.

Mine reached its peak when my children lost their dad to cancer. I was so scared I would leave them too and it made me mentally unwell. I am sure some people thought I should have got a grip because someone I cared for just died of cancer and I was actually fine, but the mind doesn't work that way. It's a real belief to us.

Anyway, I am the happiest I have ever been now. There is hope, there is a life without the fear. It's hard work, it's something I will always have to fight against. You can do it too.

OP, if you ever want to chat please feel free to PM me.

No. That's precisely the point, I didn't. The very thing health anxiety does is convince you that you're ill. You don't experience it as some vague fear, you really do believe it. That's what makes it so hard.

Yep. People would tell me that I knew deep down I was fine. If I knew deep down I wasn't experiencing signs of an impending heart attack do you think I would be scared to walk up the stairs, or go for a dog walk, or have a massive panic attack every time I had to go home? No.

It was bloody real to me. When one fear went and another was replaced I just convinced myself that I knew I was ill, but had the wrong 'diagnosis'.

It's why it took me so long to get the help I needed. The GP telling me it was anxiety felt like a brush off to me for a long time. I am not anxious, i'm bloody ill! Eventually I got to the stage where I realised I did need help for my mental health but it wasn't a quick process.

I have to confess I hardly pay any attention to my rear!!

Had bleeding with a bowel motion today. Feel sick.

So looks like everyone is wrong and actually, I am very ill.