my story and concern

first i'd like to say that this is a great site and listenig toothers stories helped me realize not only am I not alone but not crazy.
I've been dealing with stress anxiety and all the stuff that goes with it for 7 years now and it hit rock bottom lately, to a point where I have driven my self and my family nuts, when this started I was in in the 8th grade, my father passed away the summer before and I have realized now that my symptoms are due to affect that the experience had over my mind, for years i dealt with the mental aspect of it such as dissasociaton, panic attacks, thoughts so on and so forth, recently i've become physically ill with symptoms that I think are deadly diseases and the more i dwell on them the more they come out.
2 months a go I went up north for 4 days and went golfing when i came back iwas a mess I had bumps on my lips that came and went, my elbow was numb and dry mouth...I thought i had mouth or throat cancer when that was ruled out, chest pains thati thought were a heart attack...ruled that out, then i built up so much gas in my system it was painful, i kept burping then when the doc told me it was nothing it went away, now my thing is lung cancer , It hurts wheni take deep breaths but usually releived when i burp...I lost my apetite but i still eat, then im tired . i've lost weight, that it scaring me even more ...my family and friends say theres nothing...my dr has told me theres nothing wrong with me besides anxiety so im back on effexor....but i still wonder how could this dr ruled out lung cancer by just listening to my chest and back and why am I losing weight any thoughts would be appreciated
i'm 22 and mixed up and scared

[Raine9]

Well, crazy chicken (haha), I like your screen name.

I couldn't help but respond to your post because I could identify.  First of all, the chances are slim to none that you have lung cancer because of your age.  The weight loss is most likely due to your lost of appetite and not eating as much as you normally do.  I lost a lot of weight after the onset of my anxiety.  While I ate, I did not eat as much.  I weigh about 105 lbs.  I had bad chest pain and severe shortness of breath several months ago.  I know now, that it was all due to anxiety.  

I've been where you are.  My father also passed away when I was young.  He died of cancer.  Six months after he died, my 18 year-old cousin was shot in the head.  Yes, a very bad year for my family.  These events messed me up.  I've always worried about diseases for as long as I can remember but the death of my father made things worse and I essentially became a hypochondriac.  All through college, I would worry about this disease or that disease.  I would rush to the doc's office every time I got a symptom.  About a year ago, I had an abnormal chest x-ray.  They found fluid in my lungs which my doctor called "consolidation".  This can indicate 3 things; (1) nothing (2) a type of pneumonia (3) a tumor.  I was scared to death. Long story short, it turned out to be a benign condition.  However, for a variety of reasons, I continued to worry.  My worrying eventually lead to physical anxiety symptoms.  I developed generalized anxiety disorder or GAD.

I am not currently on medication, at least not on a daily basis.  However, I don't believe that therapy or any medication helped me more than a book called "Full Catastrophe Living"  by Jon Kabat-Zinn.  There's a section in this book regarding "Acceptance".  I not only read this book but I internalized the ideas and I "accepted" the very simple and basic fact that I am human and not immune to disease.  When I did this, I felt much better and my symptoms lessened.  Nonetheless, I realize that this book is not for everyone and some people such as yourself need to be on medication.  And I appreciate that.  

Anyway, don't know if you'll get anything out of my response.  Like I said, there is most likely nothing physically wrong with you but I am not a doctor and if it makes you feel better, get a second opinion.   I do wish you the very best!  

[Tara41]

Hi, I can relate so much to your comments..I have suffered from anxiety for years, but the health issues started after my neice died about ten years ago.

My recent obsession is my stomach. I seem to have constant gas, and I found myself imagining the worst. Please try and trust your doctor..First you're probably loosing weight from stress and anxiety..I was also loosing weight and was sure i had colon cancer..

also i think if you had lung cancer your lungs would be noisy and that is why the doctor listened to them.(ofcourse even if they were noisy it still doesnt mean you have lung cancer) but there are many other symptoms...Our problem is that once we know the symptoms we start taking them on and make them worse with the anxiety...Maybe just get a chest x-ray to calm yourself down..or just let it go...If he suspected anything he would have done more tests..someone on this forum told me to trust the people around me including my doctor, no matter what my body is telling me...Relax and have a great day!!!

[elpolloloco]

thank you both very much for your input. its incredible how much the mind controls your health.
last night i had another scare....I guess I slept wrong but i woke up with the most painful shoulder pain that was transfering down my side and i could move my shoulder but it hurt when i took a deep breath..man did I freak out...right away "my lungs,my heart...everything...I live alone so you can imagine how scared i was....seems to be a bit better today.