Line down nail fear

[Generalfol]

Hi all, I'm feeling rally low and worried at the moment.

A few months ago I discovered a grey line down my right index finger, I didn't think anything of it until a few weeks ago when out of interest I was reading about nail abnormalities on the NHS website and came across the section about lines down your nails being a sign of form of skin cancer in the nail bed.

I went to see my GP hoping to be told it was nothing, but she said she couldn't be sure and referred me to a dermatologist that I will be seeing in Thursday, I started getting very worried and a few days later went to see another GP for a second opinion, he said it wasn't a sign of skin cancer and said it was nothing to worry about but I should see the dermatologist still out of beret to see what the line is.

However I can't stop thinking he might of just said that as he knows I have health anxiety.

But my anxiety began to ease and I felt better until I got the appointment letter that mentioned on it - 18 week appointment wait unless cancer is suspected then it would be 2 weeks, then I found that my appointment was urgent and within 2 weeks, so they must have put cancer suspected in my referral??, since then my anxiety has gone sky high and on my mind 24/7, not even being able to sleep properly.

Does anyone else have any experience with anything like this?

Regards

Iain

[Mr Brownstone]

Id get on the phone if I were you, just to put your mind at rest, preferably to your doctor, as he/she knows you. Could be nothing...maybe they've just fast-tracked you to put your mind at rest, but the letter has done the exact opposite.

*Edit to add - I think its highly unlikely your doc has said its nothing to worry about, if there is something to worry about. His own reputation will come way above his respect for your health anxiety.

[Tessar]

Hi Generalfol, I haven't got direct experience of this happening but rather than looking at it from the worst case scenario, if it were me I'd feel pleased at not having to wait 18 weeks for an appointment. That at least means although u r having a peak in anxiety at the moment, at least u wont have a prolonged period of waiting. From my experience, doctors won't give u false information & u have been referred which is good. I'm glad that you've shared your concerns on here too as at least u aren't alone while your appointment approaches. Try keeping busy meanwhile with things u enjoy doing & no more looking on the Internet please as there's no point digging into it until u have been seen :-)

[Generalfol]

Thanks for the replys, the difference I guess with my health anxiety this time is that I could usually find other possible causes other than the one I was worrying about, where as this time I can't seem to find much about it, which is making my anxiety so much worse.

[katieloveshoes]

Hi Generalfol - lets put it this way. If it was cancer, your doctor would never have said it wasnt a sign of skin cancer, I can promise you that much!

Also what I can say is - Your doctor didnt magically find something different out when you left the room - for example he's told you it isnt a sign.. then said actually it might be, better fast track.

Sounds to me like the doc has noted your worried and asked to be seen as quick as poss? And theyve fast tracked because your worried? Thats a possibility.

The main point is; you didnt even get bothered by it before you asked Dr.Google, who is THE most awful doc in the world by the way - trust me, ive visited him numerous times. And without your health anxiety, you probably wouldnt have noticed the line.

Guess is; youd be feeling much much worse with skin cancer. Not just a pesky line, which could be down to weak nails, low calcium, etc etc - a numerous amount of issues.

'Try not to worry' is bad advice - best advice I can give is to try to get through the next couple of weeks by 'delayed' worrying - Ive been advised that. Set a task to worry on a certain date. Right now, you have a clean bill of health. Say to yourself 'Ok so ive got an appointment in two weeks - I will schedual my worrying in for then, if its nessacery' - by the time your appointment comes and goes and you realise its nothing serious, you wont need to worry. Sounds daft but worth a go.

Good luck :-)

---------- Post added at 21:13 ---------- Previous post was at 21:11 ----------

P.s - the reason you cant find much about lines down the nails and skin cancer is because it is not a well known symptom and not realistically cause to worry with no other present symptoms (and no - your chest pains/anxiety cant be related to skin cancer - promise!)

[Mr Brownstone]

I had a quick look around the net, and whilst I can see what you are talking about, I can also see a few people who have said they had it as well. One or two saying that they have had it for some time (unfortunately, as its the internet, there arent always answers to their queries,and they sometimes dont update from their original post). What Ive found (in my experience anyway), is that, whilst the internet is great for telling you what it could be (and often convincing you that its the only thing it could possibly be), it usually fails to add the sentence "or it could just be nothing"....which I find can be added to a lot of symptoms.

---------- Post added at 21:20 ---------- Previous post was at 21:14 ----------

---------- Post added at 21:13 ---------- Previous post was at 21:11 ----------

P.s - the reason you cant find much about lines down the nails and skin cancer is because it is not a well known symptom and not realistically cause to worry with no other present symptoms (and no - your chest pains/anxiety cant be related to skin cancer - promise!)

Another very good point Katie. Another thing "the internet" fails at. It will say "X" is a sign of "Y disease", but conveniently fails to mention that "A" "B" and "C" also needs to be present for it to be this. Much of the time you are only getting a fraction of info needed to make a reasonable stab at a correct diagnosis.

[katieloveshoes]

Totally agree - You can so easily self diagnose with a variety of illnesses with one symptom alone, which 9/10 couldn't possibly be present without at least another symptom.

*all from experience by the way; I've lost count how many times i've typed 'headache' into google to be met with a brain tumour.

[Generalfol]

Thanks for the replies, normally I am a bit more able to look at other possibilities, but for some reason I am feeling much worse this time, the anxiety so bad it brings me close to tears.

Thanks again for all the replies, I will update when I've been to see the dermatologist.

[katieloveshoes]

Its because there's seems to be a lot of if's and but's this time by the one GP (who probably just genuinely wasn't sure what it was, nothing sinister just uncertain, and doesn't know how to deal with a HA sufferer - most doctors don't) which makes it all that much harder to accept its nothing; but I promise there will be a reasonable explanation.

Good luck :-)

[Generalfol]

Yes I think a lot f the anxiety has started with the doctor being unsure, perhaps if I ad seen my normal GP first I wouldn't of been so anxious about it in the first mace and might not even be going to see a dermatologist.