New here....health anxiety and low wbc

[todohert]

Hi...
I'm new here. I suffer from health anxiety. Usually it rears its head in January - April which is when I make myself go in for yearly exams. Yesterday I had my yearly exam and had my doctor check my lymph nodes because I was certain that they were swollen and I had cancer. She assured me what I was feeling was tendons and ligaments in my neck.

The morning I got my blood work and everything was normal except my WBC was mildly low. She isn't concerned but wants me to get it checked again in a month.

Can anxiety make my WBC low? The week and a half before my appointment was was so anxious that I lost weight and had a pit in my stomach. I was thinking after my visit yesterday I would feel much better, but now this blood work thing came back.

I'm thinking other blood levels might be off also if there were a problem?

I know we aren't doctors. I'm just looking for some reassurance.

 

[Nano22]

Hi...
I'm new here. I suffer from health anxiety. Usually it rears its head in January - April which is when I make myself go in for yearly exams. Yesterday I had my yearly exam and had my doctor check my lymph nodes because I was certain that they were swollen and I had cancer. She assured me what I was feeling was tendons and ligaments in my neck.

The morning I got my blood work and everything was normal except my WBC was mildly low. She isn't concerned but wants me to get it checked again in a month.

Can anxiety make my WBC low? The week and a half before my appointment was was so anxious that I lost weight and had a pit in my stomach. I was thinking after my visit yesterday I would feel much better, but now this blood work thing came back.

I'm thinking other blood levels might be off also if there were a problem?

I know we aren't doctors. I'm just looking for some reassurance.

First of all, congratulations on getting yearly exams. I’m so petrified to go to a dr I avoid them at all costs and then worry that whatever I’m feeling is incurable because I’ve waited too long. I eventually go but always believe death is at the door. Nuts. I know.
I have had mildly low WBC counts now and then. My dr hasn’t been concerned. She told me some people are just like that.
I’ve also heard if the person drawing the blood puts too much or too little blood in the test vial, the test will be off a little.
Let us know how your retest goes. And God bless!

 

[todohert]

First of all, congratulations on getting yearly exams. I’m so petrified to go to a dr I avoid them at all costs and then worry that whatever I’m feeling is incurable because I’ve waited too long. I eventually go but always believe death is at the door. Nuts. I know.
I have had mildly low WBC counts now and then. My dr hasn’t been concerned. She told me some people are just like that.
I’ve also heard if the person drawing the blood puts too much or too little blood in the test vial, the test will be off a little.
Let us know how your retest goes. And God bless!

Thank you! The weird thing with HA is (at least with me) is I always go to worst case scenario but make myself go for yearly exams, mammo, blood work, etc. I alway do these in March so my HA started getting back the end of January or whenever I make the appts. I try to do all the appts in one day. Some years are better then others but this year has been really bad. I think from me pushing on my neck so much and making it sore and probably bruised internally thinking my lymph nodes were swollen, I had a more difficult time not knowing what I was feeling and then the wbc just elevated my HA.


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[Jonathan123]

Hi...
I'm new here. I suffer from health anxiety. Usually it rears its head in January - April which is when I make myself go in for yearly exams. Yesterday I had my yearly exam and had my doctor check my lymph nodes because I was certain that they were swollen and I had cancer. She assured me what I was feeling was tendons and ligaments in my neck.

The morning I got my blood work and everything was normal except my WBC was mildly low. She isn't concerned but wants me to get it checked again in a month.

Can anxiety make my WBC low? The week and a half before my appointment was was so anxious that I lost weight and had a pit in my stomach. I was thinking after my visit yesterday I would feel much better, but now this blood work thing came back.

I'm thinking other blood levels might be off also if there were a problem?

I know we aren't doctors. I'm just looking for some reassurance.

Hi. And Welcome.
Anxiety will only bother us if we give it so much attention. In health anxiety the body is responding to fear. Fear we may have some disease that is life threatening. This can vary so much between people. In really acute cases it can rule their lives, because no sooner are they free from one fear another arises. It is not much use me telling you to be logical, because in HA that is nigh impossible. It is almost certain that if any of us went for tests something would be found. The perfect human body does not exist. Now reassurance is fine in the beginning, but not if you continue asking for it. It's some form of therapy you may need not reassurance. When I had GAD many years ago I had every disease known to man and some unknown ones! But it was all in my mind. The mind is powerful, and beliefs can run deep. Can you accept that having been told by the medics you are OK and having got some reassurance on here that it is anxiety? Never underestimate what anxiety can do to the body. It may all be imaginary, but it can feels so real. Feelings and emotions seem to be out of our control, but they are not if we accept it all and don't panic or engage in so many 'OMG's and 'what ifs'

 

[todohert]

Hi. And Welcome.
Anxiety will only bother us if we give it so much attention. In health anxiety the body is responding to fear. Fear we may have some disease that is life threatening. This can vary so much between people. In really acute cases it can rule their lives, because no sooner are they free from one fear another arises. It is not much use me telling you to be logical, because in HA that is nigh impossible. It is almost certain that if any of us went for tests something would be found. The perfect human body does not exist. Now reassurance is fine in the beginning, but not if you continue asking for it. It's some form of therapy you may need not reassurance. When I had GAD many years ago I had every disease known to man and some unknown ones! But it was all in my mind. The mind is powerful, and beliefs can run deep. Can you accept that having been told by the medics you are OK and having got some reassurance on here that it is anxiety? Never underestimate what anxiety can do to the body. It may all be imaginary, but it can feels so real. Feelings and emotions seem to be out of our control, but they are not if we accept it all and don't panic or engage in so many 'OMG's and 'what ifs'

I agree with what you wrote. I never had anxiety until I was faced with a health issue that really scared me. Up to that point I totally trusted doctors and never really worried about my health. But that one incident that scared me ….It’s like something turned on in me and I’ve had HA ever since. The main think I do is I will research and spends hours on the internet trying to get reassurance from others or articles. It feels likes my anxiety peaks and then I start to come down. I don’t see how therapy can help but I need to try something.


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[Jonathan123]

I agree with what you wrote. I never had anxiety until I was faced with a health issue that really scared me. Up to that point I totally trusted doctors and never really worried about my health. But that one incident that scared me ….It’s like something turned on in me and I’ve had HA ever since. The main think I do is I will research and spends hours on the internet trying to get reassurance from others or articles. It feels likes my anxiety peaks and then I start to come down. I don’t see how therapy can help but I need to try something.

How do you know therapy won't help if you have not tried? It has to be the right therapy tailored for you. You spend hours on the Internet trying to get reassurance and answers. A very big mistake in health anxiety. When we have HA we are very vulnerable to suggestion, so that any symptom we may feel correlates with what we read and we may well panic even though it is only the vivid imagination at work. Have you seen your doctor? That is always a good beginning because they will give you real reassurance.
Then get the book from Amazon 'Essential help for your Nerves' by Dr. Claire Weekes. She has a formulae for treating all aspects of anxiety, and you may well get all the advice you need there.

 

[MARCC]

My physician told me that just because a specific blood count may be high or low does not necessarily mean an issue, unless it is combined with another specific blood count being high or low.

 

[todohert]

How do you know therapy won't help if you have not tried? It has to be the right therapy tailored for you. You spend hours on the Internet trying to get reassurance and answers. A very big mistake in health anxiety. When we have HA we are very vulnerable to suggestion, so that any symptom we may feel correlates with what we read and we may well panic even though it is only the vivid imagination at work. Have you seen your doctor? That is always a good beginning because they will give you real reassurance.
Then get the book from Amazon 'Essential help for your Nerves' by Dr. Claire Weekes. She has a formulae for treating all aspects of anxiety, and you may well get all the advice you need there.

I will check this book out and thank you!


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