Cause for concern? Or am I just going crazy?...

As someone who suffers from anxiety, it mostly sounds like anxiety to me.  I recently had a three month period of various aches and pains that didn't go away but held off contacting my oncologist because I couldn't decide if I was exaggerating things to myself or if I had mets, in which case, I wasn't sure I wanted to know.  When I finally saw her and mentioned my symptoms (back and hip pain), she ordered an xray mainly for my peace of mind.  It turned out I had some degenerative changes (i.e. arthritis) which they consider normal at my age (59).  By the time I had the xray I had worked myself into a major state of anxiety and when I got the results all of a sudden I felt so much better physically and mentally.  I think stress can make you feel bad physically and my advice would be to ask for the scans or whatever other test you doctor thinks might allay your fears.  The stress can be very harmful to health if it goes on for a long time.

I think alot of cancer patients go through what you're going through so I'm sure your oncologist is used to helping people in your situation.  

One thing I was surprised that helped me were relaxation tapes by Belleruth Naperstak.  Here's a link to them online:  https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/health/care/!ut/p/c4/FcpBCsMgEEDRs-QAwyAkOnYXor1Ca3eDGVIhahCbXr8Nf_f4-MJ_hc-0cU-18I5PDFFKl3bjz5oqnGmVio_rOxpvmTGUCpHjWy7j1lPcBYPz1iyT86Ct1qCUVzDb0QERTUYZM95pwSNn-s7D8AN76O4U/.  She has them for all different situations, including cancer and anxiety.  It's often good to listen to them at the end of the day so you can get a good night's sleep.

Here's a short one on YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhTSaNwnip8.

I hope you can talk with your oncologist soon because I think you'll feel so much better after getting things checked out.  My lesson from my experience was not to wait to express  my concerns to my doctor.  By doing that, I caused myself alot of unneeded stress.

Take care and let us know what happens.

Adelaide

I also suffer from anxiety and unfortunatly this BC journey had added to it. So much that I seem to always have symptoms of something that could be mets. The strange thing is that once these symptoms clear up and I start to feel safe again, new ones crop up! As an exampleI was convinced that I had colon cancer during chemo as my bowels were in such bad shape but now they are fine and I no longer worry about that. Unfortunatly that has been replaced by other fears. I think many woman that have been through what we have are plagued by these fears and concerns. I find it very helpful to connect with other women on these boards and realize that I am not so crazy after all. I am just recovering from something very traumatic. Gentle hugs!

I just stumbled upon the posting. I know I am your worst nightmare because I did have mets. However, I also know what it is like to struggle with the anxiety part of things. Some people are just hyper-sensitive to physical sensations, and I think that breast cancer can tend to magnify that. Not only are we attuned to things, but at every visit, we are asked the standard questions making us survey whether we have experienced pain, neuropathy, falls, etc. As was said to me, just because one fluke thing happened does not mean every other time you hear hoofbeats it will be a zebra. However, I think any reasonable MO realizes the tendency to feel this way and will do reasonable things to alleviate some of your more realistic concerns. For example, I had headaches while on Tamoxifen and was sent for a brain scan though I was told that she was sure it was the Tamoxifen, that she did it for my peace of mind and to move on treating them for what they were (rather than brain mets!). As for the Tamoxifen, I had migraines with it. The neuro symptoms that you are describing (including the olfactory hallucinations, word-finding difficulty, and difficulty concentrating) can be migraines, and I know first-hand that Tamoxifen caused me migraines. I've also been told that regardless of our normal temperature they don't consider upper 99's a fever and that menopause can cause temperature fluctuations. Obviously you are young (as am I), but the hormonals are messing with our body and thermostat (thus hot flashes, night sweats, etc.). Enough of my rambling, but what might be helpful is to bring your list to your MO and jot down the course of action for each consider (i.e. monitor for certain period of time then scan if no improvement, etc.). For me, it always helps to know a plan and then I am more at ease with the not knowing because I know they will be addressed as needed. Good luck!