I'm worried about silicosis.

[jedinat]

I worked in a dental lab for about 5 years. I did quite a bit of sandblasting, and the sandblasting cabinets were often shit with the vacuum not working well. We only had crappy surgical masks for protection and didn't wear them if we weren't directly using the sandblasting machine (still in the room).


And I did quite a bit of divesting which generates the silica dust. The last year of my job I wore a surgical mask the whole day due to this anxiety, and I'm wondering if that just made things worse causing me to take deeper breathes with fine particulate making it through the mask.


After reading about crap like silicosis and other things I've developed huge health anxiety that spills over into worrying about a lot of things.
Now I work an office job and just the office being next to a freeway bothers me due to the lung anxiety.



Today I made the mistake of reading up more on silicosis and found out the symptoms can show up a decade or two later. I'm worried in 10 years I'll start do die from lung issues.








P.S.
I have a cat and the litter box outside my room causes me anxiety because I know the clay litter dust contains silica. The popcorn ceiling causes me anxiety because it (might) have asbestos however inert. But the worst is those freaking 5 years in a crappy job that could turn out to have ruined my later life.

[jedinat]

Bump

[anxious72]

Oh bless you. I know how you feel. We all breathe up to 5000 asbestos fibres every day. It is naturally found in the environment. We also breathe other pollutants too and most people do not get affected. Asbestos in your house will not cause you any harm. Try not do any heavy work on it. The safety masks are there for a reason and they prevent inhalation of dangerous particles. Please try to relax and do not over analyse. Hugs xx

[NervUs]

I don't have occupational exposure, but I have been exposed to asbestos (well I'm fairly sure) and I have done other home improvement projects quite stupidly. I have gone through my moments of panic about this.

THe facts are you have had occupational exposure and, yes, it usually takes decades to know whether you've had damage. The good news is that only 10% of people exposed to asbestos ever develop cancer from it.

I think you need to come up with a way to come to terms with your past. That's what I learned how to do. You can't change it now. The best thing you can do is to find a doctor who takes the occupational exposure you have had seriously, and determine together if there is any screening that you should be doing in order to check on the healthiness of your lungs. The screening does exist, although its geared to heavy smokers above age 55. THat's the other thing- if you are a nonsmoker, your chances of anything bad are seriously less. So, if you smoke, don't!

I am sure you are going to be just fine!!!

[jedinat]

Thank you for your replies. I know it's something I can't do anything about, and that's the worst aspect. I'm sure over time my anxiety on it will subside until the next trigger. I'll probably try seeing a doctor about it in a couple years or something to see if they can see anything, though that won't really do anything since the damage and progression seems to be literally incurable. I know it's a terrible disease but I think there are variations in severity.

I know I am weak. I've been praying and trying to trust in God to get me through this.

[anxious72]

My darling. I know people who have been doing a job similar to yours for years (at least 15) and none of them have any problems so far. x