Help me

I am 17 years old and for the last two years I have slowly felt my right nostril get more and more blocked every day, recently in the last 3 months I have noticed it become a lot more worse and a constant pressure is now built up in my ear, this blockage will randomly go away for around 20 minutes then come straight back to my right nostril, I have also lost a lot of weight since December that is unexplained however I do a lot of exercise such as walking an average of 11,000-15,000 a day and doing around 60 push-ups a day or two days so I guess that could be to blame. I do tend to over think things like this but I have googled my symptoms and have realsied I have 70% of symptoms realised to nasal cancer.  If I am being completely honest I have convinced my self before that I have had other types of cancer so this could be just me over thinking as I struggle with anxiety.  However I am too scared to tell my parents or go to the doctors about it incase I am dying, can someone please help me reassure my self that I am fine or atleast try help me get the convindnce to tell someone about my problem. 

 

 

  • Hi there ...

    There is no one here who can diagnose your symptoms ... only your Dr can do that ... you say you've had thoughts of different cancers which sounds like you have health anxiety....

    You really need to ask your Dr about help you can get for that ... it can ruin your life so get that help now .. and your g p can also look about your blocked nostril.... it could be lots of things and could be fixed if you see him ..

    This is a place for those with cancer and those caring for them... or being tested ... so it can not help your anxiety... so please get some help .. you could look up on a search engine for help with health anxiety..I know how debilitating it can feel ..... your only young so look for that help now ... Chrissie...

  • Thank you so much, even that has made me feel so much better physically and mentally. I do believe u suffer from health ane city after researching into it. 
     

  • Oh my love - you sound so desperately worried I just had to respond to you and to echo what Chrissie has said in her very thoughtful reply. Firstly, nasal cancer is very rare and most often affects men aged over 40. In contrast, blocked sinuses are very common and are caused by many things, the vast majority of which are totally benign.  For what it's worth, I permanently have one side of my nose blocked and have done so for years. However, I really think you should go to your GP because your are so anxious about your health. I can totally relate to this as at your age I was very similar. I would worry about having all sorts of diseases, mostly cancer, and convince myself that I had all the symptoms and be thoroughly miserable and unable to enjoy life at all. I would lose weight as the worry caused me to lose my appetite which in turn caused me to worry more...it's a vicious circle (and I didn't have the internet to fuel my fears either)! Please tell your parents or another adult you are close to that you have these anxieties as you need support to put them in some kind of context and to manage your worries. Like me, you will probably always be a worrier, but there are techniques or mediciation if your GP thinks appropriate, that will help you overcome your anxiety and keep it at a level where you can feel joy and excitement in life instead of worry and dread. As Chrissie says, being permanently worried and anxious about your health (or others, especially if you become a mum one day and transfer your worries onto your children's health) is debilitating and can really have a negative impact on your life and relationships. So please tell someone how you are feeling and get some help and support. Good luck - Clare  

  • Thank you so much Claire, I am constantly worrying about my health in every way possible and the peoples around me health such as my siblings , ever since I was around the age of 12 I have convinced my self nearly every month that I have a different type of cancer. I feel like this could be due to the fact a year or two before that I lost a younger family member to cancer. I would like to go to my GP but I have such a big fear that I am going to be told I am seriously ill and I am too scared to tell my family incase I put them through a lot of stress. I know this just sounds like I am making this up but I genuinely struggle with this on a daily basis until I have something that takes my mind of it, recently I stopped worring about my symptoms until my sister said I had lost a small amount of weight since January then all of my worry came rushing back. 

  • You are probably right in that the loss of your young relative has brought on this anxiety and I totally believe you about your fears of going to the GP or telling your family. However, as a mum who has children not that much older than you, I would be devastated to think that they wouldn't tell me if they were worried about something because they didn't want me to worry or cause me stress. Please believe me when I say that we would much rather know so we can give you the help and support you need - it would break any parent's heart to think of their child suffering in silence just to spare us stress. So chat to your family if you can - there's an old saying 'a trouble shared is a trouble halved' meaning sharing your anxieties can make them seem less worrying! Also, please don't worry about going to see your GP. He/she (if they are a good GP) will listen to you and help allay your fears. Health anxiety (or anxiety in general) is not that uncommon and they will take your fears seriously (such as dreading being told you are seriously ill) but help you to rationalise your fears. I've been where you are now and my heart goes out to you