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Constant worry about health issues not believing doctor

Long story short I am a 29 year old male, usually only weekend drinker, for sure not daily, but have gone overboard in the past.

I had COVID bad back in January and was hospitalized for 2 nights. Full recovery but since then constantly worry about my health and have health anxiety. Gone from worrying about my heart, to lungs, to kidneys, and more.

I have seriously cut back on drinking since having COVID, and plan to going forward.

I did drink too much the other night and began worrying about liver disease because I have two small spider veins on my nose (I also have roseca which I know can cause those). Also when I had COVID a blood test PT/INR however showed my clotting was a bit slow but doctors since then have never said anything and when I hospitalized they said the COVID likely caused that (although of course that can be sign of liver problems according to the internet). Since 2017 and throughout my hospitalization my liver functions have been checked about a total of 10 times and never been outside the normal range, I also had 2 chest ct scans in last month which get as low as the liver and no abnormalities in my upper abdomen were ever identified.

Even though my doctor went through my most recent CT scan, showed me my liver, said it was normal, pointed out all my liver function tests have always been normal, examined my physically and said "You do not have cirrhosis or liver damage." And I was in their twice last week both times she tried to reassure me I did not. I even went to the ER with constipation and that doctor said the same thing. I am not sure why I am struggling to believe them so much.


However, I still cannot shake this! My questions to you all is would she miss something like this? If my primary was concerned wouldn't she send me for more tests? What do you all think am I being ridiculous? Please be honest it is okay to say I am being ridiculous.
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Avatar universal
Do you have any strange symptoms that you are worried about? If not you have to use logic and not fear. If the tests are normal and you are feeling fine, the doctors are probably correct plus your scan has no abnormalities so go back to living your life and stop worrying about something that has no basis. However, if you are experiencing symptoms that match with liver disease like jaundice, nausea, vomiting, pain then dig deeper.
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1 Comments
When you think of excessive worry as a symptom, it kind of puts it into perspective.  People can have a lot of physical symptoms though and I do think it is always best to have a physical and some testing done to rule out other health disorders.  It sounds like they aren't doing that with you?  That's probably frustrating.
Avatar universal
Cirrhosis of the liver takes years and years to get.  It would be extraordinary if you had it, and if you did have it, your liver would no longer be working much at all.  Other things than drinking alcohol can cause it, such as contaminants in some suppliers of Chinese herbs and exposure to liver toxic substances, which abound in our society.  Taking too much acetaminophen can cause it.  Statins can cause liver problems.  Almost every pharmaceutical product ever made is somewhat liver toxic.  But seldom would these exposures lead to full cirrhosis.  That occurs when your liver uses up all its capacity to store fat soluble toxins and becomes hard.  It's so unlikely one would have this at your age.  It takes alcoholics a lot of alcohol to get it.  And you would know, because your blood tests would show a problem with your liver enzymes.  I wouldn't worry about that one.  What I would look into is, just how bad has your anxiety gotten?  Is it getting in the way of your life?  If so, you might benefit from seeing a therapist and working on it for awhile.  Peace.
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6 Comments
Thanks for responding! I am seeing a therapist and working with my doctor on these issues. I just do not understand why I won't believe her. She's the professional certainly not me.
I go through the same thing, I have a tendency not to believe doctors, especially if there is something about them I don’t like!! One of my Doctors even gave me a little lecture about it, which helped
I don't think one should ever "believe" a doctor blindly.  One should also not disbelieve them without evidence to do so.  But some things are really easy to diagnose, and telling you it isn't cirrhosis is really easy.  You have a mental problem, not a liver problem.
Agreed with both of you. There's just so many tests I've had done, for unrelated things yes, but still odds are someone would have to have saw something.
lucky you! that doctors were giving you all these tests and you ruled everything out. I can't even get a simple MRi scheduled because doctors do not even want to test it for my chest pain and shortness of breath. Maybe the insurance companies really tined the allowance of mri tests that it is impossible to get one.
In their defense, I'm not sure what an MRI would find for that.  They are usually used to check for connective tissue or other soft tissues.  They are also not that easy to diagnose from.  It may be that your particular problem, at least as you describe the symptoms, might not be ones that an MRI would be all that helpful for.  Don't know, but it's a possibility.
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