Stress Center Peer Support

I have always been real crazy over Christmas and have always loved butting Christmas lights up. I started getting very excited for Christmas about a month ago and i wouldn't wait but about three weeks ago i just felt less excited about and my memory for Christmas started to kind of go away. About a week ago i became sick not bad but just achy and had a fever. I came better about three four days later. When i was sick i found a bump about an inch from my nipple and i started to worry a little. I got it checked out but he didn't even feel it and said it was probably nothing and sent me home. I still worried about it. I read about tumors and saw they can spread so I looked up brain tumors on the internet so i started to wonder. I saw that I had most of the symptoms and got very scared. In the last two days I cant think at all, its still hard to remember things, I haven't been eating as much, my legs and arms are week and shaky, and i still have no interest for anything. I just want to know what this could be, anxiety or maybe it could be a brain tumor. Please help.

Matt -

Of course I can't know for sure, but it's most likely anxiety. Certainly have things checked by your doctor, but when they tell you everything is okay then it probably is. The symptoms you described are all common for anxiety and depression.

As for the lump, there are a number of causes that aren't cancer. Try not to jump to the worst conclusion; you'll only make yourself sick with worry! Again, it's always a good idea to check things out with a doctor just to be safe and to give peace of mind. But after you get a clean bill of health, try to let your worries go.

One last bit of advice: try to stay away from those darn medical sites on the internet! Don't get me wrong, they're great sites for information. But for people with obsessive personalities like us, they're also great sources for anxiety.

Take care,
Jamie