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Thread: Upcoming Doctor's Appointment...Scared to Death!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
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    156

    Upcoming Doctor's Appointment...Scared to Death!

    So I posted a pretty detailed introduction on the introduction forum but I'm still worried about everything. Just to recap in case some of you haven't read my intro...

    I've been getting oral thrush since I was 18(I'm now almost 24) after a strong dose of antibiotics and throwing up immediately after taking one. I think that's what started the whole thing. Since then I get it about once a year when I'm really really stressed or antiobiotic of course. But the whole time the doctor's keep suggesting HIV....or just something wrong with my immune system in general.

    I have managed to keep my Internet searching under control the last few years but now it's out of control. I've been trying to keep myself busy and if I feel the urge to get on the Internet...I've been trying to turn here. I'm excited to be able to use the chat feature soon! Anyway...I've been with the same guy for 8 years and he was tested for HIV 4 years ago which was 2 years after I started getting thrush. He tested negative. I seriously don't think I have HIV. I know it could only take 1 time but there might have only been one or two occasions where I had unprotected sex and this was years ago, before I met my current boyfriend. I've never had a blood transfusion or anything like that but even lately I'm starting to convince myself I could have picked it up another way....like getting my nails done in the salons? Everyone who knows me very well...family and friends keep telling me to calm the heck down because I'd be the last person they'd think to have HIV. Or any other auto-immune thing for that matter considering I rarely even catch a cold. I bet I've only had about 2 or 3 colds in the last 5 years.

    I also came down with a skin rash that was driving me crazy(mentally...it didn't itch) and I found out it was Pityriasis Rosea(which calmed me down a LOT!). My new obsession this week is a slight sore throat. I also had the "lump in throat" feeling I've read alot about on here. I think the sore throat could be due to the dry winter air(we always have blood in our noses in the mornings here in the winter), a side effect of my anti-anxiety drug(Librax), or smoking. They changed our cigarettes here in the US to fire safe cigarettes and a lot of people are saying they are causing sore throats. So I've also now got an obsession with feeling my throat and lymph nodes around my neck and trachea over and over again to the point where they actually are sore and a bit swollen now.

    Anyway...I have my doctor's appointment on Wednesday afternoon and I'm just so scared that this is it. He's going to look me right in the face and tell me a week before Christmas that I'm dying because my bloodwork said so. Of course the normal part of my brain is telling me what is probably going to happen...he's going to say the bloodwork all came back normal and its all stress. That's what I want to hear!

    Wouldn't it be terrible to hear some awful bad news a week before Christmas? My holiday has already been ruined thus far with all my health problems. I just need to know that I'm healthy so I can get into the Christmas spirit already!

    Just tell me I don't have HIV, I don't have throat cancer, and I'm not dying of some auto-immune disease! Please

    Another note...have any of you ever gotten oral thrush from severe anxiety/stress?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
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    57

    Re: Upcoming Doctor's Appointment...Scared to Death!

    Yes - and just about every other symptom you have described too!

    Stress and anxiety lower your immune system and you catch minor ailments more easily.

    You will know for definite on Wednesday (trust me, I have had numerous medical tests and all come back negative) .

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
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    734

    Re: Upcoming Doctor's Appointment...Scared to Death!

    HI Girl Rock, sorry you are going through such a crap time. I myself have a massive fear of HIV and its what triggered my HA i constantly think i have it and even though i was tested for it a few months ago ( pregnant) i dont believe the test results are mine. I would think by now if you did have it you would have seriously worse symptoms not just thrush after 8 years you would know if you had HIV! i Keep getting ulcer after mouth ulcer and i googled it and it said HIV and that set me back a few weeks. :(

    You say the doctors keep suggesting HIV? did they just come out and say it? as i think that is shocking! Have you been retested for it?

  4. #4
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    Dec 2008
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    Red face Re: Upcoming Doctor's Appointment...Scared to Death!

    Yes they just come out and say it. The very first doctor I saw for it...I was on vacation and had to go to the emergency room because I just thought I had strep throat(I had just come off of a powerful antibiotic for bronchitis and figured it was just more part of the illness). After diagnosing me he pulled me into his office and said "This is something we normally see in HIV patients, however, I do not think that is the case with you." Almost like he just wanted to throw it out there for me so I know. He was a dingbat though...didn't treat me correctly at all. He gave me like 2 Diflucan and told me to come back in a few days(it was a week long vacation).

    Then I followed up with my family doctor at home who also brought it up. He just didn't believe that it was the antiobiotic that caused it. So like I said...once a year or so it would show up again and he'd keep mentioning it...that I have to be tested for HIV. But the last time I got it in August...he made the comment again and I said "Well I only getting it when I'm like stressed out to my breaking point or on antibiotics....I never just get it out of the clear blue sky." And he said, "Oh! Well that makes sense then!"

    But alas, that bout never cleared up properly and I ended up back in there in the beginning of December for the skin rash and mentioned still having a bit of the thrush. This was a new doctor now...a fill-in for my family doc. She's the one who finally said..."There must be something seriously wrong with you. Have you ever been tested for HIV? We have to do bloodwork on you." She is the ***** that ruined my Thanksgiving! I'm sure its written in my chart somewhere that I'm a hypochondriac, neurotic, head case! You don't say things like that to people like me! I even got upset and told her she was scaring me and she said "Well...I don't know what to tell you." As if she were already sentencing me to HIV and judging me for it.

    I also had a dentist appointment about a week and a half ago and mentioned the whole mess to her. She was shocked! She couldn't believe how everyone is scaring me. She said it is unsual that I am getting it so young because they see it mostly in older patients but that she doesn't think I have HIV! She said, "Kelly, in dental school they always taught us to look for horses before we look for zebras. Know what I mean?" I knew exactly what she meant. She said since she's known me I don't do anything right...health wise...she said about me smoking, not having a proper diet, too much sugar, etc....can all be factors toward the thrush also.

    Thanks guys! I kept checking this a lot last night then realized you all were probably in bed over in the UK! Thanks for letting me know that I'm not a freak for getting thrush. I've been on so many medical forums and they just make me feel weird too. I thought maybe if I asked some other anxious people, I'd see the relationship between the thrush and stress!

  5. #5
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    Jul 2008
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    Re: Upcoming Doctor's Appointment...Scared to Death!

    I had a thought afer posting - you mentioned thrush after anti-biotics - I ALWAYS get thrush after ant-biotics - don't know if that helps at all, but it's fairly common.

    Have they taken cultures for candida?

  6. #6
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    Dec 2008
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    Re: Upcoming Doctor's Appointment...Scared to Death!

    Yea its definately thrush. I donno about anyone else...but I just KNOW when I have it or I am getting it. Very distinct taste in the mouth and then my tongue starts to feel sensitive right away. I rem. the 2nd time I got it the doctor didn't believe me and I insisted he write me out a prescription for Diflucan and sure enough a week later I got a letter in the mail "Culture showed thrush" haha.

    I just hope it all turns out to be from stress because that will make me soooo less stressed!

  7. #7
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    Re: Upcoming Doctor's Appointment...Scared to Death!

    Please don't worry, thrush is a normal reaction to antibiotics. It's because antibiotics kill all bacteria, not just the bad stuff and then the yeast infection (thrush) can take hold. It is so so common so please don't fret over it. God knows what your doctors are thinking of saying things like that to you, it's disgraceful. Good luck with your results but I'm sure you won't need it.

    Fran

  8. #8
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    Re: Upcoming Doctor's Appointment...Scared to Death!

    I know but I don't just get it from antibiotics...I get it from stress too. But I guess it just looks to the doctor's like I get it for no reason. They don't know how I feel inside! My mind doing circles and "what if what if what if!" I haven't taken antibiotics for a while....mainly because I haven't been sick and if I were sick I think I'm never taking them again! I was on them last year for a lump in my neck(which of course I thought was cancer) for about 14 days....and of course I got thrush then. The lump/swollen gland never went away either...a year and a half later so I guess it was nothing. I think it was because I was working with someone who had just had a large lump removed in their neck and had to walk around with this drainage thing hanging out of his neck....so it made me start checking for lumps and bumps.

    So I can say that the 1st time I got it was definately from antibiotics. The 2nd time was because I broke up with my boyfriend for a few weeks, another time I got it when I was getting ready to fly and hadn't flown in a long time and hate to fly. Another time on the antibiotics(above) and then just this past August when I was a shaking mess over going back to school or not and fighting with the parents. Then a flair up again around November when I started failing my math class. The good news is that I've learned to recognize it and it never gets past my tongue now. Man those first 2 times I had it, it was the full blow horrible rotten sore throat and everything.

    I'm actually starting to think I might have a systemic form of candida. Like that one time I got it that started it all...it never quite settled down to normal. Oh wells...tomorrow is the big day...exactly 24 hours from now I'll be finding out with if auto-immune. Pray for me!!!

  9. #9
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    Apr 2007
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    119

    Re: Upcoming Doctor's Appointment...Scared to Death!

    Hi girlrock,

    I'm so sorry that you've been through a tough time with your health and the anxiety that goes with it! I think every single person on this forum can empathise completely.

    Just a couple of thoughts...do you take oral contraceptives at all? They can change your body's pH balance which in turn can favour growth of the Candida that causes thrush. I also know that Candida can be a real b*gger to get rid of from your body once you've had a bout of it and you can get recurrent infections - particularly when you are stressed because stress can lower your immunity. Or, perhaps the antibiotics have wiped out your beneficial mouth bacteria...how about trying some live yogurts or probiotic drinks? Some people swear by them.

    Finally, the HIV issue...it sounds highly unlikely that you have HIV. But you know what, I too had a mortal fear of HIV (unlikely as it was) so eventually plucked up the courage to have a test - it was a 15-minute test so no waiting a week for results - and it was negative. The relief was enormous. But as the guy who tested me said, it's better to know your status. Also if it's negative it's one disease you can cross off the list of things that make you anxious!!

    Anyway, I'm sure you will be fine and just hope you can find something to control the symptoms.

    Take care and let us know how you get on

    Anna. x
    __________________
    **********************************
    "And what happened last time?"
    "It got better so I stopped worrying."
    "There. You've just said it. It got better."
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  10. #10
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    Dec 2008
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    Re: Upcoming Doctor's Appointment...Scared to Death!

    Aww thanks Anna! You just gave me a huge confidence boost going to my doctor's appointment in an hour. Yes I do take oral contraceptives...for as long as I've been getting the thrush...interesting. I also smoke and have a terrible diet and eat loads of sugar and beer. I think that has a lot to do with it too. But I love those things! I'm not willing to cut them out. I'm fine with running to the doc for a quick script for Diflucan for thrush as long as everytime I go from now on he's not gonna accuse me of having HIV. *sigh* 1 hour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to have it over with! Knowing my luck they will tell me my results won't be in or something and I'll have worried all night and morning for nothing, ha! Thanks again

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