LeslieW11
03-02-16, 23:18
Hi everyone. I'm new to this message board but not to health anxiety or panic disorder. Had panic attacks in my 20's which finally resolved and now that I am taking an SSRI (Celexa) have had no further episodes. However what I have suffered from over the years is anxiety and fear about my health which was exacerbated by losing my parents from cancer when they were in their 60's. My experience over the years has been that whenever I have troubling symptoms, I catastrophize and fear my symptoms are caused by something like cancer, in particular pancreatic cancer or colon cancer because of what took my parents.
Fast forward to this last November, when after an annual physical, I learned that I have Diabetes 2 (A1C of 6.5). Since my father had this as well about a year before he passed away from pancreatic cancer, it concerned me and I saw a GI doctor and had an MRI with dye - which came back negative. I had also had a CAT scan with dye the previous year due to elevated blood sugar worries. Although I had been feeling pretty healthy prior to all of this, I suddenly started to develop a feeling of abdominal tightness and tugging in my stomach. Now I know that I can somatasize, so tried not to panic over all of this. My GI doc ran another test - an endoscopy and ultrasound - and found nothing (although fatty deposits made it difficult for him to view my pancreas). He suggested I be evaluated for other possible causes of my discomfort - ie heart and lung.
So, last week, I saw my cardiologist, who ran an echocardiogram, and discovered that I have mild pleural effusion. Of course, I panicked but he told me not to worry and suggested it could be the result of a previous viral infection (my last viral infection lasted 3 months and involved a very bad cough but that was a year and a half ago). My cardio doc then ordered a chest x-ray which came back negative. I am now scheduled to have a stress test in about a week, and at that time they will do another echocardiogram.
So of course, I Googled "pleural effusion" and see that it can be associated with various cancers and also diseases of the pancreas. I am freaking out because I am around the same age as my dad when he became ill.
I've discovered this site and tried to employ relaxation/meditation techniques to calm myself down. I've also stopped Googling and I have to say I am sleeping better and feeling my level of anxiety come down a bit - but still find myself fearing the worst and having thoughts of impending doom.
This isn't the first time I've had a health scare and fortunately in the past, all has been fine, but right now, I am terrified. Hoping one of you can help "talk me down" so I can not overreact and assume the worst.
Thank you in advance for any comments of comfort you can offer and also for this wonderful forum.
Leslie
Fast forward to this last November, when after an annual physical, I learned that I have Diabetes 2 (A1C of 6.5). Since my father had this as well about a year before he passed away from pancreatic cancer, it concerned me and I saw a GI doctor and had an MRI with dye - which came back negative. I had also had a CAT scan with dye the previous year due to elevated blood sugar worries. Although I had been feeling pretty healthy prior to all of this, I suddenly started to develop a feeling of abdominal tightness and tugging in my stomach. Now I know that I can somatasize, so tried not to panic over all of this. My GI doc ran another test - an endoscopy and ultrasound - and found nothing (although fatty deposits made it difficult for him to view my pancreas). He suggested I be evaluated for other possible causes of my discomfort - ie heart and lung.
So, last week, I saw my cardiologist, who ran an echocardiogram, and discovered that I have mild pleural effusion. Of course, I panicked but he told me not to worry and suggested it could be the result of a previous viral infection (my last viral infection lasted 3 months and involved a very bad cough but that was a year and a half ago). My cardio doc then ordered a chest x-ray which came back negative. I am now scheduled to have a stress test in about a week, and at that time they will do another echocardiogram.
So of course, I Googled "pleural effusion" and see that it can be associated with various cancers and also diseases of the pancreas. I am freaking out because I am around the same age as my dad when he became ill.
I've discovered this site and tried to employ relaxation/meditation techniques to calm myself down. I've also stopped Googling and I have to say I am sleeping better and feeling my level of anxiety come down a bit - but still find myself fearing the worst and having thoughts of impending doom.
This isn't the first time I've had a health scare and fortunately in the past, all has been fine, but right now, I am terrified. Hoping one of you can help "talk me down" so I can not overreact and assume the worst.
Thank you in advance for any comments of comfort you can offer and also for this wonderful forum.
Leslie