Well this is new! Now hoping its anxiety!

[Peak]

I'm really having a bad time of things at the moment. I feel on the edge of totally loosing it and not so much having a panic attack as having a breakdown.

I've suffered from health anxiety for several years which had always revolved around my heart because I'm very overweight. After various counselling, CBT and medication I feel much more calm about that in that I no longer really feel that the health of my heart is an issue. I also know that other stresses in my life have often manifested themselves physically on my heart and in particular with ectopic heart beats.

Having now 'beaten' the demon that was my heart anxiety I now find myself in a position where I am actually hoping that the new physical symptoms I'm experiencing are actually a new physical manifestation of my anxiety as currently I'm very fearful that I have bowel cancer.

Could the following be put down to anxiety?

It started about 5 weeks ago when I was going through a very stressful time and then started to notice that I needed to urinate more frequently and it got to the point where it felt like I needed to go every 90 mins and of course sometimes I couldn't go. This got me panicky about the prospect of it being prostate cancer which I knew was unlikely as I'm 'only' 40 but could at least explain things. I went to my GP who did a urine test which came back clear and said it was probably nothing especially as I'd had the same thing about a year ago which cleared up after a couple of weeks.

For a few days after things did improve but then started to come back. This may have also been due to the fact that at this time I started a new diet in order to loose weight and I was eating loads of fruit and veg and very little fat and sugar. This also had a major effect on my bowels, not meaning to sound gross but dear God I've never gone so much and so often before! On the first week of the diet I lost 9lb!

Now, and again apologies for being gross, my bowels have never been that great for a number of years with frequent bouts of diarrhoea, soft stools, constipation which I'd always put down to being fat and eating junk. Now that I am eating loads more fibre than before a change was inevitable. However I've gone from very loose to struggling to pass anything and I'm getting pains around the lower intestine and it hurts a bit on the lower left side when I bend over and as of yesterday for some reason my coxis is killing me. This has steadily gotten worse over the past week or so and at the same time my fear that this is bowel cancer has risen and I'm making the mistake of looking up symptoms which is just scaring the hell out of me.

Could all of this simply be my anxiety manifesting itself in a different way?

[Blessed]

I'm really having a bad time of things at the moment. I feel on the edge of totally loosing it and not so much having a panic attack as having a breakdown.

I've suffered from health anxiety for several years which had always revolved around my heart because I'm very overweight. After various counselling, CBT and medication I feel much more calm about that in that I no longer really feel that the health of my heart is an issue. I also know that other stresses in my life have often manifested themselves physically on my heart and in particular with ectopic heart beats.

Having now 'beaten' the demon that was my heart anxiety I now find myself in a position where I am actually hoping that the new physical symptoms I'm experiencing are actually a new physical manifestation of my anxiety as currently I'm very fearful that I have bowel cancer.

Could the following be put down to anxiety?

It started about 5 weeks ago when I was going through a very stressful time and then started to notice that I needed to urinate more frequently and it got to the point where it felt like I needed to go every 90 mins and of course sometimes I couldn't go. This got me panicky about the prospect of it being prostate cancer which I knew was unlikely as I'm 'only' 40 but could at least explain things. I went to my GP who did a urine test which came back clear and said it was probably nothing especially as I'd had the same thing about a year ago which cleared up after a couple of weeks.

For a few days after things did improve but then started to come back. This may have also been due to the fact that at this time I started a new diet in order to loose weight and I was eating loads of fruit and veg and very little fat and sugar. This also had a major effect on my bowels, not meaning to sound gross but dear God I've never gone so much and so often before! On the first week of the diet I lost 9lb!

Now, and again apologies for being gross, my bowels have never been that great for a number of years with frequent bouts of diarrhoea, soft stools, constipation which I'd always put down to being fat and eating junk. Now that I am eating loads more fibre than before a change was inevitable. However I've gone from very loose to struggling to pass anything and I'm getting pains around the lower intestine and it hurts a bit on the lower left side when I bend over and as of yesterday for some reason my coxis is killing me. This has steadily gotten worse over the past week or so and at the same time my fear that this is bowel cancer has risen and I'm making the mistake of looking up symptoms which is just scaring the hell out of me.

Could all of this simply be my anxiety manifesting itself in a different way?

I'm by no means a doctor but our stories are very similar. My health anxiety started as heart anxiety due to several intense anxiety attacks, after many doctors visits and trips to my cardiologist telling me that i was fine, I feel like I'm About to accept it as anxiety and quit stressing over my heart. Mine has now moved to stomach issues And fears of stomach illness if u get my drift. I have major issues, pains in stomach and on my right side, , including several issues as you have mentioned. I'm going to a gastro doc on Friday to line up an EDG. Regarding urination, mine has become so frequent I usually get up out of the bed 4-5 times before I fall asleep usually with a two hour period so I totally relate. So to answer your question yes I firmly believe anxiety can manifest in so many ways and symptoms. Best of luck to you and God bless !

[Peak]

Thank you for the reply. Whilst I wouldn't wish anyone else to go through the same thing, it's reassuring to hear that someone else is.

I understand that I am probably being silly and that there are certainly a number of other things it could be and this is where my anxiety always gets the better of me as I always fear the absolute worse. I think it's also because I know a lot of people who have either had or are currently fighting cancer and a few people in my family have had it too, which just makes it that bit more scary.

I'm trying to apply the CBT techniques I learnt through dealing with anxiety about my heart to this but I'm finding it harder to do.

Thanks again for your reply and I really hope you are able to overcome this too and wish you good health!

[stephanie3126]

I'm the same with the poster above, I'm not a doctor but if you did a urine test and nothing came up maybe everything's alright. Have you done a blood test? Those usually tell you a lot more and if everything comes back alright then you're fine. I found when I had a blood/urine test done and everything came back fine I calmed down a lot. Urinating frequently and abnormal bowel movements happens to all of us, and with me as well.

Healthy eating is a huge part of this too so at least you're doing that. If you're not already look into foods that are high in magnesium like nuts, fish, and spinach. It is said to really be calming for people with anxiety as opposed to when you eat fatty food it'll likely just make everything worse. The fattier foods you eat, your anxiety will likely get worse and I'm sure your bowels will change with it. I hope all is well and good luck.

[Peak]

Thanks for your reply too Stephanie, again very much appreciated and reassuring. Apologies for not replying sooner but yesterday was a really bad day and it took all my strength to keep composed and hold it together at work that I didn't have the energy or mental strength to go online as I knew that I would then start searching symptoms which would just make things worse.

I find myself in two minds at the moment. Part of me wants to go to the doctor to be checked out and just to be sure. The other part of me doesn't want to, not because I fear what they might tell me but because I know that it will mean that anxiety has gotten the better of me yet again. It's now that battle that many of us have where "how do you know when the symptoms you have are real and when they are just your anxiety?". My doctor is very understanding and very good but I also really don't want to take up any more of her time than I already have over things that so far have always turned out to be merely anxiety.