Health Anxiety & Bronchitis

[44Max44]

Hi guys,

A short backstory: For the past month I've been on several different sets of antibiotics for several different things, which has really been stressing me out. The main one I've been worried about is bronchitis, which all started when I coughed up some grey/black phlegm which I knew wasn't right, I've been on 2 sets of antibiotics for it already.

Which brings me to this point. I'm still noticing little bits of black phlegm here and there even after all these antibiotics. I'm trying my hardest to convince myself that it's probably just remnants of the infection and that it'll probably clear up soon and the doctor even said it should clear up within a week, but I'm still stressing over it almost constantly. I'm coughing on purpose every so often just to check if there's any black phlegm, and 99% of the time there isn't but then I'll cough up a tiny bit and get thrown right back into the loop. There have been at least 4 times in the past few weeks where I've gone "I'm finally getting better!" only to see more black phlegm and get worried again.

The thought that keeps popping up in my head is "what if it's lung cancer?" because I stupidly googled the symptoms, and of course one of the things that popped up about black phlegm is that it could be a sign of lung cancer. I smoked weed pretty often for around two years or so but stopped smoking it a few weeks before the black phlegm popped up and haven't touched it since, so now I'm worried sick that maybe the smoking has lead to lung cancer. I'm regretting ever smoking anything at all and am pretty confident that even if it ends up just being bronchitis I will never smoke again or at the very least very very occasionally.
On my last visit to the doctors, they also took my pulse and my blood pressure, both of which they said were high, which has got me worrying about that stuff too which isn't helping.

I've had Health Anxiety for over a year now, but this time it's different. Before I'd have imagined symptoms that I couldn't actually see, but this time with the black phlegm I can actually see the symptom, which stresses me out even more.

If there is anyone with any knowledge of bronchitis (nurses, doctors, people who have had bronchitis before) and could shed some light on what might be happening or maybe share similar experiences they've had, that could really help me out. I think at this point I'll wait maybe 1 or 2 more days and if I still see black phlegm I'll go in for the chest x-ray.

Thankyou

[Desedrata]

Idon't have any medical background. I just want to make that clear first up.

At the end of the day if your doctor is content to proceed and it will give you peace of mind then by all means get the x-ray.

Instead of forcing yourself to cough you might like to make a steam bath by filling a bowl with hot water and getting a towel and placing it over your head and the bowl to trap the steam in so, that you can inhale the steam to loosen up the phlegm. That way it will come up without you needing to force the coughing.

As for your bloodpressure that is most likely due to your anxiety and the added stress of you not being well. Also, you forcing yourself to cough could be causing it to elevate especially if you are coughing whilst doing the check. When ever you check your blood pressure it is important to remain still and not talk as well. My bloodpressure goes to the moon and back when ever I get the tiniest bit stressed and I'm still ticking so, I expect you have nothing to worry about. When you go to see your doctor get him to check yours again as a precaution if he doesn't automatically do it.

I think laying off the smokes for a while if not permanently is a great idea as not having the smoke in your system will aid your body to heal. Also, it will give you the oppurtunity to address your anxiety issues without masking or exasterbating the symptoms.

I hope you get better soon.

[44Max44]

Thank you for the reply, it helped me out.
The next time I see black phlegm if I even do at all, I'll definitely ask my doctor to do the chest x-ray as he's already got the referral written up in-case if I want to do it.
I agree that it was probably the anxiety that made my blood pressure and pulse go wild because I've never had either of those two things measured so I was really anxious to see the results, which probably just botched the results. The main problem I'm having now is that I'm paying very close attention to my heart rate because I'm worried that I may have some heart problems, but that's most likely just my anxiety talking because I've done a lot of very physical tasks in the past and never had a single problem.

I'll definitely give the steam bath a shot, I'm just very anxious to be healthy again after a month straight of being sick. It's made me realize that I took being healthy for granted, and I'll definitely try harder to be healthier in all aspects of life in the future.

[Desedrata]

My heart rate tends to go up with my blood pressure when stressed and you have been under a lot of stress but don't worry the doctor will check it at the same time as your blood pressure and let you know what's going on.

If you're still really concerned you can download a free app. To keep track of your blood pressure and heart rate and keep a note of any extra strain you are under at the time you checked it.

[44Max44]

After a couple of days of no black phlegm, I again coughed up some black phlegm today. I'm getting so fed up with this cycle of thinking I'm finally recovering only to cough up more black phlegm a couple of days later. I think I'm going to go in for the chest x-ray today and just get it over and done with, and also while I'm at it bring up a few other concerns with my GP.

At this point, I've pretty much convinced myself that something is wrong with me, which is the main reason I've been putting off the chest x-ray and hoping I get better. I'm not looking forward to getting the results back at all, but if they end up coming back clean at least I can finally stop stressing over it. I've also realized that the only times I've gotten out of the house in the past month are to go to the GP or pharmacy, and I'd really like that to change but can't seem to get my mind off of my health concerns. This past month has probably been the worst my health anxiety has been because I've had actual health concerns to worry about instead of just symptoms I've imagined.

Here's hoping the chest x-ray comes back clean.

[44Max44]

So I went into the GP again, and the doctor didn't seem very concerned at all. He said "it's going to be nothing no doubt about it" and said I can go on antibiotics again but didn't recommend a chest x-ray because he didn't think there was a need for one.

On one hand, that's very reassuring to know that he doesn't even think I need an x-ray in the first place and that he thinks it's nothing, but on the other hand I'm starting to suspect that maybe some of the doctors don't take my concerns all that seriously because the second they see my medical record and see a huge list of things that ended up being nothing, they could just be putting off what I say as just being my health anxiety and ultimately a waste of their time.

That being said, that might not be the case at all and maybe I'm just making a huge deal out of something that's commonplace for them, but I can't shake this slight distrust I have for some of the doctors.

I guess I'll just get on the third set of antibiotics and hopefully after that, I'm good to go. If there's still black phlegm even after this set, I'm 100% going to get the chest x-ray.

[Guest_9462]

Hi Max, I would advise getting a second opinion,and asking for a series of scans of your lungs to be done ASAP..if you are a smoker, it could explain it a bit,but prolonged dark phlegm isn't a good sign...if your doctor won't listen, maybe take a visit to your emergency ward and tell them it doesn't seem right to you...they should investigate...cheers..

[44Max44]

I feel like I should go into more detail here.

I don't get black phlegm super often, I might go a couple of days without seeing any at all and then on day three I'll cough up a tiny bit and then that's it. I also spend pretty much all of my time inside my room that is very dusty and not very clean at all, so it could easily just be dust as well. I'm thinking that maybe dust builds up in my phlegm over time hence why I only see it maybe every few days.

I've actually gone to I think 5 different doctors at my local GP about this, and none of them seemed very concerned and just put me on antibiotics. Only one of them brought up the possibility of getting an x-ray done, but when I brought that up with the other 4 doctors they didn't seem to think it was necessary.

I'll definitely take your advice though and get the x-ray done, even if it ends up being nothing I guess it's better to be safe than sorry.

[Guest_9462]

Ok Max, yeah I guess that ma lies sense.anyway I hope your ok .

[44Max44]

To be more specific it looks like the phlegm itself is clear or maybe yellowish like normal, but inside the phlegm there are little black specs which makes me think it's just dust build-up. I'm no medical expert and I'm too worried to google it myself, but that's my best guess.

Thanks for the well-wishes, hope you're doing okay as well.