Asbestos exposure

Just found out that the ceiling boards i took down weren't plaster board but asbestos. Now I'm having  a break down. I did were a mask and due to reducing the dust. We sprayed water. But now that I found out its asbestos I am so angry and can't stop crying knowing that more than  likely will develop cancer. I can't cope and my anxiety is destroy my family life. Will having a yearly x Ray or scan help.

Can't turn to anyone as feel so fool

  • Hi .I totally understand feeling asbestos everywhere my husband is decorating and he's sanding the doors down that previously had a brown Bakelite handle on it .Even though the handle has gone the sanding has sent me into a panick as the handle was once there.It's rather irrational really.I've started taking fluexotine from my doctor which has helped a lot but I may move up to 40 mg .I've just found this reall good book I'm reading How to tell anxiety to sod off 40 ways to get your life back.I've just started but it's quite funny and I can see me in it with the scenarios.it's by James withey.My sister is training to be a hypnotherapist for cbt so she is going to give me some treatment.See the pattern we see it everywhere.That is a symptom of us over catastrosising and being irrational.I wander what the odds of 2 people meeting on online with a fear of getting an asbestos disease and actually getting it lol.Surely we can be sure we are going to win the lottery jackpot now to! 
    Hope your soon feeling much better x

  • That's good I hope it helps you, my friend is on that meds and says it helps. I wonder if I am worse as I am day 5 now of citrapram and it can induce worse anxiety and panic initially. I have my first hypno session Thursday so I will see if that helps, good luck to you. I am still obsessing over this potential exposure I've read every article I can find online and tried to reassure myself this would have been a small exposure if an exposure at all in the open air but it's the guilt and the unknown that is all consuming to my children. I have no concerns over myself, my husband the architect, family members that have walked down there however so I am trying to reassure myself this is my mummy protection instinct not a real threat. Plus there's no actual benefit to my hysteria for years and years for something that may never come, One of us may get run over by a bus tomorrow (I actually did as a teenager lol) and we need to enjoy every precious day! I'm literally killing my self with anxiety which helps no one! I have read all the facts now and it seems a small exposure would be something like 2-3 months! A big one being high exposure over years and years so anything we have encountered is so unlikely to cause harm. The small exposures that caused anything have been things like 9/11 etc so think dust so thick you're surrounded with it. I have struggled with ocd since my son was born so I'm trying to attribute this to that..I used to bin a whole tub of milk powder if I left the lid open etc because the germs might have gotten in. I don't let my kids play in our back garden as that's where the dogs poo even though I pick it up and they are wormed..just incase they touched mud with germs and go blind. These are irrational fears! 
    I have read one in ten only get lung problems that have worked with aspestos for years and years and it is a probability like 1 in a million for a one off exposure. I literally feel like killing myself (I won't don't worry) but I know this is my fear - this asbestos fear is the worst you can get as there is such a long incubation period and the unknown. I keep seeing my children in hospital beds (again my fear) much more likely my husband who's been there much more etc. 
    you're right I am also convinced I will win then lottery and never do so maybe I am just completely crayyyzaay!!

    thanks for writing back to me it's really hard to speak to anyone - my dad said today I'm more likely to get abducted by aliens. My husband can't grasp how worried I am. Other family members were there the day I am concerned about and have zero concerns so I need to try and think like that! 

    I hope you are doing ok. Look after yourself x

  • I think it is mummy fear and protection because I only have fears for my children to .Not bothered about myself.Also I have  done similar things with binning "contaminated" things.I try to imagine what other people do and given the lifestyles of other people with doing decorating etc.How many skips we see on a daily basis in someone's drive .How many old houses need redecorating.As a diy nation from that point of view we should all get asbestosis.But only a tiny percentage in reality it's 4 % of lung cancer patients apparently and 0.10 % of population.So really tiny .

  • And that's with workmen obliviously going to work for years ( and imagine how many there would have been) going into big clouds of it in that static, so the statistic of a minute amount would  be practically non negotiable x

  • Sorry for another post.I think it would be a good idea for you also to ring up an asbestos company and they can give you some information and alay your fears .Ring a few if you like , I've done that before for advice.They will tell you it's small fry.I found some asbestos in my garden from my shed and my daughter even picked it up and played with it.Corrugated roof.He said it's so bound in a matrix and not to worry about it.I think she even came in for food after and didn't wash her hands( she didn't tell me until next day) and my mum recognised it to be asbestos as surprise suprise it was on my garage roof as a kid .Used to smoke in the garage with my friends all the time as a teenager .Broken roof in there to .Also some other bits I found a few years later in my garden after my husband unknowingly took down shed.I bagged up and put in bag for them to take away and they just took the bag and literally threw it onto back of their veichle.Obviously they weren't that bothered about it!x

  • Yeh definitely is mums will always worry I guess. My husband and dad think I'm being so silly so trying to hold on to that and enjoy the day today! Happy Mother's Day to you and thanks for your support.. your post got edited by the moderator lol so not sure if I missed anything but I really appreciate your positivity snd the statistics keeping me sane! Xx

  • Happy Mother's Day to you to.I was giving you my email address so you could email me if you ever get anxious about it but apparently that's not allowed .So have o be on here instead.

    Enjoy rest of your day.

    Heather x

  • Oh that's such a shame, you've really helped me in a dark time so I would have really appreciated that and someone who's been through similar and similar worries x

  • Hello worried24242 and beetlegeist, 

    Although to protect your privacy on a public forum,  you cannot exchange email addresses here, I wanted to let you know that we do offer a private messaging facility on Cancer Chat. You can find out more about this on this page

    I hope this helps! 

    Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator