Lung cancer fear

[Scarlett777]

Hi everyone. I am new to this forum and am so terrified. I have been coughing for years - sometimes a dry, hacking cough - often a tickle in my throat. I am a smoker (33 years old) and have had three chest xrays - the most recent in January, along with a full blood count. All fine. Since then I have been coughing up phlegm tinged with blood and the other day just spit with blood. It's not spoonfulls, just streaked blood. I think I have a slight discomfort in my chest as well. I am so afraid that I have lung cancer. The coughing up blood every few days has been around since about January. Sometimes I cough up other dodgy looking phlegm too. Please help me. I am so afraid. so so afraid.

[Annie0904]

It could be a bad chest infection but I think you should go to see your doctor and have it checked. You may need antibiotics.

[Scarlett777]

I have been to the doctor and my chest sounds fine he says. I also always feel like I have phlegm in the back of my throat. I am going crazy with worry.

[Annie0904]

Did you tell him you are coughing up blood?

[Scarlett777]

Yes - he wants to send me to a chest doctor. I am so scared I have lung cancer.

[Annie0904]

Don't jump to the worst scenario..it may not be anything to worry about :hugs:

[andrea15]

The coughing up blood happened to me. Please feel free to read my posts. Drs and A and E said very unlikely to be lung cancer though Im a smoker, 42. I didn't listen and pushed for a privately funded ct scan. They found no tumour but two indeterminate nodules. I have to have a rescan in 4 months so now one fear has been replaced by another. My symptoms went away but I still had the ct and I wish now Id listened to everyone who said it wasn't likely to be cancer.

Coughing up any amount of blood needs to be evaluated but lung cancer is rare at 33 unless you are a very heavy smoker.

You will find lots of support here

X

[Scarlett777]

Thank you Andrea. It has been a very scary time for me and I am so tired of worrying. I am panicking non stop these days and been on sertraline for ten years. Doc gave me diazepam yesterday to help with the anxiety. I don't smoke that much - about 15-20 a day. is that heavy? Mostly roll ups as well.

[Fred Speed]

Hi Scarlett,

I just wanted to say that I have had exactly the same fear as you since Christmas and seeing that horrid advert on the telly. I am 32 and smoked fairly heavily from the age of about 14 to the age of about 30 and I was terrified that I had lung cancer.

I didnt really have any symptoms to start with but then the more I thought about it the more symptoms started to appear.

Anyway, I went to see the Doc who assured me that I would not have lung cancer at my age and that I was just making my 'symptoms' worse by obssessing over them.

I'm now taking Sertraline and also on the waiting list for CBT.

I have got much better and low and behold my symptoms have dissappeared. And we all know that with the big 'C' symptoms only ever get worse. I have however been left with this irritating feeling that I need to deep breath all the time which is in turn hurting my chest and making my wind pipe sore! I've just got to get out of the habit.

Anyway, you know in your heart of hearts that you haven't got lung cancer so just try to focus on that.

Hope that helps.

Christina x

[Scarlett777]

Hi Christina,

You have really helped me today. I feel so much better after your post.

I kind of know I don't have it and since I have decided I don't have it I don't seem to be coughing up blood - but I always seem to wait for that one time that I might.

I have been on Sertraline since 2002. I stopped it last year (August) and in December my world fell apart and the anxiety kicked in with a vengeance. I am now back on Sertraline and also on the waiting list for CBT. Have you been on Sertraline for a long time?

Lindsay

[Fred Speed]

That's good then, at least my ha has helped someone!

I also meant to say that the spitting up blood thing could be from bleeding gums which we all get from time to time.

My chest is really uncomfortable today - really tight :(

Anyway been on 50mg of sertraline for 3 weeks and just upped my dosage today to 100 mg so we'll see how I go.

I was on citalopram before for a couple of years too.

glad to have helped x

[Scarlett777]

I had the chest thing for a while too - it was really bad one day ... every instinct told me to phone the doc. I even tried - couldn't get an appointment. Somehow it just went away. I had the windpipe thing you spoke about yesterday because I was trying to breathe in deeply to see if there was anything wrong with me. Once I stopped doing that I felt better - it took some time for my windpipe to recover though. I feel better this morning.

I blew my nose yesterday and blood came out so I think the blood is my sinuses. I haven't coughed up any blood in a few days now since I am telling myself over and over that I am ok. I think the blood may have been from my sinuses. I need to stop smoking either way. Do you still smoke?

I was put on 100mg of Sertraline on Monday. I was on 50mg for a few weeks prior and I asked the doc for diazepam because I was feeling very depersonalised and it was really getting to me. It still comes and goes and I wonder if I am really here...

[Fred Speed]

No, I have managed to stop smoking (apart from the odd sneaky one on a night out!)

But yes, that was what started my deep breathing thing - breathing in really deep to see if I could make myself cough!! We are nuts aren't we??!!

I'm sure once the increased dose starts to take effect you will feel much much better.

I feel great today :o)

Christina

[Scarlett777]

I coughed up a tiny bit of blood after a hot shower today - I blew my nose and there was blood in that too (just a little). Am I ok? Panicking ...

---------- Post added at 19:30 ---------- Previous post was at 18:49 ----------

Please some reassurance