Can anyone talk me down….IBC worries

[Jam291]

Evening all,
Firstly I’m awful with words and wording things correctly so please bear with me.
I am a 31, recently was throwing the ball for my dog using just my arm rather than the stick I usually use and thought I had pulled my right shoulder muscle / pec muscle.
It was sore to move, touch and felt like a burning pain and swollen in my arm.
This was 4 weeks ago, the pain I thought was getting better.
HOWEVER,
Over this time my health anxiety has creeped in. I became obsessed with checking for lumps in my armpit/breast/side thinking something is more seriously wrong.

My symptoms are still the pain in my arm / pec, but the pain goes right across my chest. Pain in my right side ribs almost.
Both breast feel like a burning type pain but my right one is feeling it more so. My right breast has always been the biggest of them both however I’m convinced my right nipple is more thicker than usual.

In these weeks of just staring and looking I believe I’ve convinced myself it’s going to end up of a diagnoses of inflammatory breast cancer.
I even feel like I don’t even know what my breast should look like. I think also I’ve prodded and poked myself so much I’ve likely caused a little of the pain.
I don’t think I can feel any lumps,
I don’t have a red rash, it’s not itchy.

I am genuinely in such a state over this, Ive
spent most nights awake just googling and googling. Is anxiety causing the pain?
I cannot switch off.
I’m building myself up to phone the doctors tomorrow, but I’m so so scared of bad news, my children are SO young.
I am on birth control and definitely not pregnant….

Staying up all night on Google is making you unwell.

Anxiety does cause physical symptoms and exacerbates pain from injuries and prodding yourself. If you brought your central nervous system back into equilibrium, the pain would probably improve fairly dramatically.

You need to soothe your central nervous system not agitate it.

Close Google, stop prodding yourself, stop seeking reassurance, follow a good bedtime routine and bring yourself back into equilibrium.

How do you normally manage your anxiety?

Maybe you have torn a muscle in your shoulder or upper arm. I pulled banana apart and got shooting pain in upper arm. After xrays and mri they found impingement in my shoulder. Speak to your doctor.

I suffer from health anxiety and a few years ago I noticed in a changing room mirror that one of my nipples looked slightly different to the other. I fixated on this and soon afterwards I developed a horrible pain in that breast, a hot, burning kind of pain. I too was convinced it was IBC. My doctor examined my breasts and found no abnormalities at all. She suggested I try Sertraline for anxiety. I got the meds, took them home, read the info leaflet and panicked about the side effects they could cause so I didn’t take them. I went on for a few more weeks with this dreadful anxiety and horrible, burning pain before I got brave enough to take the meds. Two weeks later the breast pain was gone.
What I’m trying to say (in my very waffly way!!) is that my symptoms (which sound very similar to yours,) were caused by anxiety and yours very well could be too. You need to make a gp appointment and get checked out but breast pain alone is very, very unlikely to be caused by anything sinister.

I cannot switch off.

You can and you need to.

Prodding yourself until you cause more pain is a choice. You can stop doing that and you will feel better if you stop.

Staying up all night on Google is a choice. You can stop doing that and you will feel better if you get a good night's sleep instead of giving yourself fear and sleep deprivation (which makes anxiety worse).

Agitating yourself instead of soothing yourself is a choice. You can make a different choice.

You do actually have a lot of control over how you're feeling and you can change what you're doing to improve how you're feeling.

I'm not saying it would necessarily be easy but you do need to recognise these are all choices you can change and control.

If you think it is physical, get medical help.

If you think it is anxiety, do you have particular techniques you have been taught to manage when it is becoming worse? If so, use these - if not....

Some websites here might help:
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/anxiety-and-panic-attacks/self-care/
https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/feelings-symptoms-behaviours/feelings-and-symptoms/anxiety-fear-panic/

Genuinely, Thankyou for all your replies and the time take to write them. I needed them all. I wish I could just switch my brain off, everything just feels magnified.
The pain in my chest feels crushing at times from the anxiety….
You are all correct though.

I do plan to phone the gp tomorrow and get an appointment.
😓😓

Hi all,
Thought I’d balance this out to say I went to the GP today, who examined both breasts and said she couldn’t feel anything lumps or concerns.
She said I have high anxiety though, she booked me in two see her in two weeks time and if I am still feeling anxious will refer me to the breast clinic.
She did however comment that my breasts are ‘grainy’ but reassured me this is normal and both are the same.

Now to try and … relax 😩

Hi,
I also suffer with terrible health anxiety. It really can take over your life. I am going to the GP tomorrow because I have noticed slight dimpling on the side of my breast. I was at the breast clinic in July for a different issue and had a clear mammogram and ultrasound sound which should make me reassured but I'm terrified.

@Rf13
I’m sorry to hear you suffer with anxiety to, it really does take over you life!
I hope the GP appointment goes ok today xx