It's Been A Week Now....

[BejeweledMexican 32]

I'm such a mess. I woke up this morning with a positive attitude. 'This is going to be a good day. You just have some post nasal drip...that's it! Nothing to worry about'

The first two hours of the morning went well. When I first woke up I felt great! No coughing, no mucus, no chest fullness, nothing! Then about 30 minutes into the day I started feeling things in my throat and chest and I started coughing. I didn't let that get me down though. 'Must be allergies' I tried to convince myself...even though it's been like this for a week. 

I've gone over all the possibilites in my mind. TB. Heart attack. HIV. But my mind keeps coming back to lung mets from cancer. And then I get on Facebook.....
'One year ago today heaven gained an angel' yes, one of my best friends moms died a year ago today from breast cancer....that spread to her lungs. 

Now I'm back to freaking out. I don't know why this is happening. I hate that my mind immediately goes to the absolute worst case scenario. I hate that this crap has lasted for longer than a week now. Normally if it's just anxiety it's gone within like 4-5 days. I need serious help. 

How do y'all do it? How do you NOT let your mind go to the worst case scenario when your symptoms last a long time? I've tried everything. Cough drops, Flonase, Claritin, Mucinex, etc. I don't know what else to do. 

[bin_tenn 1252]

23 minutes ago, BejeweledMexican said:

I'm such a mess. I woke up this morning with a positive attitude. 'This is going to be a good day. You just have some post nasal drip...that's it! Nothing to worry about'

The first two hours of the morning went well. When I first woke up I felt great! No coughing, no mucus, no chest fullness, nothing! Then about 30 minutes into the day I started feeling things in my throat and chest and I started coughing. I didn't let that get me down though. 'Must be allergies' I tried to convince myself...even though it's been like this for a week. 

I've gone over all the possibilites in my mind. TB. Heart attack. HIV. But my mind keeps coming back to lung mets from cancer. And then I get on Facebook.....
'One year ago today heaven gained an angel' yes, one of my best friends moms died a year ago today from breast cancer....that spread to her lungs. 

Now I'm back to freaking out. I don't know why this is happening. I hate that my mind immediately goes to the absolute worst case scenario. I hate that this crap has lasted for longer than a week now. Normally if it's just anxiety it's gone within like 4-5 days. I need serious help. 

How do y'all do it? How do you NOT let your mind go to the worst case scenario when your symptoms last a long time? I've tried everything. Cough drops, Flonase, Claritin, Mucinex, etc. I don't know what else to do. 

Slow down, take some good deep breaths. I understand completely the mind jumping to worst case scenarios - I'm currently dealing with it myself. I know exactly how you feel, as do many others here. Also, sorry to hear about your friend's mother who passed last year. That's awful.

It's probably not anxiety, or at least not solely anxiety, causing these symptoms. It definitely sounds like allergies or sinuses are at play as well. And anxiety will certainly exacerbate those things. A week? Lucky, compared to most who often battle severe allergies for weeks at a time. For what it's worth, I have what seems to be year round allergies. I get the stuffy or runny nose, cough, mucus, scratchy throat, even some slight "wheezing" in my chest off and on, all year long. Claritin provided some relief, but not completely.

Right now, I don't think you should worry about not letting your mind jump to conclusions. That comes later. For starters, just challenge these thoughts. Over time, that's partly how you alter your thought process and rewire your brain to react appropriately (e.g. not jumping to conclusions). I've personally made some progress in that department, but as you can see I still struggle with it. It doesn't happen overnight, and it takes a whole lot of time, patience and effort.

Hang in there. You'll be fine.

[BejeweledMexican 32]

2 minutes ago, bin_tenn said:

Slow down, take some good deep breaths. I understand completely the mind jumping to worst case scenarios - I'm currently dealing with it myself. I know exactly how you feel, as do many others here. Also, sorry to hear about your friend's mother who passed last year. That's awful.

It's probably not anxiety, or at least not solely anxiety, causing these symptoms. It definitely sounds like allergies or sinuses are at play as well. And anxiety will certainly exacerbate those things. A week? Lucky, compared to most who often battle severe allergies for weeks at a time. For what it's worth, I have what seems to be year round allergies. I get the stuffy or runny nose, cough, mucus, scratchy throat, even some slight "wheezing" in my chest off and on, all year long. Claritin provided some relief, but not completely.

Right now, I don't think you should worry about not letting your mind jump to conclusions. That comes later. For starters, just challenge these thoughts. Over time, that's partly how you alter your thought process and rewire your brain to react appropriately (e.g. not jumping to conclusions). I've personally made some progress in that department, but as you can see I still struggle with it. It doesn't happen overnight, and it takes a whole lot of time, patience and effort.

Hang in there. You'll be fine.

But that's what I don't get. My nose is fine. No sneezing, no stuffiness, no stuffy ears. I get those allergies year round but right now I'm only having this nasty chest and throat crap. I don't know what else to do. I have to turn in my TB Test paper to the nurse at my college and I keep delaying it because on the list you have to check off that you HAVEN'T had a cough for two weeks....I'm on 1 week. Do I check it off an move on or do I wait? Ugh. I hate this. I hate my freaking body lol I want to be like you! You handle your anxiety so well! 

[bin_tenn 1252]

1 hour ago, BejeweledMexican said:

But that's what I don't get. My nose is fine. No sneezing, no stuffiness, no stuffy ears. I get those allergies year round but right now I'm only having this nasty chest and throat crap. I don't know what else to do. I have to turn in my TB Test paper to the nurse at my college and I keep delaying it because on the list you have to check off that you HAVEN'T had a cough for two weeks....I'm on 1 week. Do I check it off an move on or do I wait? Ugh. I hate this. I hate my freaking body lol I want to be like you! You handle your anxiety so well! 

Eh, I just don't post often about my struggles. Haha. I won't lie, I still struggle every day. Not nearly as severely as I used to, but I still struggle. It took me some years, but I learned how to accept it, for the most part. It's not easy, but so worth it.

Allergies don't always cause "all" the symptoms. They can affect just a few things, including the chest and throat.

[BejeweledMexican 32]

3 hours ago, bin_tenn said:

Eh, I just don't post often about my struggles. Haha. I won't lie, I still struggle every day. Not nearly as severely as I used to, but I still struggle. It took me some years, but I learned how to accept it, for the most part. It's not easy, but so worth it.

Allergies don't always cause "all" the symptoms. They can affect just a few things, including the chest and throat.

I just don't like that it's been going on for a week now. Especially because when I breathe out it tickles all throughout my throat AND chest and I can't help but cough....more like hack up a lung lol but there's like no mucus. And then there's other times when I don't hack up a lung but I just cough a really dry cough. It scares me to death. I can deal with the coughing I just don't like the feeling I get when I breathe out. I told my counselor and she agrees that it's really weird. 

[bin_tenn 1252]

37 minutes ago, BejeweledMexican said:

I just don't like that it's been going on for a week now. Especially because when I breathe out it tickles all throughout my throat AND chest and I can't help but cough....more like hack up a lung lol but there's like no mucus. And then there's other times when I don't hack up a lung but I just cough a really dry cough. It scares me to death. I can deal with the coughing I just don't like the feeling I get when I breathe out. I told my counselor and she agrees that it's really weird. 

I still say it sounds like you're experiencing a normal thing, and overreacting. Welcome to health anxiety, right? We usually don't like when things last longer than we feel they should, but the reality is it's very much normal and harmless.

[Ellebel 67]

6 hours ago, BejeweledMexican said:

I'm such a mess. I woke up this morning with a positive attitude. 'This is going to be a good day. You just have some post nasal drip...that's it! Nothing to worry about'

The first two hours of the morning went well. When I first woke up I felt great! No coughing, no mucus, no chest fullness, nothing! Then about 30 minutes into the day I started feeling things in my throat and chest and I started coughing. I didn't let that get me down though. 'Must be allergies' I tried to convince myself...even though it's been like this for a week. 

I've gone over all the possibilites in my mind. TB. Heart attack. HIV. But my mind keeps coming back to lung mets from cancer. And then I get on Facebook.....
'One year ago today heaven gained an angel' yes, one of my best friends moms died a year ago today from breast cancer....that spread to her lungs. 

Now I'm back to freaking out. I don't know why this is happening. I hate that my mind immediately goes to the absolute worst case scenario. I hate that this crap has lasted for longer than a week now. Normally if it's just anxiety it's gone within like 4-5 days. I need serious help. 

How do y'all do it? How do you NOT let your mind go to the worst case scenario when your symptoms last a long time? I've tried everything. Cough drops, Flonase, Claritin, Mucinex, etc. I don't know what else to do. 

My worst fear was ALS and those symptoms (twitching, cramps) started 1,5 years ago and STILL last. You have to manage the fear, not the symptoms. Yeah i know easier said than done... i am in a much better place then i was 2 years ago but still get consumed from time to time. Try to calm your mind. Breathing exercises, headspace app, things like that. Seem silly at first but after a while REALLY help.