How accurate are X-rays?

[ems1981]

I've had a productive cough for about 4 weeks now! The past week I've noticed blood streaks in the stuff I cough up..I took myself to A&E and they took bloods and did a chest x-ray, both came back clear. I'm so scared they have missed the cancer in my lungs. Can anyone relate? I'm thinking of pushing for a CT scan

[panic_down_under]

I've had a productive cough for about 4 weeks now! The past week I've noticed blood streaks in the stuff I cough up..I took myself to A&E and they took bloods and did a chest x-ray, both came back clear. I'm so scared they have missed the cancer in my lungs. Can anyone relate? I'm thinking of pushing for a CT scan

A routine chest X-ray picked up a 10mm nodule in my left lung. Lung cancers typically only begin to produce symptoms such as blood in phlegm when they are well advanced so LC is very unlikely to be your problem. Do you even have risk factors for lung cancer? Persistent coughing alone can cause blood streaking. Did the A&E doctors offer an opinion on the likely cause?

I would argue against having a CT scan as they produce a lot more radiation which is not what you want if pregnant and it won't tell you much more than you already know.

[ankietyjoe]

It's common to cough up blood if you've been coughing for that long. If you push for a CT scan you'll just come back and ask how accurate CT scans are.

I've coughed up blood with coughs before, as have many other people here.

[ems1981]

Thank you for the comments..
I saw an ENT specialist today, he had a look and couldn't see anything that could be causing the blood 😥 Omg I'm so so frightened

How long did you have blood for? It's going on two weeks now 😥

[ankietyjoe]

It's just an irritated airway or nicked nerve. It'll happen as long as you have the cough.

If the medical experts aren't worried, neither should you be. It's just something that happens like nosebleeds during hayfever season.

[LouiseAndy]

A lil bit tmi but I had a really bad cough a few years ago, during work I was desperately trying to clear my thoart after a coughing fit. A alot of blood came up.... needless to say I freaked. My doctor said it was possible I gave myself a few little cuts in my thoart because I was coughing so much nothing serious but while I was still coughing they didn't have time to heal because I was still coughing. It might take Abit to clear up x

Sent from my PRA-LX1 using Tapatalk