Lung Cancer: I am so sorry for this

[sam1878]

Its me again....

I have a terrible cold and have recently given up smoking. Yesterday and today I am still having fears of having breast cancer, now I cant stop coughing and am convinced I have lung cancer

I was up most of last night and couldnt sleep but managed a bit but when I woke up this morning I had blood by my mouth and am convineced I have coughed up blood. I have had gums bleeding since I give up smoking so it might be that but I have spent the day forcing myself to cough and spit this into tissues to see if there is any more blood and trawling the internet for symptoms. My back is sore where my breast is painful so I have convinced myself I have metatasised cancer to my lungs from breast.

The diazapam the GP give me is not helping at all and I am at the end of my teather. I honestly feel like I am cracking up and cannot cope with this any longer. I am no longer hungry now and dont want to eat so I am convinced this is a symptom too

I am tempted to go to A&E but when I told my husband he just looked very upset and distressed.

I dread going to see my gP on wednesday I feel that they will just think "anxiety" and will miss all these symptoms

[RosieXXX]

hello Sam,

Don't be sorry for posting, it is good you can come here for support, and we are here to try and reassure you. I am sure the blood you had in your mouth this morning is something to do with your bleeding gums, and is not connected to your lungs. Also, sometimes when we have a cold the blood vessels in the nose become swollen and can bleed, so it could also be connected to that - even when we cough it is possible to for a little vessel to break. I know you are having a really difficult time with your anxiety, those of us who have suffered understand how desperate we can get; it is so diffiicult to find reassurance, because we are convinced there is something terribly wrong. Don't be worried about seeing your doctor, i am sure she will listen to you and will be able to help you in every way possible.

Meantime, please do not google, it always makes us fear the worst.

[sam1878]

thanks Rosie:
I am trying not to google and not to "self exam" so much. I have never been this distressed and have even rang the breast cancer helpline this afternoon for advice and they told me not to worry.
I just feel my GP will be annoyed by me, she just keeps saying my blood tests are fine
I just wish I wasnt having these worries or feelings all the time

[RosieXXX]

I don't think your doctor will be annoyed with you, she will understand you have been under enormous stress, and she will do her best to reassure you.
These worries are a terrible thing to contend with, not many people understand how dreadful it can be. I am glad you have found this site, because there are plenty of people here who understand how you are feeling. It is so hard for us to believe what people tell us - it is all part of the health anxiety. I think you will be feeling calmer once you have seen your doctor on Wednesday - please try not to worry - i know it is easier said than done.

[sam1878]

I am glad I found this site too
thanks Rosie for ur advice and kind words x

[smcc8172]

Sam,

Try talking to your GP about your health anxiety, if you can voice to her your feelings about how stressed you are about these things. She should be dealing with this and giving you reassurance, I am sure she will nto be 'annoyed' with you as having anxiety is as much a 'disease' as any other as it affects your quality of life.

But luckily anxiety is totally curable.

Take care & beleive me I have been there with the breast cancer pain in the chest thing - went away totally

[jojo2316]

My heart really goes out to you - your fears sound so like mine, and I can really relate to them. I do understand what you are feeling - and it is allconsuming and terrifying, isn't it?. Didn't you have an ectopic pregnancy recently? Did you have HA before that? It sounds to me like you might have post traumatic health anxiety, perhaps triggered by the ectopic pregnancy.

Breast cancer and lung cancer are my two big worries too (look at my previous posts on here if you want to see how nuts I am!). And I know it is soooooo hard to stop checking yourself (I've done the whole coughing into a tissue thing too - obsessively!!), but you must try to restrict it, because it makes you feel SO much worse, believe me. What a CBT therapist told me is that I should restrict the checking to one allocated time in the day, so that you aren't focused on it all the time. Easier said than done, I know!
I hope you feel better soon. Feel free to PM me.
xxx

Mine started very suddenly a year ago now (arrrgh!), after the birth of my son, which exactly coincided with my mother-in-law being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Those two things combined sent me into a tail-spin of health anxiety, which I am still trying to pull out of.

[sam1878]

thanks to everybody who has offered me words of advice and help

JoJo thanks for your kind offer of being able to PM you.

I spoke to my GP this evening and she has upped my anti depressent up to 20mg and wants to see me for review next week again.

She is thinking me going back to work sooner may help and stop me beign anxious and stressed out at home.

I felt so awful and tired today, just drained with anxiety and worry that I am getting sick of it all now, I just wish I would go back to normal and stop worrying all the time