Scared....coughed up blood

[Candy1]

i really need some reassurance, I am really scared and having a panic attack. I'm just getting over a really bad cold. I've had a really bad cough for the last 2 weeks. this morning after brushing my teeth I gagged and spit/threw up this mucous with bright red blood mixed in it. My mind is spiraling and I am so scared it's something dangerous going on.

[nomorepanic]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your post was moved from its original place to a sub-forum that is more relevant to your issue.

This is nothing personal - it just enables us to keep posts about the same problems in the relevant forums so other members with any experience with the issues can find them more easily.

Please also read this post:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=213239

[ankietyjoe]

Coughing up blood is not uncommon with a bad cough. It's happened to me before. It was explained to me that continual coughing can rupture blood vessels.

It may have also been bleeding gums.

It's worth getting checked out though, it's not something I would ignore.

[Candy1]

Thank you, I'm really trying to rationalize with myself. I'm trying to tell myself that it's probably from deep down in my throat that's probably so raw from all the coughing. I'm just really scared

[quaglenga]

I have found that setting a rule with myself about when to take action with symptoms and when to leave them be has really helped my HA. My rule is that if symptoms persist for a week or more then I will go to the doctor and find out what is going on (with the exception of an emergency of course). 9/10 times the symptoms will go away by themselves and I forget all about them. It is common to get blood in mucus when coughing with a cold etc, I honestly would not worry. See if it is still happening this time next week, but I would bet money that it will have cleared up.

[Candy1]

Thank you very much, that's very reassuring and will definitely try your advice. I will wait and watch.

[serith]

I agree with the above poster-- wait until you've completely gotten over your cold, and then give it another couple of weeks. I'm 99.9% sure it will not happen again and you will never have to worry about it again. :)

In the tiny chance that it IS something serious, it will happen again, or get worse, and then you'll know you should go to to the doctor. And waiting a couple of weeks will not make it any better or worse.

And even if you go to the doctor now and get "reassurance", you'll probably just find something else to be anxious about, and so you'll be anxious anyway...

Also there's a BIG difference between "coughing up blood" and "coughing up mucus that's reddish." "Coughing up blood" means coughing up literal quantities of blood, like teaspoons. One facet of HA that I've always noted is this tendency to relate tiny symptoms you have to much larger, more serious symptoms that sound the same. We've all heard horror stories about this symptom, and seeing reddish mucus sounds like coughing up blood, but it's really not the same at all. Which you known instinctively -- it's just the anxiety telling you different.

[serith]

Also I noticed in your last post you said "I will wait and watch." Don't wait and watch -- wait and forget about it.

We've all seen those movies where people with TB are coughing up blood and so on. They always ignore it and it always comes back. You don't have to watch for it-- if you really have a disease that would cause you to cough up blood (almost completely unlikely), you wouldn't need to watch for it. You would just see it. It would be obvious. If you watch for something, you'll just find some other tiny symptom and convince yourself it's something else that's horrendous.

[Candy1]

Thank you so much, you're so right, I find with my health anxiety it never ends, I get over one thing and then something else happens. I never really thought of it that way. I didn't cough up just blood, it was mixed in with the mucus that I spat out. It only happened yesterday morning and hasn't happened again. I will try to forget about it. It's just so hard because it really scared me to see the blood, and I'm so scared of doctors. I am feeling better, my cough is subsiding and the flu symptoms are almost gone. Praying it won't happen again :(

[serith]

Thank you so much, you're so right, I find with my health anxiety it never ends, I get over one thing and then something else happens. I never really thought of it that way. I didn't cough up just blood, it was mixed in with the mucus that I spat out. It only happened yesterday morning and hasn't happened again. I will try to forget about it. It's just so hard because it really scared me to see the blood, and I'm so scared of doctors. I am feeling better, my cough is subsiding and the flu symptoms are almost gone. Praying it won't happen again :(

I mean I think there's a chance that it will happen again for the same reason it happened the first time, before you get totally over the cold... like if a cold causes a sneezing fit one day, there's a good chance it will happen again while you still have the cold.... and if that happens, DON'T FREAK OUT! It's still just the cold like you said initially.

[Candy1]

Thanks so much. So I called my dr and he told my not to worry because it sounds like the blood was picked up from my upper repository tract. I didn't cough it out, I gagged and kind of threw up from my stomach and it picked up blood from my throat area. He said not to worry but if it happens again or frequently then we need to investigate it. Those words caused my health anxiety to go up and worries me now. I'm so scared it's going to happen again. That's what I'm fixated on now. I keep telling myself there is a reason why it happened and it's because I have a bad cough, and if it just happened out of the blue and I wasn't coughing I should be more worried. I'm just scared it's going to happen again now that he said that. Am I overreacting?

[NoraB]

Thanks so much. So I called my dr and he told my not to worry because it sounds like the blood was picked up from my upper repository tract. I didn't cough it out, I gagged and kind of threw up from my stomach and it picked up blood from my throat area. He said not to worry but if it happens again or frequently then we need to investigate it. Those words caused my health anxiety to go up and worries me now. I'm so scared it's going to happen again.

Your doc is stating the obvious. If something keeps happening, then it does warrant investigation, but that doesn't mean anything serious is happening. For instance, my son kept having nosebleeds, and really heavy ones, but it was to do with his adenoids. (He's grown out of this now, like they said he probably would).


That's what I'm fixated on now. I keep telling myself there is a reason why it happened and it's because I have a bad cough, and if it just happened out of the blue and I wasn't coughing I should be more worried. I'm just scared it's going to happen again now that he said that. Am I overreacting?

Yes, you're overreacting, but that's the nature of health anxiety. This won't change until you address the way you think.

There is a very clear case of cause and effect here. A bad cough. The pressure which goes into coughing can absolutely cause the odd blood vessel to burst, and elsewhere, not just your throat. (It's nothing to worry about).

Instead of choosing to fixate on this, focus on the real issue here - which is your health anxiety.

[Candy1]

Thank you so much forbyour reply. Yes you're right. I do need to get my health anxiety under control. I've been to counselling, but it's when I get triggered that's all I can think about and obsess over. I really fear the dr and medical tests too. It's just a terrible cycle I go through. So far since Friday, the blood hasn't reoccurring, but I haven't gagged either lol I'm just so scared it's going to happen again.

[NoraB]

Thank you so much forbyour reply. Yes you're right. I do need to get my health anxiety under control. I've been to counselling, but it's when I get triggered that's all I can think about and obsess over.

Controlling HA isn't about not ever having HA thoughts again because many (if not most) people with HA are prone to anxiety, so it's about challenging those thoughts when they happen.

You have to learn how to challenge your thoughts and to understand when you're being irrational and when a trip to the doctors is in order and that going to the doctors or having tests doesn't mean that you're seriously ill. Most of the time, stress-heads are not physically ill at all; it's anxiety. But it is important that we do go to see the doctor when something's amiss, not least of all because their job is to help us feel better, even if that means them referring us for CBT because they know our issue is psychological, rather than physical. Avoidance means that we suffer when there's no need, and also, it's common sense to get things checked out. Working on those irrational thoughts helps us to be able to work out which ones we need to act on and which ones we can leave..

Re fearing doctors and medical tests, I get around that by doing something nice after a trip to the doctors or hospital, even if it's just a coffee in a cafe. That way, I associate something good with something that I don't like doing. It's basic stuff but it works for me.

[Candy1]

Thanks you so much you have more than helped me and I really appreciate your thoughts. I like the idea of doing something nice after a medical appointment, that's a great idea! :)