New fear (lungs), please give advice on what to do!

[Lana]

Hello all, and so sorry to be back.

Almost 2 weeks ago I developed a really weird taste in my mouth, bitter , unpleasant, and the food did not taste normal. Then a few days after that, that taste became sort of sweet, but very unpleasant. I did , of course, the worst possible thing: Googled. To have a bitter or metallic taste in the mouth had various reasons, but sweetish taste is rare and one of the , albeit very rare symptom, of lung C ! Need I say what happened next? After I read that I could not get rid of the taste and started panicking , crying, anxiety through the roof. The most interesting thing is the reason for why everything tastes sweet in that worst case scenario is that something triggers a syndrome called SIADH , which is diagnosed primarily through the metabolic panel test, because it severely reduces sodium in blood. So I made an appointment with my long time doctor, explained to him what was happening and what I thought, and since he knows me, he said : OK, let's do the metabolic panel immediately. He , btw, also examined my mouth, felt my lymph nodes, and listened to my lungs, which he said sounded completely clear. Since I suffer from hay fever and US east coast is horrible for that, especially this spring, he said that is probably the cause for my symptoms.

The metabolic panel test came completely normal, and actually my Sodium was close to the upper limit, so opposite from what I dreaded. He emailed me saying that the results warrant no more testing.

However, now I feel like I have to cough often , and my chest feels tight. I know that symptom of sweet and otherwise altered taste in connection to lung C. is not my case, because of my blood test result, specifically normal sodium. But I still cannot calm down , and keep on hyper focusing on both the taste, and now this dry cough. The taste is not sweet all the time any longer, but now I am worried about cough and a weird feeling in my chest.

I believe my doctor would not just let me go if he was worried about anything, but , knowing myself, I will now relentlessly ruminate and suffer until I get lung scan - which I even do not know how to ask for. Any friendly piece of advice is highly appreciated and thank you so much for reading my long post. I wish I did not have to do this.

[ckelley116]

Hi Lana, I'm so sorry you're going through this.

With your clear bloodwork, I think you know as well as we do that what you're experiencing - the chest tightness and the urge to cough - is because of your anxiety. Not only does anxiety cause muscle tension, you're hyperfixated on that area and any sensation you feel is going to be amplified. I get this often myself; I've actually been going through it this week due to my own current worry. While Googling is hardly ever a good idea for people like us, I think if you Google "anxiety and chest tightness" - those words specifically - you'll see that what you're feeling is completely harmless.

What helps me, although it's not easy when it already feels like I'm struggling to breathe, is taking slow, deep breaths. Especially the really satisfying ones where your diaphragm gets involved. In my experience that can help release the tension.

I hope you feel better!

[Lana]

Dear Ckelley, thank you so much for responding.

I would love this weird sweetish taste to disappear, I think everything else would disappear if that would l happen. What on Earth could this be from? Again, horrible pollen spring on East Coats, but I did not feel like this earlier years?

My husband claims that my brain is making me " taste" it. I do not know...

Shall I drop going to the doctor again? Did anybody experience something similar?

Thank you all again!

[ErinKC]

Have you tried an antacid? When my reflex acts up I can get weird tastes in my mouth from the acid. I don't always have actual heartburn - just the dry cough, tight throat/chest, etc... it will even make me short of breath. This would be the first thing I'd try and then maybe do a nasal irrigation with a netty pot to clean our your sinuses - I also live on the US east coast and the pollen is no joke at the moment and I would imagine sinus stuff could also affect taste.

[healthnut22]

My hunch is that the strange taste and the cough are both due to seasonal allergies like your doctor suspected. However, us lucky ones with these incredibly unique, anxious minds have a superpower where we are able to actually worry symptoms into happening or continuing. I can’t tell you how many times I have done this to myself. In my rational state of mind, I am able to see this. However when I am in deep with the anxiety, it feels so real and I am unable to even consider the symptoms being a manifestation of my OCD and anxiety. A few months ago, I was having what felt like severe changes to my vision. I don’t even know how that would manifest from anxiety, but it did. As soon as I got the reassurance from my doctor and then subsequent eye specialist that i demanded to see, my symptoms seemed to slowly fade away. I am guessing that you are doing the same sort of thing and hyper focusing on these little things and your mind is making them feel even more serious and significant. I’m sure your doctor would entertain giving you an X-ray if you asked for it. But I would also consider the radiation that you will be exposed to with that. I read recently that the radiation from these scans actually damages dna a great deal more than we initially thought. I say try and keep yourself busy for a week and do everything you can to put it out of your mind. If you are still feeling like you need more reassurance next week, contact your doctor again.

[Lana]

Dear Erin,
Thank you so much, and yes, I have the same symptoms which are worse this spring, but I know people who actually never had allergies and are suffering this spring! Tightness in chest, some dry cough, more likely from horrible pollen this year. I was actually told by ENT doctor last October ( not that long ago), that my heartburn is undetectable, just like you, and not to take antiacid at this point. So I am managing, but thanks again, your response helped me a lot.

Dear Healthnut22, thank you as well. Most probably these are allergies, I know. And our minds absolutely magnify everything. I know that my doctor of many years would not just let me go if he thought any other test was needed.

Next step: trying not to focus all the time on this.