Spiralling and I don’t know if it’s anxiety or illness

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I know I suffer with anxiety, but I don’t know how to tell when it’s anxiety causing my physical symptoms or if it’s a genuine health condition I should be worried about. I’m getting a twinge of sharp pain in my chest when moving my head or arm in certain directions. I’ve had this about six months, maybe longer, have mentioned to gp who says costochondritis, my chest isn’t tender to touch like that condition is supposed to be. I’ve also recently acquired heel pain, stiffness when I get up on the morning and when I’ve been siting down so after periods of inactivity. To give you back ground for my mental health, I haven’t been diagnosed as having any problems but I guess I’ve not really spoken to the doctor to aknowledge I’m struggling. We did home renovations and disturbed asbestos accidentally when knocking through a wall, white asbestos, which I know is supposed to be the least dangerous but I can’t help being terrified about it. When I looked into the dangers of asbestos I discovered that some years previous to this experience a plumber had Swann through a flue at my mothers house while I lived there and it was more than likely asbestos ( we obviously didn’t know that at the time but researching since based on the age of the house it’s more than likely). So basically this all caused me to nearly have a nervous breakdown, about me getting ill and leaving my children motherless, also about them being harmed by the diy incident at my house. Anyway so I’ve been dealing with this chest pain and it’s been quietly nagging at me, I try to dismiss as a muscular thing that my anxiety makes worse, I have also had chest tightness which I’m trying to put down to stress and anxiety related to lockdown etc. Anyway tonight I was googling about my heel pain and what I could do to ease it when an article flashed up linking heel pain to lung cancer. I’ve been sobbing for ages, I feel terrified, I don’t know if it’s irrational or not. I feel petrified. I don’t know if I’ll even be able to get a go appointment what with everything that’s going on in the world but I’m not sure how to cope with the fear.

Oh OP you poor thing. I can certainly relate and it does sound like anxiety to me. If you're that worried I'd suggest you try to get an appointment with your GP either face to face or even a telephone appointment for some reassurance. If you struggle to put it into words for the doctor I'd suggest writing down and bullet pointing the symptoms you're experiencing I found that helped me massively when I felt unable to say how I was feeling.

I know how terrifying it feels when you think it's something serious I thought I was having a heart attack when my anxiety levels went through the roof. It's hard because you can feel your thoughts racing and you wind yourself up that it's the worse. I'd suggest try doing something that relaxes you, I normally try to read a book and listen to music to help me relax and calm down.

www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/anxiety-and-panic-attacks/anxiety-symptoms/

check out this site OP I've found it really helpful for reassurance of my symptoms when I feel anxious or have symptoms of my other MH issues.

I doubt the minor asbestos exposure would be enough to cause long term problems. People worked with it for years and then developed issues. I think you'll be fine on that front. See your gp about anxiety, they might have something to take the edge off it. I've suffered with depression and avoided pills until recently but I'm now on fluoxetine and my moods don't go low like they used to.

I had chest pain for about 2/3 years and just ignored it or put on pain creams, heat packs etc. I thought it was stress but didn’t do anything about it hoping it would go away.
Last week, I had a panic attack at work and my chest hurt so much I thought something was wrong. I went to emergency and they gave me an ecg, chest X-ray and blood tests.
All came back clear and they told me it was stress. I kind of thought it would be but was relieved when they told me there is nothing physically wrong. I also did a urinalysis and turns out I have a UTI. I’ve got antibiotics and am resting.
Do not underestimate the effects stress has on your physical and emotional state.
See your GP to rule out problems, maybe see a Physio for the muscle pain and try to look after yourself.
Sorry I’m not trying to make this about me, just want you to know everybody struggles with something at some point.

Thanks for your replies and understanding, I think I will try and get an appointment with my gp, and try and open up a bit more. Thank you.