View Full Version : Should not have looked at CT scan results !
I am terrified and had a total meltdown over this last night. I have access to Mychart which gives the ability to communicate with my doctor and to view all test results. Stupidly, I started going through past chest xrays and saw the CT chest scan I had in the hospital 2 or three years ago. The ER doctor told me is was normal. But, when I looked closer down I read about two small lung nodules!!!! OMG, what?? no one told me this? The radiologist wrote down" small nodules, incidental finding, probably benign due to size and patients age". The necessicity for follow up testing would be necessary if she had a history of smoking (which I do not). Why wouldn't the ER doctor tell me everything is fine? Now i'm terrified I have early stages of lung cancer.
Why wouldn't the ER doctor tell me everything is fine?
Perhaps because it is?
Positive thoughts
2 or 3 years ago?
You're fine.
You should know that over half of all patients who have a scan of their lungs frequently show lung nodules. They really are pretty common and it's very rare for them to develop in anything sinister, especially in someone like yourself who doesn't smoke cigarettes. Most nodules are actually scar tissue due to breathing in polluted air etc. My dad has one which was found over 5 years ago. He has quite chronic chest issues with asthma and chest infections etc. (Just pretty unlucky with his chest) yet the nodules have never changed. I actually found out that fewer than 5% of lung nodules are dangerous and if you've no family history of lung cancer or aren't a smoker I really wouldn't worry too much, it's just anxiety giving you the run around. I'd just visit your doctor if you're worried but just remember how common they really are and most people probably have them and just never find out.
ServerError
13-01-17, 17:05
You are in such a severe spiral right now. It's really important you seek help with your overwhelming anxiety issues.
You really don't need access to whatever system it is that lets you trawl through old medical findings. What point does that serve besides feeding and fuelling your anxiety?
Look at what's happened - you've come across something that is completely irrelevant and unimportant, and you've freaked out. And you did all this to yourself.
You must seek help with your anxiety as soon as possible and begin work on altering your thought patterns and behaviours. What other choice do you have?
You are in such a severe spiral right now. It's really important you seek help with your overwhelming anxiety issues.
You really don't need access to whatever system it is that lets you trawl through old medical findings. What point does that serve besides feeding and fuelling your anxiety?
Look at what's happened - you've come across something that is completely irrelevant and unimportant, and you've freaked out. And you did all this to yourself.
You must seek help with your anxiety as soon as possible and begin work on altering your thought patterns and behaviours. What other choice do you have?
^This^
I really appreciate all of your support, thoughtful, and helpful responses. My husband has taken away my access to the patient portal! He says that the constant researching, digging and obsessing have caused me to spiral.
And I restarted my Zoloft again (day 2) . It's making me a bit more anxious, but I trying to counter that will Xanax and therapy. Thank you all, for being there for me.
ServerError
13-01-17, 17:44
I really appreciate all of your support, thoughtful, and helpful responses. My husband has taken away my access to the patient portal! He says that the constant researching, digging and obsessing have caused me to spiral.
And I restarted my Zoloft again (day 2) . It's making me a bit more anxious, but I trying to counter that will Xanax and therapy. Thank you all, for being there for me.
Good to hear that you've already taken some positive steps. Well done on that.
I hope your doctor explained to you that start-up on Zoloft can be challenging. I'm not trying to scare you, and you won't come to any harm. Speaking from experience and from reading what others have said, Zoloft appears to be one of the tougher SSRIs to adapt to. Be prepared to wait at least two weeks before noticing any improvements. In my case, it was more like three weeks before I felt any better at all. Only saying this to be helpful. You've nothing to fear, I assure you. You're welcome to PM me if you want to talk about it. I've been on Zoloft nearly a year now and, despite finding it really hard-going at first, it helped transform my state of mind.
Thank you servererror. You are so helpful!!
---------- Post added at 22:12 ---------- Previous post was at 18:31 ----------
I guess this is what I get for searching through medical records. It's going to be tough not thinking about this. It's been on my mind all day.
Radiologists see so many x-rays U/S CTs MRIs they know what to look for and when they see a red flag they let you know. It's wonderful how imaging has come so far to where you now see things that you would have not seen 10 years ago. If it were anything sinister they would have told you. I had a similar situation with an abdominal U/S. I saw this huge black spot on my right kidney and thought I was going to vomit. It was just a simple cyst. Gj on restarting your medication zoloft always made me anxious at first, but nothing good ole xanax could take handle lol
AnxietyKillinMe
14-01-17, 00:14
Welcome to the club. I have the same access and they found lung nodules on an abdominal Ct and never told me. Brought it up and also saw a pulmonary doc about it and he's not even sure they're lung nodules might just be cross sections of blood vessels. Either way apparently it's pretty common and most ppl have some they just never know it because they don't get ct's of anything.
roseanxiety
14-01-17, 02:04
Two or three years ago? I'd say you're safe. I am wondering about the Zoloft. My dr suggested Cymbalta to me and I'm not sure why. I had asked for Zoloft. Does Zoloft help with panic as well as GAD?
---------- Post added at 21:04 ---------- Previous post was at 21:03 ----------
Server, did Zoloft help with panic attacks? And does it have any side effects that you have noticed?
Hey anxiety killing me,
Did you need any type of additional scanning for the modules? Maybe i just need to move on this from this?!
Anxietynurse, yes zoloft is for GAD, OCD, Depression etc. I hope to works. Can't keep living like this :-(
I am terrified and had a total meltdown over this last night. I have access to Mychart which gives the ability to communicate with my doctor and to view all test results.
I recently went online with my doctors but declined the option to see my medical records. The reason being that I know full well it would make my health anxiety worse. What if my test results became available online before my GP saw them? Unless they said 'negative', I'd be bouncing off the walls with anxiety and no doubt end up in A&E again with a panic attack! The odds would be that after I'd convinced myself I'm at death's door again, the GP would tell me that all is well - as has happened time and time again.
Another poster has said that you have inflicted this anxiety on yourself and that person is right. However, just as you have thought your way into this spiral, you can also think your way out of it.
Your husband has done the right thing and at some point you have to accept that those with the medical knowledge and years of training are not concerned about those nodules. Also, it's three years ago? I'd say you're fine.
GlassPinata
14-01-17, 11:42
If over 50% of people have lung nodules- a statistic that another poster mentioned- then it is an incidental finding.
The majority of people (over half) have lung nodules, apparently.
It is meaningless.
Don't think about it further. Let it go.
If they were malignant, you'd be dead by now. it's been years.
They are nothing.
Best wishes.
ServerError
14-01-17, 12:21
Server, did Zoloft help with panic attacks? And does it have any side effects that you have noticed?
Well, a year ago I was having intense panic attacks. Now I never have panic attacks. It's impossible for me to say if Zoloft is the reason for that. SSRIs don't act directly on the symptoms of panic. At best, they help elevate mood and return normal feelings so that YOU can begin working on the causes of your panic attacks. I believe that Zoloft, in combination with therapy, self-help and an increased understanding of anxiety, helped chase away my panic attacks.
And, yeah, in the early stages, I had side effects. It wasn't pleasant for a brief period. I chose to stick it out, and as time passed, things improved. Now I don't have a single side effect, apart from a bit of weight gain.
AnxietyKillinMe
14-01-17, 15:26
Common practice says follow up with a chest Ct 6 months after initial findings but it's not necessary. If I remember right I believe that if lung nodules are less than 5-6mm then they're of no concern. If yours were bigger than that you would know because they'd want to look into it further. Lung nodules are one of the most common incidental findings on abdominal and chest ct's and can also be an inflammatory response that goes away on its own. I'm so unconcerned with mine that it didn't cause me to quit smoking and I have terrible health anxiety so there ya go. But then again my health anxiety revolves around diseases I know can't be cured so there's that too.
yeah, I just checked and my scan was over 2 1/2 years ago. I'm just mad that no one told me about it. Maybe they didn't want to worry me since they are common and most likely harmless. The nodules were 2mm and 3mm (bottom of each lung) and from what I read that's the most common benign place to find them. The radiologist wrote something like "Likely benign due to patients age and size". No other CT's to compare long term stability to. Follow up if other risk factors such as smoking...
This CT was done in the ER and they were actually checking for a blood clot at the time.
So now, because i'm anxious i'm connecting my shortness of breath with a huge tumor that could be inside of my lungs! I've had shortness of breath on and off since my anxiety started. It comes and goes. I can go weeks without it and then a week or so with it every day. It's all I focus on (until the next symptom pops up). It's a crazy spiral for sure. I thank you all for listening and for being so friendly :)
ServerError
14-01-17, 15:48
It's all I focus on (until the next symptom pops up).
Once you've had medical tests and been assured that your problem is anxiety, every single symptom that "pops up" requires the same response. It's irrelevant what the symptom is. It all goes under the anxiety umbrella and is reacted to and treated in the exact same way.
GlassPinata
14-01-17, 18:17
Once you've had medical tests and been assured that your problem is anxiety, every single symptom that "pops up" requires the same response. It's irrelevant what the symptom is. It all goes under the anxiety umbrella and is reacted to and treated in the exact same way.
But even people with health anxiety eventually get real diseases and die, so we also need to not dismiss REAL symptoms (not that there's much likelihood that we would, given our extreme vigilance about our bodies...).
The thing I'm coming to terms with is that the thing that will eventually kill me is probably not something I will be able to predict at this time. And that uncertainty can be hard to live with.
My dad, like me, suffered from cancer anxiety as a young man.
He's now in his 60s and never got cancer. He did, however, have a heart attack last year, which is something he never worried about. Luckily, he survived and is doing fine now. But I try to take that as a lesson. We cannot know the future, and the disease that finally gets us will likely be a surprise.
ServerError
14-01-17, 18:31
But even people with health anxiety eventually get real diseases and die, so we also need to not dismiss REAL symptoms (not that there's much likelihood that we would, given our extreme vigilance about our bodies...).
The thing I'm coming to terms with is that the thing that will eventually kill me is probably not something I will be able to predict at this time. And that uncertainty can be hard to live with.
My dad, like me, suffered from cancer anxiety as a young man.
He's now in his 60s and never got cancer. He did, however, have a heart attack last year, which is something he never worried about. Luckily, he survived and is doing fine now. But I try to take that as a lesson. We cannot know the future, and the disease that finally gets us will likely be a surprise.
This is an anxiety forum. All you've done is muddy the waters. If somebody has had medical tests and been told their problem with anxiety, all the meaningless surface symptoms go under that umbrella. By all means, Chase medical advice for every symptom. But you'll never recover that way.
Serious symptoms unrelated to anxiety obviously require a different response. But if that's the case, you'll know.
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