Looking for advice on early signs of asbestos damage

Hi and welcome to a place that you would never have thought you would be looking in.

First some great support and information from hurtandconfused981 and could I recommend that you take on all that has been said and follow up on the advice.

I rarely post in these groups as my cancer is a rare Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. I was diagnosed back in 1999 and during the years I would have regular Scans/X-rays. In 2012 a CT showed a growth in my lung and further investigations confirmed Pleural Thickening and Pleural Plaque (Right Lung) - Asbestosis.

I used to worked in construction industry then in the gas/oil service industry so did come in contact with asbestos on many occasions, my last exposure was way back in the early 1980 so 40 years ago. We did not have masks and was in close contact with the fine asbestos cut with saws, brushing it up in small confined areas. 

My Asbestosis has no real effect on my daily life, I am 64 now so my age combined with the asbestosis just effects me when walking into a breeze - that’s it. I am checked once a year with little change over the past 8 years and my consultant does not see this changing in the future.

Why did I tell you my story?....... to encourage you.

The fact that you have been checked over and nothing is showing is great....... what you do have is stress and anxiety...... and this can effect your wellbeing, reducing your immune system and resulting in various side effects like a cough and your mind is putting 2+2 and getting 100.

Do go and talk with your GP, tell them how you are feeling and work with them to put this to bed so that you can go on and live a long , happy and healthy life.

I really appreciate you taking the time out ,to respond I’m a self employed plumber and heating engineer ,this is not my first exposure I’ve had a few occasions with white chrysotile asbestos and have worried marginally but this last exposure was asbestos insulation board which is brown friable asbestos ,I’ve never had a strange sore throat and my fitness levels are down ,I am generally worried about this one a lot more than previous exposure ,I’m really thinking of changing my career as I’ve got 18 yrs left of working .once again thank you very much

Hi Jonk589,

I know this sounds strange if you've never really experienced it but you would be surprised how mind over matter actually manifests into physical pain.

I'll use myself as a recent example!

I had a health issue recently and in the same area I kept feeling a pain. I swore it was linked to that health issue. When all I was doing was noticing that little twinge more and more. The more I thought about it, the more prominent of a problem it would become.

When I finally got to see the consultant it was nothing to do with my original health issue at ll. It was actually separate to my original problem (though still a problem). The stress and anxiety was causing a separate physical response in my body... Funnily enough, a very common one which I've suffered with for a while now... IBS.

It sounds like you may have been in the industry for a while. If you're working with asbestos, your employer should have a better duty of care. There are reasons why asbestos removal is a highly specialised job.

First step, I would try to calm down. My father was exposed to asbestos in the 60s but has only developed mesothelioma last year. It takes a long time. Not weeks. A long time. It also didn't present as a sore throat. It presented as a constant dry and persistent nagging cough. Pains in the chest is also a very common symptom. I don't mean twinges either. I mean really horrible, debilitating pain in most cases.

Secondly, please, I urge you... See your doctor over this. You are worrying and stressing over something that is taking away a part of your life more than any disease ever can. You know why? Because likelihood is right now you're relatively fit and healthy and have an opportunity to go out there and grab it by the horns! You really need to go out there and enjoy your life, not be worrying about this. One day you will get sick. One day you will pass away. Those are the brutal truths and horrible facts of life. So why worry now? Those are inevitable. But what are the odds you'll end up with mesothelioma or asbestosis? Still relatively low as they are rare-ish diseases.

I'll get quite personal with you... I suffered with a phobia of death for a very long time. It's actually a branch of health anxiety. In some ways, yeah, I still have it but it no longer dominates my life the way it used to. In my case it got to a point where I'd fall asleep at night and wake up after ten minutes of drifting off in the middle of this god awful panic attack not knowing where or why I got there but knowing only that my subconscious was linking it somehow to my phobias. I used to jump up out of bed, run into walls and hyperventilate with no idea how or why I got there from sleep. My husband would look at me like 'geeze, are you alright?!' It was dreadful. The only cure for this was to bite the bullet and start medication and also to attend therapy. It was at a point where it was having a severe impact on my quality of life and it should never be like that for anyone. Not me, you or anyone else.

Thirdly, regardless of all this, your employer really needs to consider the wellbeing of its employees and start actually investing in the appropriate services for asbestos removal. I don't know how you go about doing this. Have you raised it with your superiors? If they don't care I'd look into moving elsewhere or as you say a career change but not because of your fear... I really must stress that point.

I hope you don't see me as being a bit dismissive. I just don't want to see you fall into a trap that I did. By all means go to your GP but I would also suggest that you mention to them that it could be your anxieties. I would hope they take the bull by the horns and tackle that head on for you.

EDIT: Just wanted to add... I'm a huge advocate for mental health as I'm sure you can tell! Do let me know how you get on. If you need to speak to me privately about mental health then I would be happy to help/assist in any way I can.

I'm so glad you have written these replies and I agree with all your points. My dad is in the last stages of Mesothelioma and it's so easy to fear that I am developing illness as well. Stress can do some very strange things to us, 

April

Hi April!

One of the most insightful things I ever did as part of my old job was to work with a health company that dealt specifically with the link between mental and physical health. I worked quite closely with both medical directors and mental health nurses and it was incredibly insightful from a personal standpoint. It's something we are only just starting to understand and appreciate but it definitely exists.

E.g... An old friend of mine used to get terrible back pain when her mood was low...  Back pain is very common when under stress as is IBS. The thinking goes that because you're stressed or anxious you subconsciously tense your muscles in those areas which means you get back pain, IBS and other types of pain. If you have a health anxiety then you're doubling that effect because you're thinking about it meaning you notice any niggle that you may get. You then stress about that. Then the pain gets even worse.

If you then link that to a cognitive behavioural health model... It becomes a cycle. I'll simplify it for the sake of this post but essentially: Stress->Physical Pain->More Stress->More Physical Pain and so on.

It's very interesting.

Any update on your situation your symptoms completely match mine also 

1. What are your symptoms 

Hi Andy,

It's been a while since your last post, how are you feeling now? Have you had any improvements?

I want to share that I have had a very similar experience and am in a situation similar to yours. 30 year old, fit, 20min 5km, multi sport player. I was doing a job where I cut into asbestos cement sheets with power tools, not knowing they were asbestos and would have inhaled the dust for some 2-3 hours. I woke up the next morning with a noticeable restriction in my airways. I did not have a cold or flu, but I could certainly feel the friction of trying to take in a breath of air. I also noticed that i was unable to get the satisfaction of a deep, full breath of air.

A dry cough developed shortly after and I have had this for the past year. I can feel a tightness in my chest and at times I have a prickly sensation in my chest which can also trigger nerve sensations down to my fingertips. I've woken in the morning with shallow and fast breathing. I've been to the doctor, had lung examinations and x-ray, sp02. All have come back fine.

Asbestosis is said to have a long latency period, but I cannot shake the fact that I have had no other lifestyle changes or factors that would cause these symptoms. It feels like I'm exercising intensely just to maintain what would otherwise be a regular level of fitness for me. If I take any time away from that it deteriorates rapidly. 

Hello, I came across this board and your post really hit home.  I could have written that same post.  How have you been doing?  I pray that you are doing well.

Lil

Hi Jimmy GJ, I’m curious how you are doing?