Hi my name's Andy from the UK and I have health anxiety

[Healthanxietysufferer]

Hi, I'm Andy from the UK and I am socially and emotionally crippled by health anxiety. I am 32 and I am physically fit and healthy (I run and do home weights everyday) and yet I am convinced that I have a debilitating condition. I have been through Cognitive Behaviour Therapy which helped me to rationalise better, but whenever I get a muscle twitch I am overcome with terror that the life I want (general health and well being so that I can pursue a normal life) will never happen. Part of this is a cyclical issue: I have no friends or fun in my life and I want that, but being convinced I am Ill holds me back. I am 32 and have never had a girlfriend. I believe this shouldn't be the case because I am fit and quite good looking. I pretend to be fine and produce what I hope is a bright friendly persona but girls always run straight to the next guy and I am always left on my own. What brought me here today is muscle twitches. I have one in my right lower eyelid that's lasted about 5 weeks and a twitch in the middle finger of my right hand which has lasted about 1-2 weeks. The twitches come and go but they won't stay away, which has (easily) convinced me that I have either Parkinson's, MS or ALS. This is ruining my life whether I am right or not. I am convinced I will never make friends, have a gf or a normal life and that my future will be dominated by a degenerative condition. That's my predicament. Hopefully, the twitching stops and I can press on with my life with some semblance of positivity because all I have right now is fear and dread and loneliness. I live in hope that these twitches are caused by anxiety, rather than some horrible condition. Best wishes to all of you fighting anxiety. Andy

[gypsylee]

Hi Andy and welcome :)

There are lots of people here with health anxiety, and a lot of them worry about ALS/MS. I'm not really a health anxiety person (my thing is social anxiety) but there's lots of posts here about it. Do a search on "health anxiety" and you'll see!

Anyway, I hope you find some support here. It's pretty cool.

Cheers,
Gypsy x

[anxiousMike]

Hello Andy, I'm new here too and I, like you, suffer from health anxiety. But as an optometrist I can tell you your eyelid twitch is most definitely caused from anxiety. Other causes can be caffeine and lack of sleep. If you're like me then you are anxious about your twitch which will make the twitch continue. It's a vicious cycle. Just try to tell yourself it is from the anxiety. It will go away.

[bizzle15]

Hi Andy. Twitching is normal like the optometrist says. I am 100% convinced you do not have Parkinsons, ALS, etc. However, that doesn't stop the "what ifs" you are experiencing. You KNOW you are healthy and good looking and nice. You KNOW this is anxiety because that is why you are here. Keep on the forums and you'll see that you are NOT ALONE. We're missing out on life because we let our fears control us. This may be bad advice, but I tell myself, "so what if it is cancer or whatever? That means I have a short time to live. I may as well take a chance, make that bet, or talk to that girl." It won't solve your anxiety, but may give you a goal in spite of it.