Feel Stupid for Accepting CT Scan

[pumpkinbagel]

I have traded one problem for another, and the doctor at the ER, who was very kind, wouldn't even listen to me!

I've had ongoing chest pain for about 6 days. I'm 35/F with no cardiac risk factors. I was at the ER 3 days ago and they did an EKG but told me to follow up with a stress test. I wasn't able to get in for the stress test for 10 more days and I knew I wouldn't last that long with my anxiety about the pain (that was still going on) so I went to the ER again this morning.

Another EKG and heart enzyme test was normal, but then the doctor said that he'd rather do a CT angiogram instead of a stress test. After doing research about the radiation load and increased cancer risk I called him back to the room and asked him for other options because I KNEW I would be paranoid about my increased cancer risk from each day going forward if I let him do the scan.

He assured me the risk was low but omg, now that i'm home (the CT was totally clear so that has assuaged all fears of current problems there) I'm doing more research on the cancer risk of CT Angiograms and I'm scaring the crap out of myself!!

Why did I let them do this test?? My biggest fear is cancer, especially of the breast, and breast cancer was SPECIFICALLY implicated with CT. I'm such an idiot and now I'm never going to be able to undo this.

[Anxious12]

Hi are you coping? Doing any better? I am in a similar boat...3 months since my abdominal ct-can’t get it off my mind..

[pumpkinbagel in reply to Anxious12]

Yes, I am doing better. I went back to my psychiatrist and got back on my meds (currently on Prozac/Fluoxetine 20mg) and also taking Xanax 0.5mg as needed. I'm also reading some books about OCD/intrusive thoughts, which is what my psychiatrist says causes my health anxiety, and I'm finally starting to feel like I'm on the road to recovery.

One thing that helped me was putting my scan into xrayrisk.com/calculator/cal...

It put into perspective how tiny of a risk the CT scan was when you think about the lifetime risk of cancer that EVERYONE has. I also try to tell myself that if I didn't do the scan I'd still be worrying about MULTIPLE symptoms I was having and always wondering if there was some kind of malignancy already in my body, but the scan ruled out pretty much all of that. I'm trying to be thankful for that bit of reassurance. I still worry about the scan itself at times but I'm working on that. I hope you can start feeling better about it, too, I know how much it can torture you.

[Anxious12 in reply to pumpkinbagel]

Good to hear! Thanks for the information. I feel like I definitely know what you are going through and all of these thoughts/feelings are very familiar to me...I just finished reading Phantom Illness by Carla Cantor-excellent read - I highly recommend it. I really don’t know anyone else with health anxiety..people can’t relate. It’s nice to know there are more of us out there and that there are helpful resources. Keep in touch pumpkinbagel and I hope we both get stronger and more resilient each day! This isn’t a fun way to be...

[Anxious12 in reply to pumpkinbagel]

Hmmm I put my ct into this calculator and it actually doubled my risk...there goes peace of mind 😂 oh well..please let me know if you have a good book to recommend, thank you and good luck!

[pumpkinbagel in reply to Anxious12]

Are you sure? I had the coronary CTA which has the highest exposure of the CT scans and it only increased my risk by .1 something percent (in other words, over a 99% chance of having nothing happen because of the scan)

[Anxious12 in reply to pumpkinbagel]

The doctor said the risk is 1 in 2000, this calculator is showing 1 in 835...I had an abdominal/pelvic scan...I guess maybe this is more accurate because it takes your age not consideration. There is a lot of debate over the risk, if you read Mayo Clinic’s articles (Dr. Cynthia McCollough) she says the risk is so small it “cannot be reliably measured”...I have really struggled with this as I had it done without having looked into it at all and my dr actually didn’t warn me-not in the least bit... She retired a couple of weeks after this happened -I actually knew she was retiring -I don't know why this didn’t raise any red flags I guess I was really anxious about the pain I had at the time..of course just like in your case -nothing was found-which I am also grateful for but the exposure itself put me over the edge...it’s exactly like you said “traded one thing for another”... Of course what’s done is done and the still risk is small -these very logical reasons that work for normal people but my brain gets a bit jammed and I get stuck in fear..a little better now but not quite completely out of it yet...thanks and I wish you all the best!