I am having excaty the same worry, we had builders in the house remove walls and ceilings in bathrooms when refurbing and I am concerned we have fibres all over the house and i have young children. Out of my mind with worry!

Hi, have you had any tests done, there will be a place locally that will take samples of anything concerned about or postal services as well, mask up and double zip lock it, read on how to take a safe sample of whatever it is you are disturbing - from your post this may be too late as sounds like has been removed from site.  Unlikely to be anything in walls - around windows, airing cupboards, softfits and ceilings could be a place if old artex - loads of info on HSE site.  You coulkd get an air reassurance test as that will count the fibres in the air - the filter can be sent off for analysis to see if any fibres are asbetos or the guy doing it might unofficially give his opion of any fibres on the filter at the end of the test.  The air reassurance test threshold isn't great but is what is used after asbestos is disturbed to say safe to live in property - other countries used different thresholds as a pass doesn't necessarily mean none found although the extra analysis will give good indication - speak to a local asbestos specialist.

I can honestly say 6 months on it is a thing that worries me everyday, not for me but because of the children, I have struggled to move on, bought books on anxiety, tried CBT, mindfullness but nothing really helped as doesn't change the fact they could have been exposed.  I am now trying to move forward re-assuring myself that it is long term exposure that need to be worried about and risk from one off DIY is very low.  The whole 1 fibre can kill you doesn't help, nor does the statement that there is no safe level of exposure but what I try and console myself with is that the stuff is in the air anyway in urban environments and used to be much higher levels so if one fibre can kill you everyone would be dropping dead.  Whilst it is true it could be one fibre the chances are very small - I know that doesn't help much as it hasn't really helped me.  I spend hours imagining the behaviour of the dust cloud outside their windows that have poor seals and wandering if any got in because none getting is is really all I can deal with.

Not sure if been any help, don't panic, there may well have been none present, I hope you can move on,

Loz

Yes likewise, I have read enough to become an asbestos consultant. I did do an aire test but only in the bathroom not the rest of the house. I dont see I will ever get over this. Its becomes difficult to understand if it is a real issue or not and getting that clarity in your head is a trick one for me.

I am trying CBT and the doctor has prescribed me setroline for anxiety, only been on it for 3 weeks, so will see if that helps. At this point in time, I dont see me ever being comfortable int he house anymore but my wife does not want to move, am not sure is thats totally drastic or not.

I have read a lot about CBT and the thought re-training or whatever it is called and meant to help people with anxiety, doesn't help when a lot of the examples are anxiety over a job interview or presenting in front of people which is a different league to the kids health.  I did buy some books on anxiety and none of them really did the trick - there is no silver bullet out there but a process I am hoping.  Did start a book on OCD last night called 'brain lock' that seems to share similar things with the throught retraining process of CBT, hoping that yields something.

I am not sure I will ever move on but am becoming more aware that worrying about something that may never happen is ruining my enjoyment of life.  I am going to avoid the drug route for moment and maybe seek professional help if no improvement, I do think sometimes the GP's prescribe stuff too quickly and some can be addictive so tread carefully.

Unless you had artex ceilings of a certain age then I don't think you have much to worry about, even then they are roughly 1% - content far less than some of the other products.  As I am sure you are aware the white chysotile was for a while considered less dangerous than the brown or blue but the official guidance says no amount of any is safe but as said in earlier post if that were true everyone would be dropping dead.  From everything I have read as well even downing a lung/stomachful doesn't mean going to get cancer - genetics seem to play a part, towns near asbestos mines where everyone had high exposure over many years some people were not affected.

I think for you like me the only way of re-framing it is unlikely that was much if any present, and if there were then a very small chance much got through the bodys natural defences and even then the small amounts that may have got in won't be much in comparison to background levels of the past.  There is good evidence that the only people that suffer are those that worked with it long term in unsafe ways, you will always be able to find outliers out there that went down with what is thought to be minimal amount but these seem to be very rare.

I posted on lots of forums - 10+ at time and most people came back with stories of making things out of asbestos cement boards, throwing it like snowballs, etc and many of those were a ripe old age.

If it really worries you why not get another air test done by a different firm in any areas of concern, that should allay fears that anything still lurking in the house because moving does seem drastic.

I am trying to think that so many other things can happen and the chances are minimal - don't get me wrong very annoyed that something that was totally avoidable happened but what can we do, it may even change my life in a positive way to try and get out there to make most of everyday as like a lot of people stuck in a routine that is a bit of a grind.

Hope you manage to move on, I know how you feel, for me after 6 months I think there is a little bit of me wanting to enact change as my partner is so fed up hearing about it and I have become miserabe and short tempered, easier said than done !

Good luck, feel free to post of want to discuss anything,

Lawrence 

Could I contact you on email? might be easier than on here..

Hi Bencee, 

I just wanted to let you know that sharing personal information, such as email addresses, isn't allowed on the forum but you can share such information, if LozM is happy to do so, via private messaging. To do this you will need to add each other as a friend. We have some information on how to do this just here.

All the best,

Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

I have added you as a friend to private message was not aware you could not share personal details on here apologies

 bencee LozM  Absolutely long shot that you are still on here, or checking in, but I’m in the midst of a lot of what you described in your posts and wondered if you could offer reassurances that this will pass. Getting easier each day but just when I think I’m squaring it, the dread overcomes me 

Hi Lawrence,

Your message just came through to my email. I am sorry to hear you are struggling with this as I said a number of years ago. From the scenario you described in my opinion this is minute to zero risk. The reasons for this is that you yourself were not cutting the board and it was outside open to the elements. You could probably pick up the level of dust in a school or hospital, the exposure is non existent and far less for your children who would more likely to have more exposure in a school.

I think the main issue here as was with me, is this has become an obsession, in reality there is no real risk but I completely get that it is in your head especially when you have children. I was exactly the same. To put it into perspective as am sure you have read, you really have to have worked with and be exposed to asbestos for many years for there to be a problem, even then it is a small percentage of people. My own builder now in his 70's worked with asbestos in the 1970s for years cutting a sawing etc as did most builders/joiners back then, but not all of them got ill from it.

This is more of a compulsion/obsession which takes over the mind and the mind is powerful, but dont let it run away with you as I can now see that there is no risk to you or children from what you have described ( am assuming this stems from post 5 years ago) or is there a new scenario? Its a phobia and thats all it is. If you said you had worked for years with asbestos then I would say there is a risk. You have not therefore there is no risk at all. Try and relax there really is nothing to worry about at all.

Hope that helps and feel free to message me again if you need any further clarification

All the best

Ben

Hi bencee  thanks for replying and sorry for the  confusion. I’m a new poster who is going through the mill a bit at the minute and just hoped I could check in with someone who was previously in my position and offer me some reassurance that it does get easier to manage the anxiety. 
I read and re read all the stuff here on the forum and I’m slowly getting there and know that it’s talking to folk who have experienced the same, and made their peace with it, that is helping me the most. 

Ok sorry I think I got confused, but happy try and help you as I know what its like with this asbestos worry. Whats triggered it?

Hi, thank you so much for this, I’m hoping  hearing how you have been able to move on will help me find some peace with my situation.
My anxiety has been triggered by a plasterer scraping the Artex in the hall before plastering. More so because I’d never given the Artex a second thought as I know as long as it’s not disturbed it’s not an issue . I hadn’t had it tested (it was in good condition and the decision to plaster over it was a purely aesthetic one)  and have spent the time since worrying about fibres, even though I have wet wiped, cleaned, aired the space and thrown out the carpet. I’ve cleaned every room in the house and now on my 3rd hoover and recognising that I’m becoming a little obsessed to the point that I don’t want to be in my house. Your previous posts resonated with me as you had much the same feelings and anxiety as I currently do. I’ve read as much as I can and feel pretty rational about low one off exposure , especially thanks to the reasoned responses throughout this forum on the subject.  I suppose I just wanted to hear some advice on what I can do to help myself move on from this and stop the obsessing, or at the very least, make it more manageable. I have stopped googling after advice from the doctor but when the waves of anxiety come I can’t rationalise and it’s having an impact on my home life. 

Hi, thank you so much for this, I’m hoping  hearing how you have been able to move on will help me find some peace with my situation.
My anxiety has been triggered by a plasterer scraping the Artex in the hall before plastering. More so because I’d never given the Artex a second thought as I know as long as it’s not disturbed it’s not an issue . I hadn’t had it tested (it was in good condition and the decision to plaster over it was a purely aesthetic one)  and have spent the time since worrying about fibres, even though I have wet wiped, cleaned, aired the space and thrown out the carpet. I’ve cleaned every room in the house and now on my 3rd hoover and recognising that I’m becoming a little obsessed to the point that I don’t want to be in my house. Your previous posts resonated with me as you had much the same feelings and anxiety as I currently do. I’ve read as much as I can and feel pretty rational about low one off exposure , especially thanks to the reasoned responses throughout this forum on the subject.  I suppose I just wanted to hear some advice on what I can do to help myself move on from this and stop the obsessing, or at the very least, make it more manageable. I have stopped googling after advice from the doctor but when the waves of anxiety come I can’t rationalise and it’s having an impact on my home life. 

Hi,

I’m sorry to hear you’re going through this. I know exactly how it feels, and it can be very debilitating. I felt the same and didn’t want to be in my own home. However, what you’ve described is a very minor incident.

As you’ve probably already read, artex typically contains low concentrations of asbestos, so the level of exposure is minimal. As I mentioned in my earlier email, people generally need to be exposed to asbestos and working with it for many years for it to affect their health. No one has ever become ill in the scenario you describe.

That said, I do understand how it can take over and become an obsession, but that’s really what this is — a phobia. In reality, there is no significant risk here, especially as you’ve already cleaned up several times.

My builder told me they used to saw asbestos AIB boards — one of the worst types — in the 1970s, and he said the room would be so full of dust you couldn’t see. Even then, they did not develop illness from it. Compared to that, this one-off incident is negligible, and I really wouldn’t worry about it at all.

I’ve been through this myself, so I understand how overwhelming it can feel, but try to keep it in perspective. When the thought comes into your head, try to dismiss it — you know it isn’t rational. Also, try not to keep reading about it, as that tends to make things worse.

I’ve managed to put it to the back of my mind and don’t really think about it anymore. I’m much more relaxed about it now.

Another option that helped me was speaking to my doctor, who prescribed something called sertraline. It was a lifesaver. You do need to take it for a few months, but it can help reduce the obsessive thoughts and the anxiety. Even when the thought comes into your head, it tends to pass much more quickly.

That’s an option if you feel you can’t manage it on your own, and if you’re open to medication.

Hope this helps and you can try and park it in your mind when it pops in, other than that feel free to message me if you are still concerned..

Ben

Hi Ben, thank you so much for responding and offering words of reassurance and rationality. I can’t tell you how much you have helped me in the short space of time since I read your response. I think I just needed to get the perspective of someone who had been through the same anxiety and realise that I can reframe things. I’m taking a mild sedative which is beginning to take the edge off things and today may well have been the first time I wasn’t filled with dread returning home. I think part of my worry was that no matter what I do in regards cleaning that the fibres would just be ever present but your chat about air clearance gives me confidence that as time passes any perceived amount of fibres lessens. I’ll try and reframe my thoughts and accept they will continue to pop up but know it is how I choose to react to them that will help me move on. Thank you for showing me that I can change up my thoughts on this as you have done, and for offering to check in with you if I need it. I’ve set a target for tonight to step away from the internet and try and get some sleep 

Hi, sorry to bother you after I have had a couple of better days but I just wanted to ask about how you dealt with moving on from wanting to sell your house. I’ve spent the whole day fixated with wanting to sell up and no amount of trying to keep myself distracted is helping. All rational thought is out the window and I’m phoning the doctors tomorrow to ask for help in managing the anxiety. I know my house is clean and what’s done is done but my mind is firmly fixed on all the stress and anxiety of the last while and I can’t disassociate it from my home. What helped you to make peace with this? I’m just so upset that my place of solace is causing me huge anxiety at the moment .

Hi sorry to hear its causing you issues again. I began to relaise that moving house was not going to solve the issue, and I knew that I would prob find an issue with the next house unless it was a modern one that was built after they stopped using asbestos. I have manged to move on and stay in the house, I did have an air test done which gave me some peace of mind and now I am able to enjoy my home. I have come to relaise that we are surrounded by asbestos, we had a celing collapse in my office which was victorian building and obvioulsy asbestos reared its head again. I just keep having to tell myself that asbestos only really affected people who worked with it day in day out for years on and brief exposure doesnt really do any damage, otherwise you would hear a lot more about it. 

Try and enjoy your home, get an air test if that will give you some peace of mind but i guarantee it will be clear of fibres as was mine. Unfortunately this is a phobia and unless you treat the root cause it will follow you to the next house. Thats why setraline was a life saver, thats what I would suggest you ask for from the Dr. Do you suffer from any phobia, like illness or anything other not related to asbestos, as it sounds like classic anxiety symptoms. The asbestos concerns is not an issue its the anxiety that is, and thats what you need to come to terms with.

Hi bencee as always thanks for supporting me with this. 
I have managed to get away on holiday for a little while and my perspective has greatly changed. I realise that a lot of what I was feeling in response to the Artex issue was greatly exacerbated by being burnt out by work and other family issues and my anxiety was out of control as a result. Everyday of rest has allowed me to get mentally stronger and I now recognise that I have gone into an OCD spiral over this and my response to it all was not at all rational or proportional. I have another appointment with my doctor next week and will discuss the root causes of my anxiety and look at medication to support me manage the stressors I’m currently under that bit better. I’m so thankful for your support and guidance through this, you really gave me rationality when I needed it, and knowing that others have been though it and come out the other side has helped me in getting a handle on things. Thank you! 

Hi,

That’s really good to hear. This kind of reaction is often linked to a broader issue with anxiety, with something like artex simply acting as the trigger. In reality, the level of risk in the situation you described is extremely low to negligible.

I completely understand how these thoughts can spiral and become overwhelming, but please be reassured that once you address the underlying anxiety, this will naturally take a back seat in your mind.

I personally found Sertraline very helpful — it can be effective in reducing obsessive thoughts and the intrusive thinking that often comes with this type of anxiety.

It can feel very debilitating, but it is treatable, and you will be able to move on from it. It’s important to address it, as otherwise it can sometimes resurface in other ways.

Although the thoughts feel very real, they are ultimately irrational and can take hold quickly, so it’s best to deal with them early. Once you’re through the other side, you’ll be able to look back with much more clarity and perspective. You will begin to see the wood from the trees.

Once again feel free to drop me a line if you need any clarity on anything..

Ben