I really really need some help

[CodyG]

K guys, try to help me with something. I've had some neck pain for about a week and a half. I finally talk myself in to going to the doctor. I have very bad health anxiety so all I have been thinking is that it is lymphoma. I went to the doc yesterday and he didn't act concerned at all. He did a strep test and an X-ray of my sinus'. Both came back negative. My lymph nodes are swollen and I asked him about that and if he thought if it was cancerous. He said he couldn't tell me no without more test but that he didn't think it was. There was nothing that felt like cancer there. So he gave me a script of antibiotics and told me if it didn't get better, to come see him in a week. He knows how bad my anxiety is and when he was walking out he said "don't worry, you will be fine." but I didn't get the piece of mind I need because he didn't diagnose what was wrong with me. I have been freaked out really bad for the past few days. I don't have any symptoms of lymphoma but no hunger. But I am sure that is from all the stress I am putting my body through. People don't understand the hell you go through with health anxiety.

[hopeNfaith88]

Hey cody!

I too have very bad health anxiety and driving anxiety - today i drove myself to the doctor for my appt it was really liberating :)

I understand your fears. My sister had hodgkins lymphoma when she was 16 and i was only 11. Its probably the best cancer to get if one could pick because of its very high survival rate. This started my HA at a young age. It was a very scary experience for my whole family. However, she had bulging lymphnodes on her collar bone and groin area. Not just swollen, but im talking a golf ball under her skin in appearance. Tha scares doctors because that is not normal for glands to stick out. The other lymphoma patients in her support group also had freak glands like descibed above. However, it is very very normal for your lymphnodes to swell when you are sick for millions of illnesses, since the lymphatic system is what fights infections. I am someone who gets tonsilitis on the regular. In fact i just had it about 3 months ago (too scared to have tonsils removed due to anasthesia fear but damn i really should!) my neck was fat and swollen on the sides underneath my jaw. I couldnt swallow. But i tested negative for strep because as i found out my throat infection was caused by staph bacteria (strep isnt the only nasty funk you can get in your throat lol). So dont be worried simply because you tested neg for strep. It is very very rare that you have lymphoma. You could have one of the millions of harmless things even just a little cold or even mono if youve never had it. When i had mono i jus had swollen glands and felt tired all the time.
Part of HA is that we tend to not trust our doctors because we get ourselves so worked up. But you have to realize he has gone to school for years and is very educated. If he saw something that concerned him, he would do something about it. You should be at ease that nothing about you was out of the ordinary for him :) i know its hard but just trust him and take the antibiotics. Also stop googling! About a year ago i was dizzy from anxiety and i had myself convinced i had optic neuritis, MS, and a few other things because every new sensation i felt i googled. Lol I like to laugh at how ridiculous i can be from health anxiety! Did he do any blood work on you?
Also just a side note, antibiotics prescribed for upper respiratory problems (like a z pack) cover a BROAD spectrum of bacteria. So whatever it is, itll knock it out. Try to get some rest because like you said stress could also be it. When we stress out our immune system weakens so maybe you picked up a lil virus that just needs to run its course. You can have some confidence in what im saying as my dad is a family practice MD who i have tortured for years to gather this info from. Im not pulling it out of my ass i promise you

[CodyG]

Thank you! It's so hard to not think about it. I am living in constant hell. This has ruined the last 2 years of my life. I can't shake it. CBT didn't help. Now this? I am so terrified of getting a life threatening illness. It has taken my man hood it seems like. Everyday it is something new.

[alankay]

You likely have a common bug. Folks get that kind of thing all the time and your immune systems will clear it. The odds of cancer compared to that of a bug a tiny. Swollen/tender glands are common. That's how your lymph node make the killer cells and filter blood etc. Try to recognize your anxiety as anxiety not a real/other illness like cancer. Alankay

[brittany09]

I don't have health anxiety,but I know what it's like having a panic attack from thinking something is wrong with your health. I've had one because I had a leg cramp and thought it was a stroke. I've had one spraying my apartment with bug killer because I thought I inhaled too much of it and it was going to kill me. The thing is,that when your anxious it is easy to jump to ridiculous conclusions that make no sense. Just about everybody jumps to these weird conclusions when their levels of anxiety are high. Your mind has gotten into the habit of immediately thinking you have some disease. That process should be worked on. Everyone can beat anxiety. No one person is doomed to it. Did you have GAD and or panic attacks before you had health anxiety? I'm not an expert,but I would guess you had regular anxiety to begin with and developed a bad habit. Also,trust your doctor! He is a doctor after all :)

[CodyG]

I had a few panic attacks before I started with the health anxiety. But doctors miss things all the time. I guess I will make an appointment with an ENT and see what they say. I can't handle this feeling of being out of control anymore. It's putting my family and girlfriend through way too much stress.

[mamad]

Totally understand. Feel alone though. Past month was rough. My daughter is being pushed out of her fathers house-they moved the baby in without telling her and found out by walking on the room. Divorced 8 years ago. Still hurts. Living in a state I hate because I came here for his job. Miss my family. My friends. I have a job that pays low but they work around my schedule if I have school meetings and things. My "boyfriend" is lazy and rude. He wasn't that way before I moved in here. I just had angioplasty in December. I can't have people over. Now my daughter hates herself and is trying to hurt herself. I told the school. Yesterday it took 45 minutes to get off the couch because of an attack. It sucks.