To be worried about leukaemia

[Knackered90]

I suffer quite bad from health anxiety and now convinced I have leukaemia. I feel very tired and keep noticing bruises. I have lost weight but that is because I am dieting and I do sweat quite bad in the night. Please help
me calm my anxiety.

Sending hugs to you. Health anxiety is so difficult, I have suffered with it too. Easily bruising can be caused by many other things, such as if you have been on a lot of pain killer medications (ibuprofen etc). Some people generally just bruise more than others, I'm the same. Are we talking little bruises or massive ones without cause?

They are just little ones, i itch my skin to the point where I cut it. I was our on sertraline a few months ago so maybe it is that? I’m driving myself mad I need to just go and get my bloods done.

Are you on any medication for your anxiety/mental health? Antidepressants have side effects of sweating at night.

Night sweats associated with cancer are drenching sweats, where you look like you’ve been standing in the shower and need to change sodden bedclothes. A bit of sweating round the temples or in crevices generally means either you’re just too hot in bed, or, more likely for you, you are anxious and it’s making you sweat in the night. I have night sweats if my anxiety is playing up, but not drenching ones.

If you’re dieting, that’s probably why you’ve lost weight. Remember, the most simple answer is usually the correct one.

I quite often find small unexplained bruises on me, they do heal though. Do yours heal after a week or so?

Please try not to worry, cancer in younger people (under 50) is still quite rare despite what the media would have you believe 💜 have you spoken to a doctor?

I went to the doctor and he put me on sertraline as I had literally planned my own funeral and I was shaking and crying my eyes out before he even mentioned a blood test.

I'm on Sertraline too and also get itchy skin. I also get little bruises and my GP isn't concerned.

I just want to give you a big hug reading that. I completely understand how you are feeling, it is so frightening. One thing that helped me is remembering this:

Just because we think something does not make it fact.

So just because you think there is something seriously wrong with you, does not make it a fact. It is so hard when your mind automatically thinks the worse case scenario.

Big sympathies, I also have health anxiety and it's the pits. I was also on Sertraline and one day came out in bruises so bad I was sent to a&e - terrifying! Bloods were all normal so I was told to stop the Sertraline as it was the only explanation. The big bruises disappeared almost overnight but for ages afterwards I continued to have small bruises like you describe. Whether I always had them and just didn't notice or it was an after effect I will never know. Not seen any for ages but I stopped checking once I got side tracked by a different health worry!

Bruising is a known side effect of SSRIs in some people.My reaction was more extreme but I have heard of people getting small bruises too. If your doctor is doing bloods, it's a good thing to put your mind at rest.

Are you still taking the setraline?

A bit late to the post but get your bloods checked and if anything abnormal they’ll investigate.
I only found out I had it through complete blood counts.