Fear of the unknown - health anxiety is ruining my life.

Hello, I just wanted to emotionally explode by posting on this forum to see if anyone relates to me :(

I am a 24 year old female going through what feels like hell. For the past 3-4 years i’ve had a chronic cough, nothing major and would get worse at night - allergies I thought.

5 Weeks ago, the cough worsened and had a painful chest to touch (felt bruised). Had a clear chest x ray. Now my symptoms have spiralled out of control and googling has caused me to be on a brink of a mental breakdown.

I have had clear blood tests except signs of my thyroid being slightly out of whack, a tiny bit over active, one dr thinks this is due to my illness. He assumed this was glandular fever, that blood test came back negative.

I have logged my symptoms for weeks and have over 20 which sounds crazy. It started feeling serious when I couldn’t swallow food properly and had very swollen lymph nodes in my neck, I felt food get stuck and this followed with severe chest pain that lasted 9 days (I have never suffered with acid reflux symptoms before). I stopped eating and managed liquids.

I can now eat solids but still feel it get kind of stuck and slowly manage to make its way down and will only eat if I have water. My lymph nodes have been up for over 5 weeks now and i have felt exhausted through all of this - I spend most of the day in bed or having an emotional freak out! My tonsils have also changed shape this year (huge and pitted) and the sides of my tongue have bumps on - apparently swollen pappilae or something? It looks horrifying to me.

I also have had problems with my left eye, it does not focus properly and often excessively waters and this started around the time of my original chest pain.

I have experienced dull headaches, an icey cold feeling in my head, throat and chest, mouth ulcers, gum inflammation and a slightly green looking tongue. Of course google has me so far convinced that it is some oral type of cancer or oesophageal cancer, completely petrifying and with all my body aches my brain is thinking ‘it is spreading!’. I have also had a sore throat on and off.

Fast forward til now (roughly 6 weeks in) and I feel a shadow of my former self. I struggle to move, my body aches, especially my joints and pelvic area - something in my pelvic area feels so heavy. I also get pain in my left rib cage area and my right! I feel like I sound completely bonkers will all of this. I have often woken up at night with a rapid heartbeat and sweating like mad - I am honestly breaking down and losing hope. Lymphoma is also a worry but the doctor reassured me that that would show in bloods... I have read countless times that people have had normal blood tests with morbid diagnosis’!

I am having an ultrasound on the 31st and will see a gastrologist on the 4th. I am honestly convinced I have cancer and my mental health has hit an all time low, I am completely miserable and an emotional mess and just wish I could numb all of this worry. I feel I am going to recieve a morbid diagnosis that will take a long time to get and then eventually die. Sounds dramatic I know but my mind truly believes this. I am so desperate for help.

Sorry for the long first post and thank you to anyone who read it. I feel a mix of mentally insane and on the brink of a huge sinister health decline :( 

 

 

 

 

  • My name is Tom. I am 37 years old and am from Somerset.....where are you from mate name age?!!

  • I dont think you are meant to give full details out on here. But im a male myself. 29. Down in scotland so around the same sort of part of the world and age range. Ok. Sommerset has what just over 100 deaths. In a place with a population of over half a million. 100 deaths man. Look at the big picture not the whole UK numbers. Which anyway are also very small. 20k in a population of 66.5 million. The news does be making it sound alot. But 20k in a population that size is very small. Do u have any health issues underlying?

  • No am very fit to be fair...work out side most day...but I do have anxiety which makes it hard for me too think about good things just I can't get out my head every time I feel ill or down I think I must have it 

  • Yea I have anxiety as well. Health Anxiety I have which doesnt help in this pandemic lol. Sounds like you have similar. There are only 100 deaths in your area. When u look at the numbers its not that deep. Plus the UK had an all time low of deaths yesterday for a day for the last month. So if I was guessing id say we are passing the peak of the out break. Unless u have a persistent cough over a very high fever. Id say you are fine. Can you take a huge deep breath without coughing? That would suggest your lungs are ok lol

  • Mate you have been a top lad all though this I am very greatfull for making me better then what I was...my wife dose not understand what I go through in my head...I know am fine but when you have this it's hard to appreciate life???how many people around your way have it mate???

  • Think theres like 600 in the town im in that have been confirmed to have it, and I live in a small town I dont even like going shop incase some mad *** breathes near me. But honestly mate il be honest im the same boat as everyone else I dont know how serious it is. I do know the news has a tendency to make things sound worse than they are. Scotland as a whole has just over 2k deaths. In a country of about 6m people 2k is not alot... besides even if you do get it. Which is very highly unlikely. Your death rate in your age group is like 0.4% last time I looked but that was a few weeks ago so unless thats changed you have a 99.6% chance of survival. Decent odds lmao

  • Yea definitely I need to stop *** my head up with it all...I have a lump in my thorat but I know it's all too do with anxiety sometimes it's hard trying to tell yourself that's definitely what it is 

  • The lump in your throat is anxiety happens when you worry. Very very common anxiety symptom. Definitely wouldn't worry about that. Are you medicated? Dip some low strength diazepam and relax until the pandemic is over thats what im doing

  • Yea definitely the doc has told me that...you would never believe I have two kids and a wife..,with how I am over all this *** *** Covid 

  • Lol wouldnt feel ashamed about it, loads of people are the same like just most blokes wont admit it I generally dont care im open like. Not gonna sit back and tell you im all great over here. Im basically in the same boat as you every time I sneeze I *** myself haha. **** it tho.. wel see how it plays out I guess