Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

fearful of cancer.. but people say anxiety works like this....?

Recently, ive been having a lot of health struggles for about almost 2 months. It started out with me lying in bed, in the beginning of June, I remember lying there and feeling a lump in my throat, like I could swallow. I rushed to the ER, they said it was my uvula and that it was swollen (it really wasn't) and sent me off with some medicine. I went to the ER 3 days after that, and they tested me and also claimed it was my "swollen uvula". But, they also did a chest and throat x-ray, a swab of my throat, and some blood work, all came back fine. I then attended summer school, and had frequent panic attacks or "high anxiety" ever since. Then, I had went to a clinic (Early July) and they also said the same thing, they prescribed me claritin (didn't solve swallowing issue as I had no swollen uvula.) Later, (around the 10th of July) I got sick, I came down with green/yellow mucus, which lasted only 3 days. After a little while after the green mucus had stopped, I noticed I had a sore throat and my neck swelled up, my lymph nodes became palpable. Now, this is when I started to google my symptoms, from this day forward my "high anxiety" came with crying. A little after this, (last week) I went to an ENT specialist who felt my nodes and thought nothing of them, he thought they were no problem at all and told me how a sore throat can drain to sides of the neck, he also looked down my throat with a tube and found nothing of concern, as well as feeling my neck, he said he wants to see me back in 6 weeks and that it was all in my head. I felt relieved for about a day.. until I started searching again.... Now, fast forward a couple days, to Sunday (2 days before the intial post of this post), I noticed that my arms were aching and my legs were tingling (without pins and needles), and weak, and it also felt like they were on fire, along with this my hip was "the source" ( or aching most) of the aching. My arms still ache and it feels like the shoulders are the "source" of the aching. Along with this, I get little muscle twitches and ticks all over my body, usually they're concentrated in my legs and arms (the twitching is.) as well as my joints popping. Along with all this, it feels like im falling sometimes or that my head goes light, along with a feeling of nervousness in my chest (hard to explain. I also got constipated and hit with diarrhea, with a bit of swelling (not visible, but I can feel it). My throat is still sore and it still feels one side of my nose is stuffed and that there's mucus in my chest/throat (although its not green/yellow, its white or foamy, but definitely thick). My eyes also feel a little strained sometimes, everyone says these symptoms come from anxiety (minus the whole lymph node and sore throat thing), but im so fearful of having lymphoma, lukemia, thyroid cancer, or any form of cancer!! I fear that all these symptoms are really not anxiety, and that im dying or something, I just want reassurance that this will all end and i'll get my life back, but that feels so..afar.. I thank you reader that you've gotten this far. Please respond, and God bless you.

P.S: My groin kinda hurts (private parts (im male so take a guess what does)), my parents are convinced its anxiety, and refuse to take me to any more doctors.
I also lost my appetite and can feel my stomach growling or having that "hungry feeling" even after I eat. My muscles get like this even when im not hyperventilating, I trained myself to do that less.
2 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
973741 tn?1342342773
Gosh, it's hard dealing with anxiety.  You've had a doctor examine you several times and tests run.  Even the same diagnosis given by separate places.  Yet your anxiety won't allow you to believe this.  What about treating the anxiety? What about just deciding that Anxiety is the disease to be treated just like you would cancer?  It is, after all.  There are medications that work very well.  You are 16 and that is young and maybe medication is scary.  As a mom, I get that.  But a psychiatrist could help you determine if there is one or two you could pick from that are good choices for a young person such as yourself.  but also, and very important, intensive therapy where you talk about triggers, coping skills, etc. would be a must for you.  Go to skills when you are anxious could make an impactful difference on how it affects you.  So, I would consider accepting you have no other illness/disorder than anxiety but anxiety deserves the same treatment and attention anything else you are afraid of having would get.  good luck
Helpful - 0
3 Comments
I would just counsel great caution at age 16 taking these meds.  They're not so great for adults, but a 16 year old has a brain that is still developing and might never develop properly if you play around with your neurotransmitters.  That doesn't mean they're never called for, but it does suggest great caution is called for.  These drugs were never tested or approved for younger people, though it is perfectly legal to use them one you.  I'd strongly advise you to try and exhaust therapy and everything else before going to a psychiatrist, who can only prescribe medication generally given that most do not do therapy anymore.  Just my opinion.
Agreed, @Paxiled.

@specialmom Thanks for responding!

If you see this, i'd like to ask you if you'd know anything about palpable nodes in the groin.. I can feel about 4 or five in my groin. They're small and movable.. I also feel bloated In my bladder area, but I am also dehydrated. Any ideas on what this could be?
As a reminder, this forum is not to assess a health condition  especially when it is actually an anxiety driven concern. The topic and intent of this community is to address anxiety and any other discussions are off topic.  Thank you
Avatar universal
Your profile says you're 16, and a lot happens at that age that might have you freaked out.  Your life is changing fast, your hormones are raging, you're slowly moving from child to adult, sexual relationships are becoming more dramatic.  It's also a really really fun time in life, but a time full of change.  You've been to a lot of doctors who haven't found anything, which isn't to say nothing is wrong, but probably nothing is wrong.  You're really not describing cancer problems, but you might be describing nutritional problems  such as a lack of electrolytes, especially magnesium.  But I'm guessing something is going on that's really bothering you and brought all this angst up.  By the way, never ever Google symptoms.  Any symptom can be one of many signs of hundreds of disease states.  Google is only useful when you've got a diagnosis and a treatment plan and you want to double check if your care is the right care.  Googling symptoms will just drive you nuts, as it's doing.  If you can't figure out what brought all this on, and since doctors have ruled out anything physiological, and I'm not saying they're right, just that you've gone that route and done the best you could and because of your young age it's not likely much is really wrong, you might consider seeing a therapist to figure out why you've suddenly gotten so frightened.  When you do go back to the doctor for your follow-up, make sure they test you for all the odd things that can account for anxious thinking -- thyroid levels (not cancer), blood sugar imbalances, hormonal imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, but I'm pretty sure there's nothing going on but something in life that got to you.
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
Thank you for responding!!

If you see this, i'd like to ask you if you'd know anything about palpable nodes in the groin.. I can feel about 4 or five in my groin. They're small and movable.. I also feel bloated In my bladder area, but I am also dehydrated. Any ideas on what this could be?
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Teen Health Community

Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
We answer your top questions about the flu vaccine.
Yummy eats that will keep your child healthy and happy
Healing home remedies for common ailments
Can HIV be transmitted through this sexual activity? Dr. Jose Gonzalez-Garcia answers this commonly-asked question.
Do you ever wonder exactly what happens to your body during your period? Ob/Gyn Elaine Brown, MD, explains the menstrual cycle in-depth.
Is the PS3 the new Prozac … or causing ADHD in your kid?