The hypochondria cycle

It is so hard not to worry. Sometimes I get an ache in my leg and think, here we go again, it's on the move. Then ache stops and I forget about it. I lost the < less then on my last testing for psa. Yes very minor but it stays in the back of my mind, I go next week for monthly testing. I'm happy to read on here that slight increase is no big deal, happy but still concerned. I'm stage 4, dr said he can control situation and on we keep going. Best to all.

I’m Stage 2 but will feel a twinge in my back and panic that the cancer has spread and they didn’t catch it. The other day I felt pain in my legs and thought “OMG the radiation treatment has damaged my nerves and it’s a late side effect” then I remember yesterday was leg day at the gym. I think most of us with PC become hypersensitive to any change in our bodies no matter how small.

Yes. There's a stereotype that men aren't as well atuned to their bodies as women are to theirs. I don't know if it has a basis in reality, but if it does, cancer changes that fast.

It turns out this is called "Somatic Symptom Disorder" (SSD):
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/somatic-symptom-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20377776
From other sources, it appears that this is especially common in people newly-diagnosed with cancer, and it's tricky for healthcare providers because sometimes our aches and pains do genuinely mean something. According to the Mayo page linked above, here are some of the key warning signs that we *might* have progressed from normal self-monitoring to dysfunctional SSD:

- Constant worry about potential illness
- Viewing normal physical sensations as a sign of severe physical illness
- Fearing that symptoms are serious, even when there is no evidence
- Thinking that physical sensations are threatening or harmful
- Feeling that medical evaluation and treatment have not been adequate
- Fearing that physical activity may cause damage to your body
- Repeatedly checking your body for abnormalities
- Frequent health care visits that don't relieve your concerns or that make them worse
- Being unresponsive to medical treatment or unusually sensitive to medication side effects
- Having a more severe impairment than is usually expected from a medical condition

I hit a number of these during the first year after my diagnosis. I think it calmed down for me once I'd had time to establish what a new "normal" baseline felt like after the nerve damage from my spinal metastasis, and the normal pains of regaining mobility after a few months in a hospital bed. The Mayo page suggested seeking treatment early, or else there's a risk that you can get "stuck" in this.

Moderators: would you be able to edit the subject line to read "Somatic Symptom Disorder and Cancer"? After more reading, I realise that "hypochondria" is a pejorative term that's no longer used in the medical and psychotherapy communities.

Also, if you decide this thread would be more useful in the general Cancer forum rather than just Prostate Cancer, you have my permission in advance to move it (I'm fine either way).

Thanks!

Yes. In answer to your original question. In my lower leg. And it persisted for a while but no swelling nor lump. I'll see my Oncologist in two weeks and we'll discuss it then.
Thanks for asking this good question.

Always this is my third cancer had head and neck cancer and NHL stage four. Recently diagnosed with Gleason score of 9 prostate cancer. Saw a lump on my shoulder panicked again turned out to be nothing, but you need to be aware when something is off with the way you feel

I think men are just as attuned to our bodies as women, but we are better at being stubborn and worse at admitting something might be wrong.

“ It is so hard not to worry.”
Yes, still it seems helpful to forgive reality for what it is rather than condemning it for what it isn’t. Worry is a form of fear, and it is totally normal to have these thoughts of loss and the accompanying feelings. Resistance to reality has the potential to make us suffer. Acceptance of reality at the least has the potential to make it bearable, in my opinion.

"Somatic Symptom Disorder and Cancer," 3.8 years in, stage 4, umpteen hours of mental health counseling and I declared myself "Somatic Symptom Disorder and Cancer" free. Dang. My PSA started rising a few months ago and my "Somatic Symptom Disorder" returned. But it's different now. Why?
I've learned it's a vital part of learning how to live with cancer. Now, when it happens I give myself a pat on the back for dealing with it. It will happen again, I will deal with it, lessons learned in learning to live with cancer.