Search the Community

I'm 23 years old and have smoked cigars occassionally, smoked cigarettes occassionally (sometimes chain smoking them) and used snuff for a period of 5 years or so. Ive smoked the cigars and cigarettes for maybe 3 of those years. Lastly for maybe the last year or so I've done some mild to moderate drinking once or twice a week. The major part of my tobacco usage was the snuff, with the worst of my habit being in 2014, when I was consuming up to half of a tin a day. Since 2014 i cut back to maybe 2 to 4 dips a day, some days i would not use at all. About 10 days ago I quit cold turkey due to reading some rather frightening material about smokeless tobaccos effects. I'm now having some severe anxiety over what I've potentially done to myself and may even be dealing with some hypocondria type symptoms. I've been to the doctor as of Wednesday with some neck pain, earache and a feeling of one side of my throat, like my tonsil area, feeling swollen when I swallow & told him for the first time about my tobacco use and he claims my mouth tissue looks very healthy. He looked into my throat and felt my neck and did not find anything suspicious but did not scope my throat. My throat isnt sore nor am i hoarse or anything like I'm horrified of what could be as I cannot tell if my symptoms are real or imagined, I've been googling non stop about it and I'd like to ask anyone that could help me with this, what are the odds of cancer of the throat or someplace like that given my past usage tally??

Does anyone else get really paranoid about all the health warnings around drinking alcohol? I’m a 34 year old male and am supposed to have no more than 21 units a week and no more than 3-4 units on any one day, however I reckon I’ve regularly drunk more like 30-35 units a week since the age of 18 and still do from just going out once a week and maybe having a couple of other drinks throughout the week with 3-4 days where I don’t drink anything so I’ve started to become terrified I’m going to develop mouth, throat or oesophageal c****r any day now. What I want is to just be able to go out and enjoy myself like all my friends do, but I’ve downloaded an app called Drink Aware where it invites you to log all the drinks you have and then gives you warnings etc. but it’s just making me feel 10 times worse as I can’t seem to get through a week without being told I’m putting myself at risk of scores of deadly diseases. I try to talk to some of my friends about it but no one seems bothered, so I feel like I’m being overly worried or paranoid and wish I could just let go but don’t seem to be able to. Anyone got any insight/advice?