Petechiae worries.. again!

[Lis44]

Hello everyone,

I’d like to introduce myself as i’m new here: I’m Melissa, 19 years old and I’m from The Netherlands. I have been suffering from hypochondria as long as I can remember; it comes and goes. At this moment my mind is playing games with me. I was at a family meeting last week and I noticed some very tiny red spots on my skin. I had never noticed them before. They don’t hurt or itch, I just thought it was very strange but I didn’t worry about it too much. When I came home I started to check my skin and I noticed I have a lot of them. On my tummy, my breast, my legs and underarms. I know looking up symptoms on Google is a very bad idea but I did and it scared me. “You are suffering from leukemia” and I started to freak out. I went on and searched for more symptomes and one of them was a swollen liver and ever since I’ve read that, my tummy hurts at the spot where the liver is located so I know it’s not realistic. I’ve checked my mom’s skin as well and she has a lot of them too. I don’t want to go to the doctor because I got my blood checked last year due to being tired all the time and it was completely fine (my LFT as well). I don’t know what to do, please tell me they are harmless because I’ve been feeling really bad and stressed even though I know my fears are not reality. :(

[Red12345]

Hi Lis - of course, without seeing the red spots it is impossible to say for sure but I would say with a level of confidence that they are petechiae if they look similar to pictures you’ve seen online.

I would 100% not worry at all about them and if you start to get more then pop to see your doctor - they do not mind putting people at ease.

[Annaboodle]

Our skins get spots, rashes, etc. all the time. It's not "normal" for skin to be flawless. My sister has always had what looks like a sort of red rash of raised spots on her arms and thighs. Her whole life since she can remember she's had them. She doesn't know what it is but it's harmless and "just her".

Only health anxiety makes you do a leap from this to liver damage. It makes no sense at all connecting those two things. You see it all the time on here - bundling together unrelated perceived symptoms to create a self-diagnosis based on something you've read online. As you've said yourself, you know your mind is creating the stomach pain. Our minds are very powerful. I've managed to convince myself a breast was burning hot before now because of a fear of breast cancer. I've produced rashes and intense itches on my body purely through anxiety about other conditions. I honestly think there's no limits to the symptoms an HA consumed mind can create.

The fact that your mum has a similar thing on her skin should reassure you? Like my sister with her skin. It's probably just the way your skin is. Your LFTs were fine, as you'd expect in a young healthy person.

[Lis44]

Thank you so much for the answers. I really appreciate it and I’m not as stressed anymore. Thanks Doctor Google for the unnessecary panic attacks...

[Lis44]

Hi everyone,

A few days ago I posted something about my petechiae “rash”. I was ready to let my crazy thoughts about all kind of diseases go, but I’m having a very bad day today. I am discovering more and more of these tiny red pin prick spots all over my body and I seriously don’t know what to do anymore. I have an appointment with my doctor next week but I need some reassurance. I don’t have any other symptoms (no fever, no nose bleeds, no nothing basically) so I seriously don’t know where they are coming from. I do have an infection of my nerve in my mouth which I’m undergoing root canal treatment for next week.. could this infection be the cause of the petechiae? My dentist put me on some antibiotics but I feel like I’m slowly losing my mind over these spots.

[Elen]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your thread was merged with another of your threads.

Please when posting on similar topics add it onto your previous post rather than starting a new one.

It is nothing personal it is just to make it easier for people to follow your story and to give you advice as a whole.

Elen

[ThroatGoat]

I've got them all over the place and have had them for years, it wasn't until I read about the link to the c word that I started worrying about them.

I can count around 20 of them on my body in various places (arms, legs, stomach etc), I could probably find more if I wanted to keep looking for them.

They're harmless as far as I'm aware, Google is just trying to make people sick I think.

[Andrash]

Hi everyone,

A few days ago I posted something about my petechiae “rash”. I was ready to let my crazy thoughts about all kind of diseases go, but I’m having a very bad day today. I am discovering more and more of these tiny red pin prick spots all over my body and I seriously don’t know what to do anymore. I have an appointment with my doctor next week but I need some reassurance. I don’t have any other symptoms (no fever, no nose bleeds, no nothing basically) so I seriously don’t know where they are coming from. I do have an infection of my nerve in my mouth which I’m undergoing root canal treatment for next week.. could this infection be the cause of the petechiae? My dentist put me on some antibiotics but I feel like I’m slowly losing my mind over these spots.

If you ask Google to diagnose you, the answer will always be terminal illness. Every rash is advanced leukaemia, every cough is lung cancer, every mole is melanoma and so on.

However, if cancers and other terminal diseases occurred as frequently as Google "diagnoses" them, humanity would have been wiped out long ago. Concretely with your symptoms - skin rashes are extremely common and their cause is almost always harmless. Yes, even if you developed petechiae (which you probably didn't, because it is not enough for your rash to look like petechiae on Google Images, you need qualified medical professional to discern what is what), it doesn't mean you have leukaemia. Benign, harmless conditions are ALWAYS more probable (for example in your case, vitamin deficiencies).

Bottom line - if Google says something is a sign of cancer, it does not mean you have it. It means you should quit that quack and put your health in hands of pros and that includes anxiety too, which is an illness, just like cancer, and can spread to all aspects of your life and ruin it (just like cancer metastasizes and destroys organs) if you don't tackle it head on. Therefore, when you visit your GP by all means tell him about anxiety as well and think about starting some CBT (there are free online courses here) and counselling.

[Lis44]

I've got them all over the place and have had them for years, it wasn't until I read about the link to the c word that I started worrying about them.

I can count around 20 of them on my body in various places (arms, legs, stomach etc), I could probably find more if I wanted to keep looking for them.

They're harmless as far as I'm aware, Google is just trying to make people sick I think.

Thank you for your reply! Made me feel a lot better!

[Limeslime]

Could the be little flat cherry angiomas? My and my husband have lots! They increase with age too so you may notice more popping up as you get older. Totally harmless though

[Lis44]

My mom has them as well! She has a lot of them. She has one bigger, raised one and the rest of these tiny little pin pricks are flat and smooth. They blend in with her skin and I have the exact same thing. They were just “there”. I feel completely fine and have no other symptoms so I guess they indeed are small cherry angiomas. Seems like they are heritidary. Thanks for the reassurance!

[ThroatGoat]

My mom has them as well! She has a lot of them. She has one bigger, raised one and the rest of these tiny little pin pricks are flat and smooth. They blend in with her skin and I have the exact same thing. They were just “there”. I feel completely fine and have no other symptoms so I guess they indeed are small cherry angiomas. Seems like they are heritidary. Thanks for the reassurance!

I've got one of the big ones too, looks like a mole but it's red. :shrug:

They're totally harmless as others have also said. Mine started when I was about 20, so when you see "they often appear around age 30" or whatever I wouldn't worry about that if you're younger.

Thinking about it, I might have even had some before I was 20 and not paid any attention to them.

Glad you feel reassured! :D

[Lis44]

Thank y'all for the answers! I'm letting my anxiety go from now on and just deal with the fact they are very tiny, pin prick cherry angiomas. :)

[ThroatGoat]

Thank y'all for the answers! I'm letting my anxiety go from now on and just deal with the fact they are very tiny, pin prick cherry angiomas. :)

:yesyes: