health anxiety

[ldocherty93]

Anyone on here coping with health anxiety?

[Dweeb]

Yep! It is slowly gettin better now after 7 monts of constant worry and symptoms

[ldocherty93]

What did you do to help it? I've been suffering with it for a few year & its getting to the point its taking over my life now..

[Dweeb]

I took medication propranolol and in the last two months also started taking sertraline.

Also i just learnt to ignore the aches and pains that i was gettin a they would just make my anxiety worse.

At 1 point i was at the doctors or hospital everyday it literally took of my life kept thinkin that i was goin to die and not see my little girl grow up or something bad would happen to my little girl.

Some of the things i feared:
Heart attack
Septecemia
Appendicitis
Blood clots
Pneumonia

I still have the fears slightly but nowhere near a bad as i did.
It will get easier for you in time :)

[ldocherty93]

I took medication propranolol and in the last two months also started taking sertraline.

Also i just learnt to ignore the aches and pains that i was gettin a they would just make my anxiety worse.

At 1 point i was at the doctors or hospital everyday it literally took of my life kept thinkin that i was goin to die and not see my little girl grow up or something bad would happen to my little girl.

Some of the things i feared:
Heart attack
Septecemia
Appendicitis
Blood clots
Pneumonia

I still have the fears slightly but nowhere near a bad as i did.
It will get easier for you in time :)

Every thing you said there totally relates to me! I'm at the doctors every week with something different. I was on sertraline a few year ago but they gave me side effects so came off them. I was also on propranolol at the very beginning and the first time i took a panic attack i phoned an ambulance (not knowing what it was) & they took them off me saying 'oh no they're not for anxiety!' I'm terrified incase something happens to me aswell incase my baby doesn't have a mummy, it's such a horrible feeling! Lately i've been scared of having appendicitis, dvt & today a heart attack! I hope it gets better soon cause there's no words to describe this feeling!

[karebear73]

I have battled generalized anxiety disorder from pretty much birth and panic disorder for years and years, here at age 40 I sit battling health anxiety daily since September of this year and am finally making sense of it all as well as dealing with the physiological and psychological effects it has had on me over the past few months. Health anxiety sufferers...you are definitely not alone!

[Dweeb]

I was exactly the same and it does get better i think u just have to think wat the likelihood is off something like that happening.

If youve had chest pain for longer than 15mins u now it aint a heart attack i suffered constantly with chest pain everyday for about two months was horrible but realised the more i was runnin to the doctors/hospital it was feeding my anxiety.

Try finding something that will distract you reading helped me alot :)

[ldocherty93]

I have battled generalized anxiety disorder from pretty much birth and panic disorder for years and years, here at age 40 I sit battling health anxiety daily since September of this year and am finally making sense of it all as well as dealing with the physiological and psychological effects it has had on me over the past few months. Health anxiety sufferers...you are definitely not alone!

I know, but you feel alone in this situation! I feel like i'm the only weirdo that has it & no one else understands it. It does really have a big impact on your life, i feel like it's destroying me even although i trying my best not to let it take over.

[ldocherty93]

I was exactly the same and it does get better i think u just have to think wat the likelihood is off something like that happening.

If youve had chest pain for longer than 15mins u now it aint a heart attack i suffered constantly with chest pain everyday for about two months was horrible but realised the more i was runnin to the doctors/hospital it was feeding my anxiety.

Try finding something that will distract you reading helped me alot :)

I've been having the chest pain on/off all day, it's a shooting pain in my heart area that goes away quickly so i'm really worried about it. I only go to the doctor for reassurance & if they say everything is ok then my worry for that problem vanishes.

[Dweeb]

Also try and work out where ur health anxiety stems from

Mine was my daughter had to have a major operation on her hip and the surgeon told me he was just going to put dye in er veins and look at her hip an thigh bone more closely well 20 mins before she was taken to theatre e came up and said we're doin the full operation (them words meant nothin to me) and he didnt xplain after wat they had done eitha so took it up on myself to research it on google well all the risks and that on there was horrible so i was so scared she was goin to get a blood clot and nasty infection :( then it went from that to me thinkin i had everything cuz i was so stressed an worried i started havin muscle pain in my calf bt obviously started to think that was dvt. Then came the chest pain (heart attack) then came the atomach pain (appendicitis) bt actually turned out to be a ovarian cyst that isnt anything to worry about!

When i learnt to accept this and my daughter made a brilliant recovery from her op i stopped allowin the pains to bother me cuz ow many times i had been to the hospital/doctors and every test x-ray came up clear i had to accept that it was all in my head (hate using that term) cuz the pains are there

[Dweeb]

It could be palpitations hun which are another typical anxiety symptom if you are really worried then go to the ER but i'm sure that its the anxiety messin with you.

Are u currently takin any medication?

[Steven Daws]

I have had health anxiety since aged 7 (I'm 39 now), mine mainly revolves around bugs and infections.....and cancer....and heart disease.

Medication helped more than anything else, I was having good and bad periods before that, but on the meds I was stable.

[embrace123]

Why did you think heart disease?

[Steven Daws]

Well long story, but that is what my father died from when I was 7 so it became part of the rich tapestry of my anxiety. I know its linked to that, and that it's my anxiety, but it doesn't make it any easier.

[embrace123]

Did you have the stmtoms ?

[Steven Daws]

Apart from the old anxiety classic 'chest pains' occasionally, not really. I have regular checks, and apart from my cholesterol being a little higher than normal this time around, I have been fine.

[meganeveryday]

I, too, am experiencing health anxiety. My first panic attack was Oct 29, not long ago. I had anxiety about my blood pressure and heart for a month... Then around Thanksgiving, I felt GREAT. I thought everything was getting better, but on Monday, the anxiety creeped back in. Sleepless nights, and the worries began: blood clots, fluid in the lungs, etc... I've been to the ER a few times in the last six weeks, and everything came back normal.

One thing I am learning: don't google all of your symptoms. That is my problem. Google will give you anything from a cold to cancer if you google symptoms... Just don't do it.

Also, the more we think about it, the worse our "symptoms" become. I tend to carry stress/anxiety in my back and chest, so the more I stress about my health, the worse my chest and back feel.

At night is when it's the worst for me. I can be fine all day (probably because of daily distraction), but as soon as I'm ready to go to bed, I tune in to every little body ache or pain and that amplifies it. I automatically think "I have to go to the hospital!" But going to the hospital can only make things worse because, even when they tell you everything is fine, you still have the anxieties that they missed something.

I've tried a few things... Not sure of the success yet. I've tried yoga to help the areas that I carry my stress (chest and back). I've taken my Klonopin at night (in the lowest dose possible for me to still feel it--usually 1/4 or 1/2 of my .5mg pill) to help me sleep. If I don't get enough sleep, my health anxiety is worse. I've been staying away from Google. I've also tried something new--EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) aka Tapping. I've only started this today, so I can't say whether or not it works, but I've heard good things. I'm also planning to start CBT soon.

Really, each person is different, so it is about trial & error. Don't expect to feel better overnight. Give your mind and body time to adjust and understand what you are experiencing.

[StaceyK]

Hi everyone,

I'm also a health anxiety sufferer (well so the docs say!) My worry is completely focused on cancer. Following the death of two relatives in 12months of cancer and work pressures I had a breakdown in September. I've always been a worrier over my health but the physical symptoms I initially had were; headaches, low appetite and fatigue. All can be explained by depression and anxiety but I was convinced I had a brain tumour for weeks. My headaches went away mid oct and now on and off I get really bad nausea and my appetite still isn't good. Now I am convinced I have stomach or ovarian cancer because I always feel sick and still not eating 100% 3 months on !

The doc referred me to a good CBT therapist she knows, I chose to go private as I couldn't waits 6 months on Nhs. I've had 5 sessions now and it's improved a bit but it will take a while. I did take anti depressants but the side effects made my health anxiety worse. It's a horrible thing to go through. I've had to call breathing space tonight as I felt suicidal today and it's been driving my partner mad as she has had enough of telling me that my mind is making me ill.

Anyone else get bad nausea ? Or appetite affected?

[Dweeb]

Yeah wen i 1st got anxiety i went two weeks with eating next to nothing

[meganeveryday]

Oh yeah, my appetite is affected... I'm afraid I'll get heartburn or nausea, so I don't eat what I used to or even as much as I used to.

[StaceyK]

How long has your appeite been affected for meganeveryday ? I'm afraid of sickness/nausea too. Had enough

[meganeveryday]

How long has your appeite been affected for meganeveryday ? I'm afraid of sickness/nausea too. Had enough

It's been off and on since October 29. The week of Thanksgiving, it was better. For the past week, it has been a little worse. I kind of nitpick now.

[StaceyK]

Mines has been since mid sep, however I've had times (good days) when it's been fine. Well better. I tend to (when hungry at all) hungry in the evening. My CBT therapist thinks that is because I am more relaxed in the evening..... I'm trying to get my head round that as I still am largely convinced that the lack of appeite is down to cancer.....

[sammy2909]

This is exactly what I suffer from. I recently had my second baby. All I can think of is I am going to die or my children. My worst fear is dying whilst my little baby is crawling Around. I get that bad anxiety I give myself symptoms of stroke and hearts attacks. I am on citalopram but I still panic. Last night I was freaking out about a fire in my house and how we would get out. Wish it would stop x

[Chiddler]

My anxiety always manifests as health anxiety. I can go long periods of time feeling fine, but when I am under stress, as I have been recently, every little ache and pain is cancer/heart disease/god knows what. Of course the majority of the symptoms that are worrying me are the physical symptoms of the worry itself!

I understand this, intellectually, so I am the not the sort to endlessly visit the doctor for every little niggle, though the downside of that is I tend not to go early enough when I actually AM ill