Health Anxiety - Part 4

[polkadotpixie]

I hope no-one minds me starting a follow up thread. I know some people were waiting for me to update so I thought I would but happy to ask MNHQ to delete if one of the long term posters wanted to start it 😊

Hi- lots to catch up on so I will do tonight! @cripez glad your scans gone well!

@ofwarren haven’t heard from you in a while, hope you are doing ok x

@tmh88
Sorry, I've been trying to keep busy and not dwell on things. It's been working actually. Not had a panic attack for ages, or been googling.
I don't have any results back from my MRI from 8 days ago. I don't even know who to ask about them as it was arranged by A&E.
Had my ENT appointment today. Camera down. No growth in my nose or throat.
They did a pressure check on my ear which was normal so they are doing ANOTHER MRI to check my neck and ears/sinuses etc this time.
Consultant says probably eustachian tube dysfunction because when I rinse my sinuses, water gets straight into my ear and it isn't supposed to be able to.

I'll read through the rest of the posts on here later.

Please can I join this thread. I've not read through it all properly.

I've always had health anxiety, mainly since dC was born. I had a routine ecg last week which showed an abnormality and awaiting an echo scan. I also had a chest X-ray which picked up some kind of deformity with my spine (apparently I've had it since birth and it won't cause any problems) but I'm so anxious about it all. Since then I can't stop crying, I've had panic attacks, ended up in a&e. Now I'm convinced something is wrong with my chest. I've been prescribed citalopram which I took for 2 days and made me feel sick, spaced out and made my hand shake. I just feel lost. I'm having stomach ache, diarrhoea, chest pain which I think is anxiety and doctor says all bloods and other observations are normal. I also don't know if these symptoms are long covid as I had covid in September.

Hi all,
Welcome to @movinghousetoday. It's awful waiting for results. I had a cancer scare last year and it has massively impacted upon my health anxiety. It's like I don't trust my body any more and am quite scared of it.

I've been hiding after a few bad days coinciding with pmt. @onlyreadingneverposting8 and @tmh88 my health anxiety is horrendous for about 10 days-a week before my period and only really eases after the first day. Despite the fact I know this happens every month, I still majorly freak out and indulge in the fears. I just can't rationalise with myself!

@KasparKat I get the internal vibration thing. Mostly on a night in bed or when I wake up in the night. Last month I had awful palpitations, brain zaps and eye flashes with my eyes closed every time I tried to sleep and pins and needles/tingling. Night times are awful with these symptoms - does anyone else find that they have these symptoms more at night? Day times I tend to get more of the butterflies in tummy, tight throat and heavy chest along with constant checking and being stuck in my head. But night times I really struggle and I am getting scared to go to sleep as I struggle to get to sleep and wake up several times in the night with random scary symptoms and I'm very worried about neurological illnesses at the minute :(

I spent several hours at the weekend checking my husband's skin for those infamous pink dots! He has a few but is not covered in them like me. I'm glad to hear other people have them too!

Thank you @GentlyGentlyOhDear
That has definitely kicked my anxiety off this time.

Someone said to me in work today that I looked tired and I burst into tears thinking I must be and look poorly

Checking in and confirming I get both palpitations and internal vibrations. My lower legs seem to be permanently doing it, and right now lying in bed I can feel them in my lower abdomen as well. I sometimes think maybe some kind of vitamin deficiency, or a trapped nerve, sciatica maybe, then obviously I go down the rabbit hole of diabetes, MS, brain tumours etc etc.

Welcome to new posters..my abdo scan showed something called grade 1 steatosis on my liver which the doctor says is perfectly normal for someone a) my age 55 and b) with gallbladdery issues (I have sludge/tiny stones which she also said is "perfectly normal" (doesn't bloody feel perfectly normal!)

Sorry if I miss anyone! there’s so much to catch up on!

@ofwarren glad your doing well! Doc said it’s etd with me! It’s not much better yet but keeps coming and going! I have dentist tomorrow so I’ll fill you in what they say! X

@movinghousetoday what is it with your spine? I have scoliosis so let me know if I can be of help in any way x

@GentlyGentlyOhDear I’m covered in pin prick red dots too, dp has a few but not many! I’m smothered posted on here about them before x

Who ever said about vibrations I’ve not had it in my stomach (think there’s too much loose skin to feel anything) but I do feel it in my thighs and sometimes arms! I think it’s fairly common feeling x

@AJ297 I've had coaching through work focusing on being present which has massively helped. It's also really helped in life in general! Happy to share details in DM to anyone interested.

@lul37 I think fatty liver would show up as my DH had this a few years ago and it was ultrasound that showed it. Doc said anyone who is overweight likely has it to a degree and if he lost weight he can reverse it.

@KasparKat I also get the internal vibration thing too. Similar to @GentlyGentlyOhDear I get it mostly at night and when I wake up in the morning.

I'm feeling okay just now. My boob is sore again and even though I know everything is fine it still worries me. I definitely understand that feeling of being almost scared of my body :/

Thank you everyone for the reassurance about the internal vibrations. That's one thing I can cross off the list before I speak to my GP tomorrow! It's so weird, I've never had it before.

I don't understand why my anxiety is so bad at the moment. I feel like things are getting better, kids back at school, vaccines, things starting to look more normal, weather getting better etc. I wonder if its some kind of delayed reaction to the stress of the past year.

@StooriMelon ooh yes please! I'm willing to give everything a try at the moment! X

@KasparKat I have the internal vibrations. Such a strange feeling. I'd never had them before until a few months ago when my anxiety was at high

Morning all. Rotten night of insomnia which then of course becomes lying in bed poking and prodding and imagining all sorts.
Hope everyone is more awake than me and has a good day.

Absolutely convinced I have pancreatic cancer. Been up literally all night. Pains are so much worse.

Morning ladies. Hope you are all ok.

@MarthasGinYard sorry to hear you had such a bad night, everything seems worse when you are sleep deprived. I hope you find an answer to these pains soon!

I’ve got an eye test today which has really upped my anxiety - pathetic isn’t it, can’t even go for an eye test without worrying! So that’s had me poking this morning. Does anyone else have any lumpy bits that feel more prominent when sitting up compared to lying down?

@MrsWhites yes my lumpy bits always feel more prominent when I’m sat/stood up! I can’t feel the lymph nodes in my neck when I’m laid down! 😂 or the muscles bits over my collar bone when I’m laid down! I feel them when everything sort of drops with gravity 😂 good luck today! I’m sure you will be just fine, I know how anxiety inducing it feels through x

@tmh88 thank you! Hope you have felt a little better the last couple of days x

Hi all. If my lymph nodes on my collar bone were swollen would it be easy to feel? I was having a poke yesterday and thought I felt something but can't find it again now. I'm not sure if it was just muscle or something. Are they quite prominent if they are raised?

Morning all, I just did my monthly breast exam and am feeling so reassured. I always feel anxious leading up to it but the method that the breast clinic suggested works SO well and I really think it could help some of you who are serial prodders!

So every month the day after my period stops (I'm on the pill so that means the morning after I take my first pill of the month) I do a breast exam but I draw a picture of it. So I draw two boobs, label them left and right, and draw wriggly lines where there are ridges, and little circles where I can feel cysts (I have fibrocystic breasts), and also circle an area that is always a bit hard and swollen.

And this is the best bit, once I've drawn my pictures, I then look back to the previous month and I find that I have drawn pretty much exactly the same thing as last month. It really is so reassuring as if I were to check more often or not write it down I know I would be panicking about the cysts and the swollen area and the ridges, or worrying that something feels different than last time. But there is something so helpful and reassuring to see written down in black and white that those cysts were there in the exact same place last month, and the month before. And I will know if there is anything new that I need to get checked out.

Hope that doesn't sound too preachy but honestly I've been quite worried the last few days due to increased pain and thought I could feel a new lump, but all of that has disappeared now that I have done my monthly exam. And even better, I can now forget about my breasts for another month! I really hope that this helps someone else.

I am waiting for my GP to call this morning which ways makes me feel on edge and like I need to sit by the phone! I have even written notes of what I want to say. I'm really convinced that I might have Pots and I just did a test with my oximeter, my heart was 65 when I crouched down, went up to 120 within a minute of me standing up, and then when I crouched down again it went down to 55. That's not normal is it?

But I also want to talk to him about the recent dizziness I've had, which I don't think is connected to the my racing heart as it doesn't happen at the same time it happens when I move my eyes around quickly, and the ongoing sinus pressure that I've had since November. Just worried that he won't have time to listen to all of my different symptoms.

I also haven't had a tight chest for a few weeks now so wondering whether to mention it. If I don't that probably means it will come back though!

@MrsWhites yes doing loads better thank you! Think it was just all too much at the weekend! X

@AJ297 I had a wobble over my collar bones the other week I can feel “lumps” on mine but I can actually track them along my collar bone for about an inch/ inch 1/2 and that made me feel better that it was just muscle! I can’t remember when it was I posted on here but a lot of the other posters have lumpy collar bones too x

I have refrained from my regular breast checks because I had the Pfizer vaccine a month ago and the lymph nodes on that side have been up and down ever since.

I am mostly able to be rational about that and put it down to the vaccine.

Some days my brain likes to try and make me go down the 'this is serious' route but luckily I think this is one thing I can actually stay on top of.

I'm still getting over the stress and trauma of the scan on Monday. Yesterday I felt hungover all day. Today I'm just really tired. Have put Winnie the Pooh on for DD and am letting myself indulge in tea and Jaffa cakes.

Need to have a rational conversation with the dr about the chronic pain soon. I think we are headed toward a fibro diagnosis.

@AJ297 Will respond properly to everyone later, but just wanted to respond to this to say that absolutely you would feel them, you wouldn't need to pull around. When mine was swollen with my lymphoma they were obvious even from 6 feet away when you looked at me. I have a shotty node on my collarbone at the right side above, and that is also easy to find. It's probably just under a centimetre round.

@KasparKat This is brilliant advice, thank you so much! I had a wobble yesterday with poking, but managed not to spiral. This thread has been so helpful to know how many other women struggle with the breast, but also how common fibercystic breasts are. What you have described in your breath sounds very like my breath! They keep us on our toes!

Obvs I mean breasts!

Hope everyone is well! I wondered does anyone know how I could go about getting a private blood test for vitamin deficiency? I’ve convinced myself I have a vitamin b deficiency and i want to be tested. I wanted to ask on here as I’m not sure other people would understand the anxiety I have around calling my GP about this. I’ve had several GP appointments this year and I can’t face calling them again! Obviously if the private cost is extortionate I’ll have to.

Hey ladies so I’m still stressing about the areola crease. When I lift up my right arm I can see a crease/ dent in my areola. I’m considering a private appt but my husband thinks I’m overreacting. I can stretch it out with my other hand so it’s not visible if I really pull the skin tight.

What should I do??