Could Anxiety Cause me to be sick?

Okay, I have bad anxiety...and I've been getting this bad cough that produces phlegm all the time. I've had this cough for almost a month now...and it's getting worse. I'm a 17 year old male with hypochondria, and doctors tell me that anxiety can "mirror" the symptoms of sicknesses. And recently, I've been afraid of the thought of lung cancer and so I researched the symptoms and I've seemed to get most of them. I don't cough blood, I don't smoke, rarely drink. Just hoping of someone could clarify if they get this to? Because I've been known to waste time with doctors and I don't want to waste anymore time. But, if someone could give me a quick insight, I'd greatly appreciated.

[TylerAllison]

The symptoms I've gotten were:
-a cough that gets worse or doesn’t go away
-breathing problems, such as shortness of breath or wheezing
-constant chest pain, especially when you cough
-a hoarse voice
-fatigue (feeling very tired all the time)

Although I've always been tired since I was 14. I don't believe I have Narcolepsy, but I do experience Sleep Paralysis sometimes.

Symptoms I haven't gotten yet:

-coughing up blood
-frequent chest infections, such as pneumonia, or an infection that doesn’t go away
-unexplained weight loss
-loss of appetite

All these symptoms were from cancer.ca

[nursegirl6572]

Ok, first of all, you DON'T have lung cancer.  I'd bet every dollar I have in the bank.  You are suffering from health phobias, and searching online is the very worst thing you can do.  People who do this often conveniently only read what they think is relevant to them.  For example (no specific disease here)...a 16 yr old male is astounded that he has EVERY symptom listed, yet gloss over the fact that disease X is typical in post-menopausal women over 60, or that disease X only occurs in 0.2% of the population.  That kind of stuff.

To answer your question....anxiety can cause a HUGE number of very real physical symptoms, however, I highly doubt that your symptoms are solely caused by anxiety.  Anxiety may be worsening them as far as how you perceive them...but a cough with mucous production indicates that you actually have something,  My guess?  The common cold, upper resp infection or even perhaps bronchitis.  Folow up with your doctor...they can do a chest xray to rule out things like pneumonia, bronchitis, and yes, even lung cancer.  A lot of these types of infections simply have to run their course, and the symptoms can linger for a while.  Being a smoker myself...I can tell you that every time I get a cold, it always settles in my chest, and the related cough can sometimes hang around for months before it finally goes away.  Now, I understand you're not a smoker, but that doesn't mean that the symptoms still wouldn't linger.  Plus, we're smack dab in the middle of cold and flu season.

Follow up with your doc, and in the meantime, really think about getting some therapy to help you deal with your health phobias.  You're a young person with a lot of great things to experience out there in life..the last thing you should be doing is worrying about cancer, ya know?

Oh, and lastly....you are not Narcoleptic either,  That's just another example of too much googling.  You can google ANY set of symptoms in the world (example...for the common cold)...and get a whole list of very very scary, terminal illnesses as a result.  This is why searching the web when you already have irrational anxiety about your health is the worst thing you can do.  It's basically the same as someone with a severe snake phobia jumping into a snake pit day after day.  Gonna scare that person to death, right?

Keep us updated on how you're doing, hope you feel better soon!

[TylerAllison]

Lol Thanks alot!

It's just hard, I've never really been concerned about my health until I had my first and worse panic attack ever. After that, I went out of control with my well-being...but thanks for the information Nursegirl, the doctor gave me some anti-bodies called Amoxocillian but nothing seems to be helping, maybe it is Bronchitis, but we never had the x-ray done.

I should ask my doctor right after I'm done the medication, maybe then he can give me the proper medication for sickness I have.

[TylerAllison]

I got perscribbed Hydrocodone now...isn't that a muscle relaxer??

[mama23babies]

It is a narcotic pain medicine but can be used to suppress coughing as well.