Anyone ever thought they had a brain tumor?

[Hgolden]

Hi guys,

So my health anxiety tends to come in rounds. Recently, I've thought I had a brain tumor. For a while, I was able to narrow my infrequent headaches and what not down to the fact that I lift and have a straight spine in my neck region; however, I found that having a straight spine in my neck can also be a sign of a tumor (thanks, WebMD). I've also been experiencing blurred vision every now and again.

I've gone to my doctor and he never even ran any tests because he was positive I don't have any sort of cancer.

Has anyone else gone through something similar with headaches and what not?

Any help or advice would be great.

Hannah

[pink83737]

Yes, I’ve been through the same thing as you but doctors know best. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about if everything came back clear!

[EleanorRose]

Yes, yes, yes! It's a truly awful and debilitating worry to have. I have had the brain tumour fear since October 2006 (that's not a typo - over 12 years now.) It gets worse and better - at the moment it's not too bad, other times it has been horrific. Over the years, I have found myself to have pretty much every symptom , even obscure ones, but I am still here to tell the tale. The more you look for something, the more likely you are to find it.

Headaches are very, very common and many have no cause at all. I know how tempting it is to google and how easy it can be to believe what you read but it really is so unlikely that you have a brain tumour. Something which reassured me once was thinking about how internet search engines work, the websites which come up first are those most frequently viewed and searched for - more people google headaches looking for brain tumours than anything 'boring and simple' - search engines have no medical knowledge - they do not bring back results based on what is most likely. That said, you are, of course, well within your right to seek the opinion of a different doctor if you aren't happy with what they said but this sounds very much like your anxiety is taking you to a worse case scenario which is unlikely to be the reality.

If these sorts of worries are common for you, perhaps you could speak to your doctor about help for your anxiety?

[Hgolden in reply to EleanorRose]

Thank you!

My fears generally jump around from a variety of different cancers - lately it has been bone and brain cancer. It really is so exhausting though.

I am going to make an appointment Monday to see a doctor and get my eyes checked also. I've been on anxiety medication before but I wasn't a fan. I felt so unmotivated which was the worst because I was finishing my senior year of college. Maybe I could try something else.

[emilyxb in reply to Hgolden]

Hi I worry about this too my health anxiety and panic attacks are so debilitating Ive been diagnosed with agoraphobia too because I can’t leave the house I keep having headaches tiredness and at the moment bad dizziness like I’m in a boat and depersonalisation. I’ve had blood tests chest x rays seen loads of doctors and been hospital so many times for my panic attacks but I still believe I have a physical illness like cancer

[Maisie1]

Yes big fear. Doctors tend to know the signs better than google. Try and trust him I know it’s difficult

[Teamleo]

Yes , for 2 months now , I’ve been to the doctor over and over and they can’t find anything wrong.