Severe health anxiety

[kmarie30]

Hello I'm suffering pretty badly from health anxiety and I have a new sensation it seems every day right now! Last Friday I had heart palps out if no where which sent me to the ER. Today and for the past little while I'm focus on the sound of my inhale. It sounds a bit muffled and I feel tight in my throat as though I should need to clear it but there's nothing to cough or clear. So naturally I'm panicking that it's cancer. Is this a sign of cancer? I do smoke more than I used to due to stress but I'm 30 and I do t want to die. I'm so tired of this stuff ruining my life I need to make a change and get a healthy mind. But tonight I'm losing sleep on the cancer thing big time. I just feel like I've done myself In and this is it. I have a son who's 3 and he needs his mom. Why can't I just live without constant physical symptoms? I'm so flipping sick of it! One day it's my chest the next my head is zapping or my stomach or my heart. It's ripping my marriage apart! What can I do???
Please someone help me!

[bhamlaxy]

You should definitely start seeing a therapist. I'd also look for some books on the topic and get to work.

Your thoughts seem very real and pressing, but in reality they are irrational. Our bodies do funny things. Everyone has little aches and pains, or short times where something feels a tiny bit off. 99.99999% of the time, it means nothing serious. And .000000001% of the time it's something that can be easily treated.

You need to learn to trust your doctors that nothing is wrong, and have faith in your body. If something is truly wrong, you WILL know. And even then if something somehow happened to come up, it's almost certainly going to be easily treated.

Start getting some help and learning techniques to counteract the irrational thoughts, and you will be on your way to relaxation. And maybe look into quitting smoking, although I know how hard it can be when stressed. I'm not sure when I'll ever quit!

[Buttercup]

I'm like you and worry about every little feeling in my body. Like you I also smoke which when you think about it is ridiculous that people who worry so much about health do the thing that can be most detrimental to our health! I often worry about cancer and then feel so on edge I have another cigarette. maybe we could start a thread on stopping smoking. I really freak out about the health implications of it but continue to do it.
I am much better though now in reagrds to health anxiety and I think it was seeing a professional that really helped with that. As the previous poster said, seeing a therapist would be really helpful.

[gem]

I have have this bad!!! It's destroying me I'm scared t death over my health Allday Eveyday In the past month iv hone from cervial c to breast c to brain tumor then ovarian c :/ iv seen a doctor over 15 times & I dnt Bilive in what they say anymore I keep thinkn they arnt listening to me because I'm a hypochondriac I can't get in put my head that something's realy wrong & they don't know it I have a 4yr old & 5month old wich is y think I worry over it so much :( its exhausting I'm so down with it all

[biceps72]

a lot of anxiety is often health related. It is a constant circle!!!! You have to fight these thoughts daily. 99.9% of the time there is nothing wrong with people!!! My best advice is to go to an MD, get a complete physical and ve done with it. Routine blood tests like a CMP and a CBC will reveal most serious diseases.

What will make you really sick is worrying about your health!!!

[bhamlaxy]

Oh and the golden rule for anyone with health anxiety- DO NOT GOOGLE YOUR SYMPTOMS! Stop searching around and researching every little thing. Your symptoms can be caused by a variety of things (most likely even anxiety!), and inevitably something bad is going to pop up and drive you crazy.

See your doctor, and TRUST your doctor. They have no reason to lie or ignore you. Think about it- if you really were sick, they would make more money because you would keep coming back to them! They went to years of school for this and are professionals. Trust them.

[kmarie30]

It's nice to know I'm not alone. But I'm really stressed right now. Then what do I do? Drink a bottle of wine and smoke. Today I feel like I want to go to the doctor cuz I'm convinced my breathing sounds funny. But feel kinda silly for going. I have a 3 year old too and all I can think of is I'm killing myself everytime I do this. I'm so selfish. Anyone else's breathing sound or feel heavy day after having some smokes? I'm so tired of this vicious cycle that is ruining my life. My anxiety is high today too. That's prolly the wine though. But I have to seriously stop thinking I'm done for all the time. It's always lingering in my head that there is a tumor somewhere in me and it is being missed. See? I can't stop!! What if there's one in my esophagus? I hate this

[trinidiva]

If you think something is wrong, then I would see if you can get a an mri done, just for your peace of mind.....I was getting dizzy spells, and went to a neurologist and had an mri of my brain done ( no brain tumors) and a full check from an ent....no inner ear issues, hearing test, nothing physically wrong. I had a cardiac stress test done...nothing is wrong with my heart. That doc sat me down gently and told me he thought it was anxiety....but that he didn't blame me, getting the tests done....to help clear my mind......maybe you should, if you can, just get the tests done to ease your mind....

[Tmc]

I'm with you guys on this, I'm a smoker as well and I'm convinced I have lung cancer even tho Ihad an xrays about a mo nth ago that was clear but now Iworry its to small for the xrays to pick up. This has cconsumed me completely, Ieven broke down and cried bec ause I feel like I'm gonna die and leave my son with out a mom.

[princesskj]

I'm with you guys on this, I'm a smoker as well and I'm convinced I have lung cancer even tho Ihad an xrays about a mo nth ago that was clear but now Iworry its to small for the xrays to pick up. This has cconsumed me completely, Ieven broke down and cried bec ause I feel like I'm gonna die and leave my son with out a mom.

I'm on my 8th day SMOKE FREE ;)) have you tried to quit?

[Tmc]

Yeah and the longest I've gone is 5 hours and that's with chantix

[Lin]

If you get all tests done and all OK you then have to try to believe it and realise it is anxiety causing symptoms.
If it is anxiety then lots of meds, therapies and alternatives like meditation, reflexology and essential oils to try and find what calms you down.
I know how anxiety and depression can ruin your home life. After 2 years of depression this time and 7 weeks in hospital my husband now can't handle my depression and I see hatred in his eyes for what I have become and how I am ruining our lives at moment. My son is 22 and can remember my last bout of depression in 1995/6 when he was 5, after i had an ectopic pregnancy, and he remembers visiting me in mental hospital for 3 weeks.
Thus time hormone imbalance because of age and mental hospital for 7 weeks because always have really bad and strong suicidal thoughts.