Breast lumps/cysts

I'm looking for some advice please, I was referred to the breast clinic just over a month ago because I found a lump which the doctor was sure was just muscle but referred me for peace of mind. When I went to this appointment I had a physical examination and was told I was feeling to deep and that I was feeling my breast lobules and he also said I definitely don't have breast cancer, I left feeling a lot better until my recent examination where the outer part of my breast has a few lumps that feel different to the last check. I went to the doctors this morning and there was 2 young trainee doctors, the main doctor done the examination while the trainees watched, she said she could feel the lumps and said they feel like cysts, she told trainees that I'd be sent for a two week referral because they do with all breast lumps. But after she told them to leave the room she looked at my records and saw that I was sent to the breast clinic a month ago so she told me she won't refer me again. I asked why because she said she could feel these lumps this time and thinks they're cysts but she said because I was checked a month ago they would've felt if there was anything wrong. I got a bit snappy and said that the breast doctor couldn't feel any lumps and just told me I was feeling too deep. But now the doctor has felt these lumps and has already said she thinks theyre cysts but will not refer me again. She's told me to examine myself to see what they feel like so I know they're normal. Now I never had a scan done on my breasts so I'm so upset now thinking I could have breast cancer and just because I've had a recent referral that it's now going to go missed. Do I change my doctors?? I've been to the doctors a lot recently for multiple health problems and I think because of these they think I'm overreacting with everything. But it's not overreacting if the doctor herself has felt these lumps and told the trainees that ill be sent for a referral up until she saw that I recently had one. Help please I'm going out of my mind. She told me not to worry about them at all and that it's normal because of hormonal changes, she didn't even tell me to go back she just said to forget about them. I am 22 years old 

  • Hi [@ChloeJH]‍ 

    I'm sorry I can't give you the answers you are looking for, it is so hard to know what is going on with you, you know your own body and if this is something that is worrying you then it is natural to have all these things going on in your head.. I completely understand that complete devastation...

    When I was in my early 30's I was in and out of the Doctors on a near weekly basis, I was picking up virus after virus, infection after infection. On one appointment the Doctor who was a locum told me I had yet another virus, I burst into tears.... I was just wiped by this point and no-one knew why I was getting all these viruses, the Doctor wrote in my notes psychological problems, so everytime I then saw a doctor at the practise this is what they saw and treated me differently - thankfully one of the Doctors who knew me, knew my illness history removed it from my notes and they finally did figure out what was wrong with me, but it was a hard slog with many tears.....

    Because of your age they are unlikely to want to do a mammogram on you, the younger you are the more difficult it is to get an accurate image - I had a cyst previously in my right breast and it would have been left alone but it grew really large and was very uncomfortable, when the breast clinic aspirated it they found a fibroadema, which was just above the cyst, but I had no clue it was there, which they have left alone as it is not doing me any harm. There are things that happen in our breasts that cause us ourselves plenty of worry, but to the breast team, who see boobs a plenty day in day out, it becomes second nature to them. Sometimes you just want answers any answer is better than the not knowing. 

    I know that with me on checking my breasts now, it can be very fearful, after my surgery on my left breast for invasive cancer I couldn't bear to touch it or go near it, 8 months on I am able to check and understand the differences of how it used to feel to how it feels now. And of course the differences you might feel depending on the time of the month.

    As your Doctor said, when they feel something they do a two week referral - although at this time that time has had to be extended in some areas because of the influx of patients needing checks done. 

    I get that this has put you on edge and that you feel completely dismissed, especially since she was able to feel something. this has put you into more of a spin. I don't think you should change Doctors Surgery but this decision is yours and how you feel about the surgery, I am hoping that all your other health issues are being managed by the Doctors and that if you can bear to wait and watch to see if you notice any other changes in your breast, if you do then get back in touch with them and ask to be seen again, they are not going to mind. 

    Take Care, feel free to message me if you just want to vent. xx

  • Thank you for replying [@Kay-D]‍. I'm sorry to hear about your breast cancer diagnosis and I hope you're doing okay! I'm so worried about all of this and everyone in my family thinks I'm over the top about it, they see it as "you was checked by a professional a month ago and they found nothing wrong" but they don't see it how I do like how at the breast clinic nothing was found and I was told I was feeling too deep and could feel my lobules and now a month later I've had these lumps checked which have definitely changed in the space of a month and was told they think they're cysts but will refer me under 2 weeks wait, until she saw that I'd had a physical examination recently so then it was completely ruled out and I was told to check them when I'm home and get used to how they feel. I wasn't even told to come back In a month or anything to have them checked so I do feel completely dismissed. I just don't see how because I'd had a recent referral how that makes any difference when these are new changes to my breast. I did call another doctors and ask for their opinion and the lady actually told me to go to an urgent centre and have them checked there so they put through a referral demand to my current gp, she said it takes a week for the registration to go through and said she wouldn't want me to wait that long because then it would be another wait to be checked by a doctor again. Do you think I'm being over the top about this? Should I listen to my family and forget about them and realise they're normal?? I just can't stop thinking how they can't be 100% sure with a physical examination so I don't understand how they can just tell me to forget when I've already been told they think they're cysts. Im almost certain my doctors won't see me a again about the same problem. They're so snappy with me when I ask questions as well, I've got a small bulge type lump and the top of my shin so I quickly mentioned that to the doctor before I left and she didn't even look at me, she continued to look at the screen and told me it was normal and just muscle damage, without even looking or feeling it. I get treated like a child just because I suffer with depression and anxiety and it's horrible, every time I leave the doctors I come out crying because of how I'm spoken too. 
    I thought that breast cancer lumps grow slowly over years?? So I didn't know wether it was worth waiting a couple of weeks and checking again because they probably won't change in that short space of time anyway. I'm so upset that I'm struggling to cope now because I'm sure there's more going on than they're saying. Should I just forget about them for my own peace of mind?? I just don't know what to do anymore, I know if I go to an urgent clinic I'll be told it's not urgent and probably will tell me to keep trying my doctors, but because of my anxiety and recent referral they all talk to me the same on the phone like I'm trying to find problems that aren't there, when that's far from the case I don't know wether to believe that they're harmless cysts without further investigation ️ So sorry for long message I just don't know what to do 

    xx

  • Hi [@ChloeJH]‍ 

    As a Parent myself to a 24 year old daughter, I would never tell her to just forget about something if it was causing her concern. Unfortunately sometimes you don't get the answers from Doctors, somethings just get missed or delayed, yes they are professionals and have worked hard to achieve their standing.

    But there are so many things out there in this world that can affect us they can't possibly understand all of it all of the time and that s why general Doctors refoer to specialists who have dedicated their learning in just one field.

    Many years ago when ME / CFS known years back as Yuppie Flu first started being diagnosed, some Doctors believed in it some didn't, and it took years for it to be recognised, same as Fibromyalgia for years people were being told it was nothing and some Doctors believed and some didn't and now it is an umbrella category for lots of ailments. We live our lives and know our bodies and sometimes things just don't feel right or our bodies are telling us something is wrong. Unfortunately our bodies can decieve us, the brain is a magnificient piece of machinery, but it is a tricky character giving us referred pain and memory glitches and so much more....

    Some families just have tricky genes and they tend to be magnets to illnesses - again I think that is just the way of the world these days.

    Just because the Nurse or Doctor who saw you didn't say about coming back, that does not stop you from going back, a month would allow you to go through the whole ovulating and menstruating time and after all that has passed and you still notice lumps or if they have changed, grown or you notice any other symptoms then going back is the option open to you. I don't know if you would be able to put it to the back of your mind? most of us on here talk about waiting time to get results and how hard it is to carry on as normal and time going slowly. 

    Even when they found my Cancer and my surgery was set for the following month, it meant that not a lot or enough was going to change in that month that they needed to get me in sooner. so even though a month sounds like a long time to keep checking your breasts for changes it wouldn't mean it is causing you any wasted time to get things checked out, if that makes sense.

    There are plenty of us on here that suffer with depression and / or anxiety so your not alone in what your feeling it is OK to worry and be scared, just try not to let it all be a muddle in your head and focusing in on it. 

    Have you had any blood tests done through your doctors?

    Take Care xx

     

  • Hi I'm sorry for late reply, I have had multiple bloods done that I had to really push for, all normal blood tests were normal including full blood count. I've also got multiple lumps in my stomach and legs which no one investigated me for, they told me multiple lipomas. No one in my family has had them and I believe they're most common in middle aged men and obviously I'm 22 and female, I saw the doctors so many times and they ended up putting me on antidepressants saying my mental health is causing al this worry, when in fact the only reason my mental state has been suffering is because I feel like I'm being left. I asked for a scan on my abdomen which I was told I wasn't entitled too because they are just lipomas, it took for me going up to a&e 3 times of complaining with severe stomach pain to get a referral, I then spoke to my doctor and asked if it could be added to my notes about my lipomas so that they check for them too on the ultrasound (they was only going to check my internal organs, which is why I resywsted my lumps looking into) and one doctor told me that they will be able to detect lipomas at the scan. I was so happy to be finally getting to the bottom of it. When o got to the scan I asked the sonographer if she will be able to tell me what my lumps are and she told me that it wasn't on my notes and I would need to see a different sonographer for that as she only looks at internal organs. I almost cried before my scan because I waited 6 weeks for this referral only to not find anything out. (Apart from my organs all looked fine, which is obviously great but I wasn't there for that). I went back to my doctors and all they said is atleast the scan of my organs was fine. They refused to again look into it. I eventually rang up and sort of shouted tbh and said I'd done research and seen it could be dercums disease because I get lots of pain in my nerves not far from where my lipomas are( I also have them in my back dimples which is what I think causes my severe back pain). I was laughed at the first time but the second time I went for a face to face appointment I had an argument with the doctor and demanded further blood tests. I got the extra blood tests for autoimmune diseases and it came back slightly raised. So after pushing they're referring me to the rheumatologist. After this result I just cried and cried because it was like I knew my body all along when everyone (including my family) thought I was just a hypochondriac. I've also seen that ANA results can be raised in dercums disease, but also with some cancers such as breast cancer. Since finding these lumps I'm certain that I have breast cancer, I know it's a horrible way to think without having a diagnosis but It's like I've never been more sure on something. I went to urgent care yesterday to see if they'll refer me to the breast clinic and they said they can't but agreed that it was disgusting that the doctor herself suspected cysts and didn't refer me. I've called the doctor today and recorded the phone call (thank god I did!) so that if need be I could sent it to the gp and complain. She answered the phone very rudely and told me that what I was feeling was glandular tissue. Although 2 days ago the same doctor physically examined me and said I had multiple cysts, when I queried it with her al she said was "cysts was the wrong word for me to use, you don't need to be referred" I told her that if she won't then I'll be taking it further, after I said that she's agreed to refer me but told me it is not going to be urgent so may take weeks. I'm so glad I recorded the phone call because now my family somewhat understand what I've been going through, getting different answers from every doctor and them going back on their word constantly.

    im so sorry this is so long but thought I'd explain a bit more of what I've been experiencing

    thsnk you for taking the time to talk to me I really appreciate it xx

  • Hi [@ChloeJH]‍ 

     

    I have sent you a private message, you don't get notified of private messages so thought I would let you know here as you will get notified...