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Thread: Too much radiation exposure

  1. #1

    Too much radiation exposure

    Hello,
    I am PETRIFIED of cancer. Recently I had alot of medical tests. Now I am very worried about my radiation exposure. I worried about things in my life but not really my health. I was always healthy. I was under alot of stress at wotk and did not realize it because I was trying to do a good job and be reliable, perfect and not make any mistakes as my boss requests. In additin my commute was 1 to 1.5 hours each way. Well in the end of september 2010 I picked up a virus that I assumed would go away in a few days. After about 4 days it did not go away so I went to the doctor. She ordered xrays of my back for back pain and ultrasound of kidney on a Monday. When they called with the results it was Thursday and I still did not feel better, I got winded from walking four steps, was very tired and got occasiona; stabbing pain in my lower R side. So on Friday 10/8/10 they wanted to see me again and my doctor was out. This doctor ordered a ct scan of my abdomen and pelvis with and without contrast. Prior to this I only had one ct scan of my abdomen 16 years prior and 2 sets of dental xrays in my life. Almost a month later on 11/2/10 I had to have a mammogram because my one breast swelled up a whole cup size in 2 days and was very painful. Also, a month after that on 12/11/10 I went to the ER because the L side of my skull was numb following a headache. My mother had a stroke at 46. I was scared and a neurologist could not see me for 4 months. I felt I could not wait until than. They did a head ct as soon as I walked in. Than when the results came back the doctor came in and said that the results were fine and did I feel better. I stated no, the same. They said they were sending me for another CT with contrast. Well this time the contrast gave me an immediate horrible headache. Before I knew it the CT tech was gone before I could try to remind him to put the lead vest over my chest. Prior he instructed me to nor move because he gets one shot. This test was normal also. My head was numb for a total of 2.5 days I could tap on the back and not feel it. I had alot of tingling in my face the week up to it. They got me to see a neurologist within the week. I told him I was worried about my radiation exposure because I have had too many tests close together and I did not realize a ct scan had this much radiation. I was petrified. He instructed me that an xray was worse or your cell phone and they don't cover you for ct scans. Also he prescribed me Neurontin and had not seen any of my tests. He was supposed to have access to them through the hospital. I asked what the med was for and he said the burning on my skin. I did not go back to him. I had my first panic attack (scary) after seeing what I was exposed to. Also, when I picked up my test results for another neurologist I see they did a cta of my head and neck and the technique stated they started the view in the center of my chest. Since this ordeal I got shingles. An the burning sensation is still there my neck and upper chest since the test. I have changed my habits, eating healthier, juicing, trying to exercise. My doctor instructed me to get a new job. At my job I see alot of oncology cases. I have been doing this for over 1.5 years and it did not get to me. I also had to do someone elses job after they quit with barely no training and was instructed by my boss not to ask any questions and I must be perfect and reliable with no mistakes and if I did this they would create a position for me to work from home. Big joke. All it did was stress me out, made me sick and now I am worse off than before. Also, the next neurologist stated that I am prob. having migraines with no pain. I apologize for writing too much. Has anyone else ever been afraid hey have been exposed to too much radiation?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    1

    Re: Too much radiation exposure

    I can more than relate to what you're going through. My situation is a lot like yours. I had really good health all my life until I got extremely sick in the Philippines in 2009. I came back to the states and felt pretty good again until a few months later, in October. I was under a lot of stress in my personal life. I went to the ER one morning b/c I thought I had blood in my urine. There was no blood, I was just dehydrated, but they gave me a CT scan anyway to check for kidney stones. I was only 26 at the time (I'm 28 now.)

    I started feeling worse in the months that soon followed. I went to more doctors the last year and a half than ever before in my entire life. I was having a lot of little aches and pains. I had tingling in all over. I had dysesthesia in my face and ear. I had a brain MRI which found nothing. Numerous blood tests, all normal. Sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy. Finally I started taking anxiety medication briefly but then stopped b/c I don't like prescription drugs.

    I was starting to get a little better in summer 2010. I had learned to just ignore the little pricking pains all over my body. Then I read a report that said a CT scan was like getting 500 x-rays. I haven't been the same since. My life crashed. I've convinced myself I will die before my natural time because of cancer from the all the radiation. I also had a CT of my head in February 2011. When you add the CT scan of my head when I had a car wreck 10 years ago, I've had a total of 3 CT scans and 2 abdominal x-rays.

    That's when my anxiety turned into full-blow depression. I feel like why should I even pursue my Masters degree and try to build a successful career. By the time I'm in a position to achieve my goals I'll be dying of cancer.

    I've passed the point of being rational. I basically get online all day and read medical journal reports and studies about the carcinogenic effects of radiation in the hopes I might find some little nugget of data to give me hope. So far I have not found it. Everything I read about radiation leads me to believe there is no hope, that I will likely develop cancer in 5-25 years and then die before I can fully live my life. I have looked at every single study written in the last 50 years, and I have a degree in science so I can pour over the statistical data and math-models with no problem. Still nothing I read offers me hope.

    Some of the reports I have found were the LSS Hiroshima and Nagasaki study, the BEIR reports, the ICRP bulletins and monographs, Thoratrast study, thymus radiation study, tineas capitis study, tuberculosis-breast cancer study, ankylosing spondilytis study, Marshall Islands fallout study, acne-radiation study, plus literally hundreds of cancer bloggers sites, just to name a few.

    I can safely bet I'm WAY more obsessed than you when it comes to CT scan radiation fears.

    My advice to you would be to not pursue this line of inquiry any further...only madness lies down that road. You'll end up like Mr. Kurst in that Conrad novel, or even worse you might end up like me.

    Just try to focus on what is meaningful in life - friends, family that sort of thing - and not stress about radiation. It might be hard, but there's nothing that can be done about it now anyway.

    And try not to have a CT scan again until you're old, unless you want to tempt fate. Always go with ultrasound or MRI whenever possible...who knows, someday you might regret all that radiation if you decide to take a stab at becoming a Taoist immortal. Once you reach age 60 or so radiation won't matter. It takes 10 years for leukemia, 20 years for solid cancers to develop after exposure according to all the reports I have read.

    You'll a lot of articles that advise if "the benefits outweigh the risk" then a person should opt to have the scan. I would point out 2 things that might help you avoid having an unnecessary scan in the future:

    1) Many doctors who order a CT scan for a younger person only do so because they are practicing defensive medicine. They are scanning you not because it is in your best interest, but because it is in theirs. They don't want to get sued if you turn out to be that 1 in 10,000 20-something who has a deadly cancer and they didn't scan you.

    2) There are safe alternatives to CT scans, like MRI and ultrasound. But if you go to the ER, you're not going to get an MRI (unless you're pregnant) because an MRI takes about 30 minutes compared to a cat scan which takes two. If you wait and go to a regular doctor you at least have a chance that he might prefer MRI over CT. So even if you're having a panic attack and can't wait to find out if your , don't give in to that temptation to run to the ER because you may end up doing yourself more damage in the long-run.

  3. #3

    Re: Too much radiation exposure

    I was reading the above posts and that's exactly how I am feeling. I can not shake it. For me, I have always been a healthy person. It all started back in Feb of 2011. I had been having this tingle sensation in my ear and on the right side of my brain. I remember the day exactly. I was playing with my son and the news was on in the background and I heard them say something about cell phones and brain cancer. And bingo. That was my trigger. From there I got myself really sick. I went to have an MRI done of my brain which showed clear. But it did not stop there. I have been having chest tightness, extreme back tightness, and a feeling of cotton in my lungs. So I had a chest X-ray which showed clear. That was not good enough bc I have read that X-rays miss things. So I insisted on a CT scan of chest. Which I got with contrast. Tat showed clear as well.i should've been happy with that. But no. Then I started researching ct scan radiation. I would call up the place I got the scan and ask a million questions and demanded to know how much I was exposed to, which was 12msv. I could not get over it and felt my life was over and I was doomed. So I decided to get on meds bc no dr could figure out my problem and I was tired of it. I got on Celexa and had been on it for 5 months. It seemed to help my thought pattern and I went on with life, although I would still get the tightness but would ignore it. So here I am today, 9 weeks pregnant and got off my celexa bc I was afraid of birth defects. So my obgyn referred me to a genetics counselor o she could go over the risks of being on meds while pregnant. I went yesterday and a lead curtain dropped. I told her my story and how I got a ct scan and right away she says why would you get a ct scan? Do YOU KNOW how much radiation is in that? I broke down in tears. I feel like I'm at square one again. Not o mention I have a chet cold right now ith a horrible cough and can't help but blame the ct scan I had back in feb for it, or it's lung cancer that I got from the ct scan. I will be going back on medication after the first trimester. How are the rest of the radiation scared peeps doing? Any thoughts? Any good news you have found?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
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    161

    Re: Too much radiation exposure

    I'm so scarEd as well.
    You have no idea how scare I am.

  5. #5

    Re: Too much radiation exposure

    Hi everyone, my name is Hank I'm going through the same thing I found a good article you can Google it "why radiation is wrong" and he has a book called "radiation and reason"

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
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    1,085

    Re: Too much radiation exposure

    I understand that this is frightening you. There are quite a few threads on here that discuss the same worry, it isn't uncommon I suppose.

    I find aka's post interesting because I also have a science degree and through researching scientific journals I have found the opposite to be true, particularly in regard to head CT scans. Whilst there are suggestions that CT scans could cause cancer, the risks reported are pretty low. From scientific journals, the evidence for this isn't very strong at all. In one study, they found that something like 1 in 4050 women who had a CT scan at 20 years old went on to develop cancer. That equates to something like .002%. And even then, that .002% could be completely due to chance. Remember, correlation DOES NOT equal causation. So just because the one person who had a CT at 20 years old then developed cancer, doesn't mean the cancer was due to the CT, it may just be coincidental. If there was any definitive link between CTs and cancer they wouldn't use them regularly.
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  7. #7
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    Re: Too much radiation exposure

    Quote Originally Posted by anthrokid View Post
    I understand that this is frightening you. There are quite a few threads on here that discuss the same worry, it isn't uncommon I suppose.

    I find aka's post interesting because I also have a science degree and through researching scientific journals I have found the opposite to be true, particularly in regard to head CT scans. Whilst there are suggestions that CT scans could cause cancer, the risks reported are pretty low. From scientific journals, the evidence for this isn't very strong at all. In one study, they found that something like 1 in 4050 women who had a CT scan at 20 years old went on to develop cancer. That equates to something like .002%. And even then, that .002% could be completely due to chance. Remember, correlation DOES NOT equal causation. So just because the one person who had a CT at 20 years old then developed cancer, doesn't mean the cancer was due to the CT, it may just be coincidental. If there was any definitive link between CTs and cancer they wouldn't use them regularly.

    This is an old thread but it's relevant because the subject does come up often. In my experience, having had head and neck cancer, guess what they treated me with? Yep... Radiation! AND... 5 days a week for 6 weeks when they put the mask on and strapped me down to the table they did a CT scan to make sure the radiation beams were hitting the right places. So I had 30 CT scans in 6 weeks along with enough radiation to burn out my saliva glands and take the skin off my neck! That's not even getting into the poison (Cisplatin) that went into me on a weekly basis!

    A yearly mammo or a few CTs or xrays in a year for reassurance that so many here seem to get don't even come close to what would be considered a maximum recommended dose. Besides, I challenge anyone to show me an actual documented case where medical science put someone's scans to blame for their cancer. Like anthrokid said.. it would be circumstantial or coincidental at best.

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  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
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    120

    Re: Too much radiation exposure

    you are a solider for taking such a treatment, hope you are feeling healthy and invisible now serious that is amazing, this year at 26 i have had radiation injected, 2 abdominal cts and now tomorrow night 2 lung scans to try and track down what is hurting me. They found swollen neck nodes that are going to get biopsied soon I pray. Have a lump under my chin and on my back neck now.... Tired every day. Scared shitless that the ct is not right for me just as the abdominal was useless it ruled I was fine tho. I want the scan to come out clean but I fear that this scan a month after the abdomen could cause a small link to cancer in the lung. I hate all the fears,

  9. #9

    Re: Too much radiation exposure

    I am so scared would you guys talk to me? I have had 3 ct scans!!!! I can't sleep at night I can't do anything I am doomed!!!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
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    74

    Re: Too much radiation exposure

    Quote Originally Posted by Fishmanpa View Post
    This is an old thread but it's relevant because the subject does come up often. In my experience, having had head and neck cancer, guess what they treated me with? Yep... Radiation! AND... 5 days a week for 6 weeks when they put the mask on and strapped me down to the table they did a CT scan to make sure the radiation beams were hitting the right places. So I had 30 CT scans in 6 weeks along with enough radiation to burn out my saliva glands and take the skin off my neck! That's not even getting into the poison (Cisplatin) that went into me on a weekly basis!

    A yearly mammo or a few CTs or xrays in a year for reassurance that so many here seem to get don't even come close to what would be considered a maximum recommended dose. Besides, I challenge anyone to show me an actual documented case where medical science put someone's scans to blame for their cancer. Like anthrokid said.. it would be circumstantial or coincidental at best.

    Positive thoughts
    I know this is a few months old, but I think you are amazing having gone through all that.

    I had an abdominal and pelvic ct done through ER to look for kidneystones. I was also freaking out about the radiation as I've had 4 chest x rays already in my life and also 1 HIDA scan. I called my cousin up who is a radiation therapist. .. he said "the radiation you received is a small percentage to the radiation I have to give to cancer patients" .

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