Health anxiety over rib pain

[Inanna]

Hi all

ive been doing my best to keep my HA in check, been doing my cbt, affirmations, got rid of Fitbit etc, etc.

however, sometimes the intrusive thoughts just won’t stay away, and I am spiralling, or maybe this time, it’s not just HA?

so, on Saturday (2 days ago) I was out on a 10 mile hike. As we passed through a village, I fell over, not noticing a big pot hole on the road. I went down like a sack of spuds, falling onto my left side. At the time, I though I had just hurt my left leg and palms.

that evening I started to develop pain my my left ribs,and my left breast. It seems to be getting worse as the days go by. Ther is no visible bruising, but it hurts and radiates around the back, it varies in intensity,. I went out for another walk this morning, and as I went uphill, it hurt a lot more. Could this due to breathing harder because of the incline?

is it possible to have bruised ribs internally, without visible bruising? Why is it getting worse?

im really scared that I am attributing this to my fall, when in fact, it is just a coincidence that I fell, and it’s something more sinister. My Dad and my sister have dies in the last 5 years from lung cancer, and I’m worried it may be familial. 😔

I recently stopped using face powder because I remember my sister used it, and then I started to worry that it may be carcinogenic, and tiny particles are breathed in. My therapist said that I was making links like “ my sister drank water and for cancer, therefore water causes cancer” and of course that seems as ridiculous as it sounds.

I’ve taken some solpadol, but I’m still in pain. Sitting still seems to help a bit

thank you for reading

Inanna xx

[Inanna]

Just been over to my Mums, and she has freaked me out even more. She looked at me all worried and said:

oh no, that’s really worrying. I remember your dad saying to me he thought he’d broken a rib, before being diagnosed with lung cancer.

[utrocket09]

Hi all

ive been doing my best to keep my HA in check, been doing my cbt, affirmations, got rid of Fitbit etc, etc.

however, sometimes the intrusive thoughts just won’t stay away, and I am spiralling, or maybe this time, it’s not just HA?

so, on Saturday (2 days ago) I was out on a 10 mile hike. As we passed through a village, I fell over, not noticing a big pot hole on the road. I went down like a sack of spuds, falling onto my left side. At the time, I though I had just hurt my left leg and palms.

that evening I started to develop pain my my left ribs,and my left breast. It seems to be getting worse as the days go by. Ther is no visible bruising, but it hurts and radiates around the back, it varies in intensity,. I went out for another walk this morning, and as I went uphill, it hurt a lot more. Could this due to breathing harder because of the incline?

is it possible to have bruised ribs internally, without visible bruising? Why is it getting worse?

im really scared that I am attributing this to my fall, when in fact, it is just a coincidence that I fell, and it’s something more sinister. My Dad and my sister have dies in the last 5 years from lung cancer, and I’m worried it may be familial. 😔

I recently stopped using face powder because I remember my sister used it, and then I started to worry that it may be carcinogenic, and tiny particles are breathed in. My therapist said that I was making links like “ my sister drank water and for cancer, therefore water causes cancer” and of course that seems as ridiculous as it sounds.

I’ve taken some solpadol, but I’m still in pain. Sitting still seems to help a bit

thank you for reading

Inanna xx

How do you go from falling to lung cancer...you already answered your own concern. You fell...

[pulisa]

What a terrible thing for your Mother to say, Inanna. Especially in view of your HA.

Remember what your therapist said?Rib pain falling a fall isn't instant and can often come on quite a few hours afterwards and be very painful indeed. Topical voltarol can help with the pain but it can last for ages and get worse on exertion.

You can choose to believe you have lung cancer thanks to your Mum or you can make a more rational diagnosis based on your therapist's advise and based on cause and effect.

[Inanna]

Hi

thanks for your replies.

pulisa, my Mum doesn’t know I have health anxiety, I am ashamed and hide it from people. I don’t think she was being mean, she is just in a bad place herself, having recently lost her eldest daughter, and her cousins having cancer as well. She is frightened, as am I. I’ve been trying to support her since my sisters diagnosis, and I try to be strong for her.

im seeing my therapist tomorrow, and he is also an MD, so I’ll talk it over with him.
He helps enormously with normalising things, and even makes me laugh at myself sometimes.

Thank you for saying rib pain isn’t always instant, I think the fact that it started hours after I fell was the thing that freaked me out the most .


Inanna xx

[pulisa]

I've had a couple of popped rib incidents when I thought I'd escaped the pain but it came on hours afterwards and was very painful.

I still think your Mum's comment was unnecessarily dramatic. Talk it over with your therapist because it's important to get things in perspective x