major problem

[densy88]

My bf is having issues. He is convinced he might have throat cancer or something related. He says he feels tension in his throat and annoyance whenever he thinks about it or after he smokes. He says he feels like his throat or maybe the tonsils are inflamed, and sometimes tastes something strange when he swallows. He's 18 and he's been smoking since he was 14. He never smoked a lot of cigarettes but mainly hash and sometimes marijuana. He doesn't have respiratory problems or anything of the sort. I personally think it might be psychological especially since he feels the irritation whenever he THINKS about it but he wants to be sure if these signs could be the first symptoms of throat cancer or something similar. He got a blood test around 2 months ago and the results were normal, there wasn't anything wrong at all, apart from a very slight excess of 'lymphocites'. I don't think that means anything. Anyway, he thinks about this quite often and it bothers him so I wanted to ask people here before he decides to go for another check up. It would be really helpful if anyone here who perhaps has a history with throat cancer or throat diseases or anything throat-related could give me some general information and opinion about this case. Thanks.

[Tenuis]

I'm sorry, I can't provide infos about cancer...but I can provide info about anxiety disorder with the focus on being convinced to have cancer because I went through therapy because of it and am still a bit struggling.

The thing is: if docs are not worried, then usually the patient doesn't need to be worried either. Docs are VERY careful (except for the few black sheep). And if a blook test says nothing special, then he can be almost completely sure that there is nothing wrong with him.
You get never 100% certainty in medicine, no doc will ever tell you he is 100% sure because he can not be 100% sure. But he can be 99,999999999% sure, and that really is enough.

The slightly higher lymphocytes could mean that he has got some kind of cold (he did not even need to notice) or a little wound or some unimportant internal inflammation. Actually, it shows that his immune system works and that is GOOD news. It would be horrible if it didn't.

I know the symptoms your boyfriend shows. I went through exactly the same although I never smoked. All the odd feelings and then touching the throat and it keeps feeling worse and worse and also that he always feels it whenever he thinks about it, are a good reason to think it is rather anxiety (disorder) than any real illness.

You have done a good step already by checking if he is ill or not.
The problem is to avoid getting into a circle. If ONE doc says, it is okay, then he should learn to accept that and not worry so much anymore.
Perhaps he will always worry more than other people. The world is full of people who fear little (they often get injured but dare a lot) and there are also a lot insecure people. They are hardly ever noticed because nothing happens to them because they are so deliberate and careful.
Important is that your bf does not start spending ages at docs. An important signal for you and him to get to know how fearful he is, is when he does not trust any docs or tests anymore and even tries to go to another doc to have it tested again there.

One thing he could also do, but I am not sure if it works because it depends on how strong his fear is, is trying to notice that his throat feels okay whenever he is relaxed or does not think of it.
THAT, not whether, but that. For example, he could find out that his throat is okay all day and then at this and that time it was not feeling okay. Then he tries to remember. It might turn out that he has been, for whatever reason, been nervous at that time or experienced something he did not expected. This can be harmless things such as not getting what he wants or a new situation he did not expect.
He then can try to remember that all day he did not NOTICE his throat, which means it's okay, for the other times he has found explanations that are more likely than cancer.
The "globe feeling" in one's throat is also a very common symptom of nervousity and also any kind of being strained.
However, I am no doctor and this method of trying to find out the reasons and times when his throat feels odd, could be a lot too early for him!!!

If he continues being afraid and/or goes a lot to doctors and/or his anxiety make it difficult for him to live and let live easily, he should really talk to counselor and maybe get a therapist.

It's good that he has checked whether he is ill or not.
It was not weak of him to do that!!! It was sensible.
Some people need this assuredness, some don't and he will find the dose he needs some time in his life, too.
It just should not get out of control and he should trust the tests and docs.

It could also help him to find out with(!!!) a doctor or counselor or therapist, not alone, more about the illnesses he fears and how likely it is for him to have that illness.
You say he is 18 and he has been smoking for 4 years.
Well, firstly he is male and 18 years old. The risk for him to have any kind of cancer is about its lowest point currently. I am not kidding. The age in which the risk for being ill with blood cancer has had it's highest point in childhood and will even get less in his early twenties - and the risk for other kinds of cancer has not yet begun for him to get high.
He is in the, let's say, most "healthy age" currently.
He is also a man, that means that such things as breast cancer and any kind of typical woman's cancer doesn't have to bother him.
He has been a smoker for four years. That's not good, as smoking never isn't. But since he already had a test made at doc's and they knew he was a smoker, they surely took that into consideration and still they don't see any point to worry about him. So his smoking for four years, did not make him be ill yet. Of course it is best for him to quit smoking altogether but the smoking he did until now has not had any horribly bad effects such as cancer yet.

If he should start fearing other kinds of cancer as well, it could help to find out, AGAIN WITH COUNSELOR OR DOC, about the symptoms and if they apply to him. He will see that they won't in the most cases and when he is unsure the doc will test it and then it's okay.
He could also find out how often the "regular check-up" should be for which kind of cancer. As a man, I guess, (I'm not sure since I am a woman) he does currently not need to have any kind of cancer checked, as, as I said before, he is in the healthiest age possible.
When he is about 30 years old I guess he should start having his prostate checked ever, whatever, years or so.
It would be helpful to ask the doctor about which cancer shall be checked at all and how often.

He will also have to learn that life is, well, never completely out of risks and that he might perhaps get one day a bad disease, be it cancer or not, as well as it is likely that he won't get it. AGAIN, a counselor should be able to help him with that.



I am sorry it became such a long entry.
It contains the most important information I got from being in therapy for more than half a year to beat my fear of any kind of cancer and other silly illnesses.
I wish him the very best.

What you can do, is, to accept his state. Tell him when he overdoes is but also be there for him and comfort him, whenever the panick gets him. Tell him the facts, repeat them together: The test was negative. He is not ill.

*hugs* to you.
I have got a different role, I was the one with anxiety and still am. My bf learnt to live with it and so can you, and I bet he will not always be like that. He will be able to learn how to cope with it, if he gets help the counselors will teach him methods what to do when his body parts feel odd, how to react to fear and will also help him to build his personal attitude towards life's uncertainty's.

Good Luck! *hugs*


PS: I am no doctor and I can't provide any 100% sure info, I can be wrong, too. But if you have any questions you would like to ask me anyway, feel free to pm!

[RacerGirl]

maybe he just needs his tonsils removed. I used to get a swollen throat and couldn't breath sometimes and that was the problem. I got them removed and i don't even get sore throats anymore when i get sick. but it was constantly before i got them out. like ever week or two they would be swollen and inflammed. and sometimes like a funny mucus-y taste. like he said. but you should have him get it checked out. good luck.

[densy88]

thanks a lot to both of you! it was reallllyy helpful, i swear. i appreciate it greatly.