Scared stiff!

[UniqueGoldNewt]

Hi,
I really need to get this off my chest and hopefully get some advice.
im mid twenties & late September like the last week of it i came down with what felt like Covid. All tests were negative and doctors put it down to viral. My throat felt like glass, tonsils were swollen, i was also bringing up green blood stained mucus & coughing as well as being short of breath and having asthma attacks. Weeks went by & I felt better- to this day symptoms cleared up except im still bringing up clear/pale yellow mucus but I have a history of allergies and asthma. I put my shortness of breath that lingered down to anxiety as ive had a lot going on this past year. This is why im getting concerned. The doctor did a blood test and said my infection markers were raised and to repeat- this was like a month ago. Fast forward to this Monday just gone i repeated the blood test. It got to Friday and I rang the GP to chase the results. She couldn’t tell me much as it was a receptionist but she did say “white blood cells are abnormal probably viral”
i have to call Monday morning to get a telephone call to discuss the result but I’m so worried especially as the blood test is the same even though I thought it cleared up and I was fine!
I am hanging onto the fact the Gp DIDNT call me instantly with the results and I had to chase them. My health anxiety is terrible right now and I’ve been looking on google unfortunately and convinced myself I have acute leukaemia and will be dead in weeks it’s not even funny i am too scared to go to sleep in case I do have it and dont wake up. Does anyone have any experience or advice? Thank you :( it’s so hard the not knowing and panicking all the way until Monday.
tia x

Oh absolutely bloody typical having to wait till Monday! I have to say it sounds similar to a very nasty flu like illness that’s been going around, and it seems like you had something of a chest infection. Honestly, try not to worry. It’s unlikely to be anything other than raised markers for the infection you’ve had. Get some sleep!

You'll recover better from a viral illness if you get some sleep OP.

I know Drs & the NHS as a whole isn't great at the moment but they wouldn't leave you waiting til Monday if you had something serious that required immediate medical attention.
It sounds as though you have had a nasty virus that is lingering but you will be fine.

Your medical anxiety is more of a concern & perhaps something you need to work on?

DO you have the NHS app OP? You can get your test results from there - although if this is going to cause further anxiety then don't access them. `If you are still bringing up phlegm the infection may not quite have cleared up, hence the result. I'm very sorry that you are so anxious - it's hard to manage xx

I’ve had this , I was very ill. All my colleagues had it.
Still got a slight cough 4 weeks later.
I think it’s just a winter cold that’s taking a while to shift.

I had something similar back in my early twenties, ended up in hospital and it was glandular fever. Diseased my tonsils so badly I needed them out.

might be worth considering at that can hang about for months.

Lovely try not to worry, it’s likely your wbc is only slightly out of normal range (in line with your infection)
I had a blood test 8 years ago and within a day my doctor was ringing me telling me he’d referred me urgently to haematology because of my high white cell count. Turns out I had leukaemia. So I know from experience, if it was anything to worry about the doctor would call you themselves, not you chasing up the receptionist 🌷

Earlier this year I convinced myself so badly I had an illness i never had . I even didn’t believe the doctor. I ended up under a psychiatric councillor. I will say every time I thought the worst it wasn’t .

I think you are run down and will get better .

I was obsessed with googling too . It’s so hard but try not to worry .

You poor thing. I can understand why you are scared. As others have said, they don’t hang about if they think it’s leukaemia. As you’ve been ill for a while you would have expected to get much worse if it was that serious. High white cell count is a sign of the body fighting infection, so is normal if you have a lingering virus.

whatever happens, there are many, many steps between the things you fear the most.

try and rest. Lack of sleep makes everything seem si much worse. Read, watch to, do puzzles. Distract yourself till Monday c

I had this recently after an infection, I had to repeat the blood test every 3 weeks,and on the third time the results were back to normal. I felt fine but the marker was still raised for a few weeks.

I had something similar years ago, and I thought I'd got over it but it turned into pneumonia. I didn't even feel that ill - just a shortness of breath, tiredness and bringing stuff up occasionally.

With leukaemia white blood cells are significantly raised and red blood cells can be reduced. When they test for infection markers (either bacterial or viral), they generally look at CRP (C-reactive protein) which essentially measures inflammation. Often after a virus white blood cell numbers drop. If someone has had an infection they will often have a raised CRP and then, in the following days/weeks, a low WBC. "Abnormal" doesn't really tell you anything useful, but if they were concerned that you have leukaemia, they absolutely would not have told you just to wait until Monday. This is a good example of why receptionists should not be handing out blood results. Information without context does more harm than good.

If you're having a wait it's not serious. I've had doctors (GPs) call me in the middle of the night before because they got my test results and needed to see me before the morning.

I completely agree with PP.
I can't offer any advice on the specific symptoms but I've suffered with extreme health anxiety for years and it completely took over my life. I can feel everything you've said about the fear and the being scared to go to sleep. This in itself can lead to physical symptoms (shortness of the breath was one of my main ones) and a vicious cycle starts. It would be well worth also speaking to a doctor about getting help for this. Although it crops up now and again, seeking help changed my life and I wish I'd done it sooner.