Breast Health Messages for 2003: Re: 27 With Fibrocystic Breasts

The reccommendation to have a mammogram and additional diagnostic ultrasounds at age 35 are within reason. While I cannot help with your fixation on your breasts due to your ocd, I think you are right to follow up when you do feel there is something wrong, but try to do this within reason and spend a few moments calming yourself and asking yourself if something really is new or unusual. Getting training in self exam, and performing it no more than once a month after your menses will help you get a handle on managing your breast problems with the needed restraint. Good luck. Hannah Brooks, MD, FACS

> Is it necessary for a 27 year old to have an ultrasound every year due
> to having fibrocystic breasts?( No doctor has suggested this to me, I
> just came up with that thought on my own) I am 27 and my mother had
> breast cancer when she was in her mid 40's. 2 years ago I was diagnosed
> with fibrocystic breasts.I went for a diagnostic mammogram and an
> ultrasound in 2001 which came back fine. Then last year in June i
> panicked myself and ran to the breast surgeon and got another ultrasound
> and exam and was told I am fine.But I didnt belive it, so I went to a
> 2nd opinion surgeon and he told me I am fine.I have severe ocd that
> makes me check and recheck things. Then in Sept 2002 I went for my
> annual gyn exam and he did my exam and said it was fine. I have ocd and
> when I get stressed I fixate on my breasts and doing self exams,
> sometimes I can even bruise my breasts. I become obsessed with lumps.
> I have noticed though that most, but not all, of the lumps have a
> similar type lump on the other breast. My ocd specialist advised me NOT
> to do the self exams in my case, b/c they only bring about severe
> anxiety for me, as well as running to the breast surgeon all the time.I
> was advised not to run to the breast surgeon all the time, b/c it is not
> my breasts that is the problem, it is my ocd and anxiety that is my
> problem. I had a stressful time recently and i wound up fixating on my
> breasts again, and thought I found something. But it moves around just
> like the other ones, and I cant even remember if they were always there.
> What is the likelihood of something growing large enough for me to feel
> now, in just 10 mths, even though my dr. examined me manually in mid
> september and I was fine, just my usual fibrocystic. The breast surgeon
> I went to last year told me that most cancers take 20 years before they
> can even be felt, and that is why women go for mammograms when they get
> to a cetrain age. My own gyn nurse told me that we wont be starting
> mammograms for me until I am 35, b/c that would be 10 years before my
> mother was
> diagnosed. Is this correct? I always go for my annual exam with my gyn
> and everything is fine. I am not on the birth control pill. I take
> luvox for my ocd and anxiety and I also a taking valium b/c I have
> worried myself so much.
>

Women's Insurance Checklist from Auto Insurance Quote

Enter search keywords:
	Returns per screen: Require all keywords: