Worried about spitting up blood.

[Raine9]

Hey what's up everyone.

I posted this past Tuesday worried about spitting up a little blood in the morning.  Well, it happened again this morning.  I finally called my doctor, he's supposed to call me this afternoon.  Worried about what he'll have to say.  Surprisingly my shortness of breath and chest tightness is not bad and hasn't been that bad for the last couple of days.  I think it's because I didn't drink coffee in the morning.  Caffeine does cause anxiety.  In any event, I am dreading next week.  I have a feeling my doctor is really gonna push a chest x-ray.  My previous posts explains my worry over a chest x-ray.  Just hate going into the weekend feeling like this...

[debaser23]

I responded to your post in the other "success" or whatever you want to call it thread.

What's your worry about a chest x-ray?  Probably tens of thousands of people have gotten one every day for decades.  If you're taking them all the time that's not good, but good doctors won't be taking them all the time!  A little radiation won't hurt you.  The body is resilient.  If the benefits didn't far outweigh the concerns, you wouldn't be getting one.

I said some in the other thread about spitting up blood.  I'll be more specific this time and we can see if our stories match.

I had a head cold or possibly just a really bad sinus episode.  Lots of drainage, alternating with a stuffed up nose.  My chest was tight but I seldom coughed.  When I did it was what I'd call an "unproductive" cough...a dry one.  Classic head cold symptoms.  I noticed a little blood in the drainage I was spitting out.  To some people it would look like a lot of blood, but I know that a little can look like a lot, especially when it's diluted in some other viscous substance.  My next step was to take a Claratin OTC allergy pill to see if that would help.  It was a mistake.  I somehow retained the drainage problem and simultaneously got a lot drier.  Should've went with the old standby -- Tylenol Allergy/Sinus.  Even the daytime formula makes me drowsy so I just wanted to avoid it.  Anyway, then the blood increased a little.  It looked like little tine globules in the sink, mixed with the mucous.  I wasn't overly worried, but I decided to call the "ask a nurse" thing on the back of my insurance card.  They told me it was nothing to worry about.  If the cold got worse or the blood increased a lot, they said I should see a doctor within 72 hours (that's code for "you're not dying").  Anyway, the cold got better but I still had the blood for a few more days.  Then it disappeared and I haven't seen it since.  That was weeks ago.  I've had allergies and drainage since (it's the season around here) but the atmosphere just hasn't been as dry as it was back then.  We were getting lots of cold fronts from the west at the time all this was going down.  Due to that dryness and the winds, we were also getting a lot of grass fires so I'm sure there were a lot of particulates my body wasn't used to, too.

In other words, this is probably nothing.  It certainly doesn't hurt to have a doctor check it out, but please don't allow it to worry yourself to the point you can think about nothing else.

Good luck.

[Raine9]

My worry about a chest x-ray is not the radiation, it's the results.  My health scare last summer was an abnormal chest x-ray.  The doctor said that they had found a fluid collection in my right lung.  He said that it could be one of three things; nothing, pnemonia (pneumonia) or a tumor, although he did not see a mass on the chest x-ray.  I would have to see a pulmonary specialsit and probably do a CT scan.  They couldn't get an appointment for me to see the pulmanary spec until a week later so I opted for the Ct the next day because I was so scared.  The night after the abnormal finding and before the Ct, I was so scared of the prospect of having a tumor in my lungs.  My mind went to such a dark and scary place.  The CT revealed a pleural density, which is a thickening of the lungs and a hole in my lungs.  The doctor and pulmonary spec that I eventually went to see said that it was mostly likely due to a previous illness, like pnemonia (pneumonia) and nothing to worry about.  So I was relieved for a few days.  But my mind just kept going back to that dark and scary place. It didn't help that I gave birth a few months ago, my hormones were all over the place and that I was at home with my baby.  I had a lot of time to sit and think. Also it was Fall and the days were getting shorter.  I always get down during that time of the year.  To make things even worse my husband and I were also trying to sell our house and we were not getting offers. So I was worried about that too. Eventually, we did sell it. All that on top of having to take care of a newborn and a 3 year old.  Before I knew it, I was suffering from full blown anxiety and depression.  Last October the physical symptoms started with difficulty swallowing.  Since then, it's been one symptom after the other.  Each time I get worried that it might signal an actual serious illness.

A couple of weeks ago I went to see my doctor about this shortness of breath I have been experiencing off and on since January and he said that it mostly was due to anxiety but he said that I should get a chest x-ray as a precaution. He also told me more about that abnormality they found last summer.  He didn't tell me back then because he didn't want to put any ideas in my head and worry me.  But that thickening they found in my lungs is not usually found in young people.  Usually found in older people especially those with emphysema.  He told me to go get a second opinion from another pulmonary spec.  I went to see him last week.  That pulmonary spec.  agree that the abnormality was proabably due to a previous illness but he thought that it could be chronic and that I might develop more thickening in the other lung. He wanted to redo a chest x-ray.  So that's why I am so afraid of having a chest x-ray.  I don't know what they will see.  They may see nothing but I'm not prepared to find out.  How do I take care of my kids? How do I going on living if they find that I have some weird lung disease?    

And this blood I've been spitting up just adds to my worry.  I have been sick a couple of times the last two months, so maybe the blood is related to that.  But I read in the respiratory diseases forum that rust colored blood means blood that has been sitting in the lungs.  Sometimes the blood that I spit up kinda looks rusty colored.  I could be wrong.  This blood thing has been going on off and on for about three weeks now.  It's just too much to think about right now. I have shortness of breath that could or could not be do to anxiety, an abnormal chest x-ray, and spitting up blood.  What pisses me off is that I don't smoke and I take care of myself, yet I have all these problems.  I just hope if and when I eventually get medical attention for my problems, everything will turn out okay.

[396SS]

I would make sure I got the question answered about the "abnormality" in your chest x-ray.  I wouldn't let the doctor just send me away again without a definitive answer.  What you need is an answer, or you will be worried about it forever - period.  If they have to send you to a specialist or second opinion, whatever it takes!  I have to have answers or I worry about my health - and I want to see all x-rays and results for myself as well.  Don't let them send you home without a full explanation and let them know how much it is stressing you.

[suzi-q]

I know your fears....it is terrible to feel this way....Just walking into a doctor's office freaks me out.  I have had scares and it always freaks me out.  So, please know that I understand.

But you need to get to the doctor and get the chest x-ray or whatever he feels necessary.  first of all, there are so many different things that can be wrong that do not mean cancer.  And..most likely...it is nothing.  Think of how great you will feel when the results are fine!!!!  And if by slight chance there is something, it is better to find it early instead of later.  There are many treatments today that it doesn't have to mean a death sentence.  Take a deep breath and do what you need to do.  Also know that there are people on this sight praying for you and wishing you the best.  Keep us updated.

[debaser23]

I think you need to know what's happening to your body.  You should have all the imaging the doctors want to do, and you should have them explain the results.  

I guess personality types are different, but if it were me I couldn't handle not knowing.  I'd want a diagnosis...a problem to solve.  Ignoring it isn't going to help matters.  It could be something that gets worse if left untreated.