Health Anxiety - part three!!

[MrsWhites]

Hi ladies, back again for thread number 3!

@Lib3rtine I think that’s very normal, I was so bad for watching my son during the night, even hun up a few times! I’m still not great with it!

Its in one spot. Its right in the middle of my sternum, kind of half way between the bone at the bottom of my neck and the middle front bit of my bra strap. I assume its where the lungs split into two. I did wonder about costochondritis as this is what the breast cancer doctor thought my breast pain was before they found the cysts. Does yours come and go? I had it really badly last March when I thought I had covid and it has come and gone over the last year. But mostly not been there, probably had 8 episodes or less over the year? Not sure what had triggered me panicking about it today except that I had a long day at work and didn't take a lunch break.

Had a glass of wine and it felt a bit better but now I'm thinking about it its coming back again.

@Lib3rtine that's totally normal for Mums that don't have health anxiety! My DS was in NICU where it his temperature was measured constantly and he wore loads of layers and a hat. All the usual advice is to make sure they don't get too hot so when we brought him home I was totally obsessed about whether he was too hot or too cold and interrogated my poor DH endlessly about whether he was the right temperature! And took the poor baby's temperature endlessly.

@KasparKat mine comes and goes and like you the more attention I give it the more I can feel it. It does sound like costochondritis to me, did you say you have a pulse oximeter? I have one and kept checking my levels as I was worried about Lungs. Is it tender when you press on it? Apparently that’s a hallmark symptom, I also have a sharpish pain when I take a deep breath in although that’s intermittent too.

Hi all, does anyone have a lymph node at the back of their neck that they can feel quite easily? I presume it's a lymph node anyway, but it's theres one that's quite prominent on the left but there isn't one on the right? I've been trying not to poke it as I thought it might be a bit swollen due to being under the weather last week but it doesn't appear to have gone down.

@chorusline79 I have one in the side of my neck. It appeared about 5 years ago after a particularly nasty infection that left me deaf for months and never went away. It was fully checked out and there's nothing remotely sinister about it. Lymph nodes are weird things.

@chorusline79 I have several in my neck that cause me panic! Even though I’ve had bloods and scans that are normal! Mine are all around 1cm or smaller x

Thank you for the new thread x

Having an awful night sleep. Keep jolting awake with a huge rush of anxiety. Surely that can't be because of the vaccine?
I'm far too scared to Google it 😔
It isn't apnoea because I get that occasionally with acid. This is like a jolt of adrenaline rather than not being able to breathe.

@ofwarren how are you feeling this morning? I doubt it will be from vaccine, however you have done the right thing not googling as especially with the vaccines there is a lot of false info online. Hope you are feeling a bit better

@ofwarren I get that when I'm particularly stressed or anxious. You had a lot of anxiety yesterday so it will just be your body reacting to all the adrenaline released due to the anxiety.

@Goolies I looked up costochondrisis and I'm not sure that's what I have. There is no tenderness when I press on it and its not a sharp pain. More of a mild burning/tight sensation. I'm really in two minds about whether or not to call the GP.

@ofwarren hope you managed to get some sleep. Totally agree with @KasparKat that it's adrenaline/anxiety waking you up. I had this in the summer when I was really stressed and having blood tests when Doc was concerned about ovaries. I kept waking up with a jolt, panicking and sweating but it was all worry to do with that.

Thanks @tmh88 and @WitchSharkadder I read your replies before I slept and reassured me. I think mine has always been there in my neck but I'm just focused on it now. I might get it checked when pandemic has eased off as I don't feel I can keep going to docs currently! As it is I have done about 10 online consultations in as many months.

Wishing you all a decent day!

I must have fell asleep at some point from sheer exhaustion!
I feel a bit better today I think. It's insane what your brain can do to you isn't it. I agree it must have been anxiety attacks.
I've never had them in my sleep before so I must have been really really anxious.

I woke up with no chest tightness but of course now I am obsessing over it, it has come back really badly. So scared that if I call the GP they will just panic me even more and want to rule out cardiac causes etc.

@ofwarren I posted yesterday that I'd just had a couple of nights jolting awake with panic. It's so horrible, when you're exhausted and just want to sleep but your brain won't allow. Hope you managed some rest x
(I'm a huge Handmaids fan, btw, nice NN)

@chorusline79 glad you felt somewhat reassured.

Morning to everyone else

@KasparKat They will want you to come in for an ECG if they are like my doctor's. I had one for a similar reason. The symptoms went away afterwards for me.
Sorry you are feeling bad, it feels never ending doesn't it.

@KasparKat that really sucks. Try some breathing exercises or some muscle relaxation and see if that helps at all. I would be a hypocrite to tell you not to worry because chest pain terrifies me but you know it's just the anxiety.

I hope it improves soon. X

Having another bad today but can’t pin point why? Convinced there is something wrong with my lymph nodes in my neck! I just wish I could firmly believe the drs that there isn’t anything wrong!

@Lib3rtine glad you are both doing well! I had an angel care breathing mat thing that went under DS Moses basket mattress

@tmh88 I had an angel care mat too. Slept much better with that in place.
Sorry to hear you are having a bad day. Health anxiety really sucks the life out of you.

@Lib3rtine so glad you are doing well with your little one. I think it’s totally normal to worry about their breathing, I remember leaning over my children in the night to check I could feel them breathing. Once my son was prescribed a medicine when he was about a week old and I have it to him for the first time just before bed. I started panicking if he had a reaction that we wouldn’t know so I made my husband stay awake in shifts with me all night!!

It sounds like lots of you are having worries about chest pains, I personally don’t have that worry thankfully but it sounds horrible so sending you all big hugs!

I’m determined to have a better day today because I had a rubbish nights sleep so could have easily slipped into a rubbish day. I got up, got some home schooling done early and now I’m in a bit of a cleaning bubble. It’s keeping my mind occupied though!

I'm still panicking here! Going to take some omeprazole which I've been prescribed i the past for silent reflux. If that doesn't work I think I am going to have to call the GP but I'm so scared of doing that

@KasparKat have you tried a rub like deep heat, does it feel muscular? Sorry you’re struggling hun I think the gp will first and foremost will get you to take the omeprazole.
I know it’s hard not to worry for us health anxiety sufferers but try to remember that chest pains are so common and most people wouldn’t analyse them to the extent we do.

@KasparKat sorry you are still struggling. Have you tried something like gaviscon? If you think it will help you calm down then maybe ringing the GP is a good idea.

Thanks for the support. I took some Omeprazole and its maybe 10% better but not sure how quickly things like that are meant to work.

I'm worried that calling the GP will panic me if they want to rule out heart/lung type things. I really don't know what to do for the best. DH thinks I should wait a week and if its still bad to call the GP then. But he wouldn't worry if his arm fell off!