Health anxiety!

[ellie_84]

Hi guys, anyone else here suffer from GAD and health anxiety?? I hate it!! I get hot flushes, constant nausea, headaches, etc and convince myself I'm dying and the doctors won't find what is wrong in time as the tell me it's just anxiety :(

[ldocherty93]

Hi guys, anyone else here suffer from GAD and health anxiety?? I hate it!! I get hot flushes, constant nausea, headaches, etc and convince myself I'm dying and the doctors won't find what is wrong in time as the tell me it's just anxiety :(

Hey, i suffer from severe health anxiety aswell! All my thoughts are about my health constantly. Everyday i think i'm dying, its so horrible!! I've just been put back onto Sertraline to see if that helps ease it a bit..

[ellie_84]

I seriously wake up and straight away feel like I could vomit and start shaking... It's so yuck :( the doc has changed me from lexapro to Zoloft today and given me diazepam but as soon as it wears off I'm a mess again!! My last issue with health anxiety was 5urs ago when I was convinced I had MS... I went through all the tests and nothing.... And now I'm super worried about brain tumor :( I can't shake this feeling and I don't even feel like me anymore, just so scared

[ellie_84]

What symptoms do you have?? And what kinds of things do you worry about??

[PR83]

Oh yeah, suffer from that as well. It's tough, always worrying about your well being and thinking something is wrong....when 99% of the time nothing is wrong, just your brain and central nervous system fooling you.

[ellie_84]

Oh yeah, suffer from that as well. It's tough, always worrying about your well being and thinking something is wrong....when 99% of the time nothing is wrong, just your brain and central nervous system fooling you.

And Dr google always comes up with the worst possible diagnosis

[NixonRulz]

And Dr google always comes up with the worst possible diagnosis

Amen to that!

If there is a group of people that should not have access to Google, it would be us

I never had the MS or brain tumor anxiety

My irrational thought if choice was heart attack or anything heart related

But the MS one sounds interesting

If I ever have health anxiety again, I may put that one on the list

Oh and we both know you do not have a brain tumor

God just gave you a really creative mind that you sometimes forget how powerful it is

[ellie_84]

Amen to that!

If there is a group of people that should not have access to Google, it would be us

I never had the MS or brain tumor anxiety

My irrational thought if choice was heart attack or anything heart related

But the MS one sounds interesting

If I ever have health anxiety again, I may put that one on the list

Oh and we both know you do not have a brain tumor

God just gave you a really creative mind that you sometimes forget how powerful it is

Gosh even at one point with the MS scare I felt as though I was doing everything backwards like my left hand was better at writing etc- it was soooo weird!! But yeah this time around the nausea and headache and even muddling up words have scared me... Was nice to have a 5yr break from it though!!

[alfred24]

I suffered with it for a year last year. Finally got over my anxiety

[NixonRulz]

Gosh even at one point with the MS scare I felt as though I was doing everything backwards like my left hand was better at writing etc- it was soooo weird!! But yeah this time around the nausea and headache and even muddling up words have scared me... Was nice to have a 5yr break from it though!!

I think I like the way you look at this

You had a 5 year break and that is awesome

But I believe you know this too will end sooner rather than later

[ellie_84]

I suffered with it for a year last year. Finally got over my anxiety

How did you recover

[ldocherty93]

I seriously wake up and straight away feel like I could vomit and start shaking... It's so yuck :( the doc has changed me from lexapro to Zoloft today and given me diazepam but as soon as it wears off I'm a mess again!! My last issue with health anxiety was 5urs ago when I was convinced I had MS... I went through all the tests and nothing.... And now I'm super worried about brain tumor :( I can't shake this feeling and I don't even feel like me anymore, just so scared

Yeah my first thought when i wake up is 'what's the new worry today' i'm totally fed up with feeling like this. I wish i could go back to the old me that never worried! My doctor is strict with tablets so i can't get diazepam or anything like that. Aww god, its so horrible!! I thought i had a brain tumour, many cancers & probably half the things in the medical books! I'm currently obsessing over the colour of my lips & my breathing.

[jloca215]

Ellie I'm currently going through an "ms" scare as well. I get dizzy spells, lose concentration and forget words, headaches, vision problems, and numbness and tingling in my extremities. I had an emg on Monday of my legs. I don't know the results yet. I have to get one of my arms too but the neurologist seemed pretty certain that ms wasn't even a possibility. Even still I can't shake the feeling that something's wrong....

[alfred24]

How did you recover

I'm not sure exactly why I recovered honestly. I tried vitamins, herbal supplements relaxation techniques. A lot of stuff. Idk if any of that worked but I knew nothing was wrong with me after many trips to the ER. So I read a book called "hope and help for your nerves" and I also bought a self help workbook. They both kind of have me reassurance and confidence to get over my anxiety. I started to have less anxiety attacks, I started to play basketball 3 times a week. When I played I would forget about my anxiety. It seemed that when I had time to think about it, that was when I would get anxious. Then with every passing month my anxiety with be less and less intense. I guess I stopped sensitizing my nerves with anxiety and it helped me get through the rest of the days. Eventually it just stopped. You have to really believe you're ok. And eventually it will go

[alfred24]

Ellie I'm currently going through an "ms" scare as well. I get dizzy spells, lose concentration and forget words, headaches, vision problems, and numbness and tingling in my extremities. I had an emg on Monday of my legs. I don't know the results yet. I have to get one of my arms too but the neurologist seemed pretty certain that ms wasn't even a possibility. Even still I can't shake the feeling that something's wrong....

I went through this too. But once again, it was just health anxiety. I didn't know that the symptoms were anxiety symptoms and didn't know anxiety even had symptoms, other than being afraid at least. Once I read up on it a lot I started to be able to get past it because I knew what I was dealing with

[needtogetwell]

I'm going through this type of anxiety too. Last time I landed in the hospital (2 weeks ago). I just remind myself that I have been through all the heart related tests and other than being a smoker (which I have to give up) I have very very low possibility of cardiac issue.

Although I question the ability of many in the medical profession all the tests can't lie. So whenever I start to freak out about my health I just remind myself that I am in fact very healthy!

I guess my point is this, having this type of anxiety really sucks but you can take control of it and claw back some of your life. You're not alone.

Cheers!
Pam

[Kabukicho]

I feel you. Health anxiety was a big part of my anxiety situation for about two or three years in college. I gave myself psychosomatic chest pains and convinced myself I was dying of lung cancer.

How did I fix it? I'm not sure. Don't get me wrong, I still have crippling anxiety. Just not about my health. The answer was sort of philosophical. I think I just stopped caring. I mean, we're all going to die, right? Does it really matter if you die in your twenties or your fifties? So what if you have a massive tumor growing on your liver right now, just waiting to kill you? Death is inevitable. Sickness is inevitable. It's part of this cruel world we live in. But I took that scary realization and turned it into something positive--a mandate to live every day to the fullest. To leave no path untrod, no stone unturned. To die, as I must, in a blaze of awesome glory having lived a life of empowerment and success and bravery. That's the best way to overcome health fears, in my opinion.

The ironic twist is that, during my health-anxiety phase, I took VERY good care of my body. Now I'm a bit more reckless--the occasional cigarette, partying too hard, etc. :-)

Best wishes and be well.