Severe health anxiety after minor cancer diagnosis

[Noel1982]

Hi everyone,

First time posting here, been having a read of some others experiences here and its re-assuring that I am not going crazy.

About 2 months ago I was diagnosed with a small early stage skin cancer on my lower lip, have an appointment in 2 weeks with a surgeon to discuss options for treatment/removal.

Since this diagnosis, originally I was ok with it, I was shocked that at 39 years old, this was a reality I was facing but the doctor seemed really not concerned with the whole thing and said based off what it was, my options were to either wait and see if it keeps growing, or go see a surgeon to remove it. I immediately chose the surgeon, as the fear of something potentially life threatening scared the daylights out of me.

When I got home from work that day and seen my 15 month old daughter (our only child after years of IVF)and my wife, I fell into pieces and have not been able to really put things together since.

I have made the terrible mistake of googling this condition and the possible complications from it and that has made me extremely anxious, so much so that I have on multiple occasions, thought I have found something else in my mouth/lip and fully freaked out, so much that my wife had to spend the next few hours reassuring me that there is nothing there and if there was, the doctors weren't stressed otherwise you wouldn't have to wait for this long for an appointment.

On Sunday night, I think I had my first panic attack, I felt like I was having a full blown heart attack, or the cancer had somehow spread to my lungs (crazy right), and I ended up having to call 000 and go to hospital to make sure that my heart was ok, as I just could not calm down and get the feeling to go away. Needless to say I was ok and the chest X-ray was clear. This little excursion wasted the ER`s time and also cost me a great ANZAC day marching with my mates.

I have since had a skin check (no concerns there) and a dentist do a full check of my mouth and lips (again nothing found) and yet I still am terrified that there is something wrong..

After reading on here about health anxiety, I understand that this is what I have and that I am not losing my mind. It has been the worst month of my life and it has significantly affected my life.

I have some work to do moving forward but hope that once I see the surgeon and have a plan, life can get semi back to normal.

What have people here used as tools to cope with the waiting and the unknown when it comes to health?

[Gambit87]

Hi Noel1982,

Welcome to the forums!

What you're experiencing is fairly normal I feel! Especially when your confronted with something that could be life threatening. Whilst I've never experienced what you have, I do experience something similar!

I get my cholesterol and blood pressure tested a few times a year (because of high cholesterol and high blood pressure) and I get nervous as heck waiting for the results to see if they improved from the last set, is my risk of heart attack going to go higher etc etc

For me - Staying away from doctor google! You can google your diagnosis but you're going to get so many different pieces of information that will send you down the rabbit hole of worry!

Talk about it! Dont internalise it! I highly recommend talking to a psychologist!

Remembering YOU can only do so much! You got the tests, your doctor/surgeon isnt worried and you have a plan/waiting for a plan to move forward - you have done everything you can do at this point! remember you caught it early!

keep busy! mindfullness, relaxation.

this is just a blip and youre going to get through this 🙂

[Petal22]

Hi Noel1982,

Well come to our forums.

I'm sorry you are going through this I understand its hard.

I've also experienced severe health anxiety.

Id go to the doctor to have something check Id be told that everything was ok but id still obsess over it and catastrophize to the worse cause scenario my anxiety was very severe.

My intrusive thoughts moved from my health to other things I was stuck in a vicious cycle.

I was diagnosed with OCD, I have now recovered thanks to the health professional that helped me.

I also dr googled which was a very big mistake for me too, please stop dr googling.

You can practice meditation or slowing down your breathing.

Put your attention on your breath use it as an anchor.

Challenging our thoughts is useful.

I recommend that you make an appointment with your gp and discuss how your anxiety is affecting your life you can do a mental health plan together this will enable you to see a psychologist.

[Noel1982]

Thank you for the kind words and sharing your experiences, I appreciate it.

Gambit, I have tried my hardest to talk it out and not internalise it. My wife and work colleagues are fortunately great listeners and have been very supportive. The hardest moments are when I am alone or bed time at night when all the distractions turn off and it's just me and my thoughts.

Petal, I am going to go see my GP tomorrow and have a discussion.