Back pain

[anxietyhelp]

Hi all
In the pas I have suffered from health anxiety. At the moment I am suffering from lower to mid back pain and this has triggered me to think it is something sinister , igniting my health anxiety.

Do any of you suffer from back pain with your anxiety and if so do you have any specific symptoms?

Thankyou in advance for your response .

[Goomba]

Do not look for affirmation of your symptoms. You will always find people who have different stories in regards to how you are feeling. Their experience doesn't matter. Own your experience.

You fear it is something sinister - that is the issue - and that is where the mental work needs to be done.

What makes you fear something sinister? Why can't something sinister occur at this point in your life? Begin to reflect.

Good luck,
Previous Hypochondriac

[dont_worry]

My wife has health anxiety and I have known it in the past also. What turned it around for me was learning to love myself. Why does this resolve health anxiety? Because you begin to reason - and reason is very powerful against anxiety - that:

1) Your body has got you thus far in life
2) It has never let you down
3) ...despite being asked to do millions of phenomenally complex, concurrent processes
4) Therefore, it deserves your love and faith.
5) It is part of you. You are the whole. There is no separation.

I used to be anxious about my heart. For no rational reason. I got into this ridiculous mindset that my heart rate should never increase, going against the very obvious science of exercise doing precisely that. One day I realised my heart was part of me, that it had always done its best for me, and I felt a searing sadness in the fact that I had, in one ill-informed instant, written it off, with no medical basis.

I hope this can help you too, but good luck whatever happens.

[Kuma]

Do not look for affirmation of your symptoms. You will always find people who have different stories in regards to how you are feeling. Their experience doesn't matter. Own your experience.

You fear it is something sinister - that is the issue - and that is where the mental work needs to be done.

What makes you fear something sinister? Why can't something sinister occur at this point in your life? Begin to reflect.

Good luck,
Previous Hypochondriac

I agree with Goomba. I have had some anxieties about health issues. Most of my relatives have died of cancer, and many have had cancer at a relatively young age. As a result, I have some concerns about getting cancer. More recently, I have developed lower back pain. I suppose I could let myself go down the "maybe this is cancer" road. (After all, some cancers have a tendency to metastasize to bone). But I just won't let myself go down that road. In the real world, I know there's a 99.9% chance that my lower back pain in the result of a disc issue, or arthritis, or sub-optimal posture, lack of adequate exercise, or just the aging process. It takes work, but you need to train yourself to NOT jump to worst case scenarios.

[anxietyhelp]

Thankyou all for your responses, all very helpful advice .

[NixonRulz]

Hi all
In the pas I have suffered from health anxiety. At the moment I am suffering from lower to mid back pain and this has triggered me to think it is something sinister , igniting my health anxiety.

Do any of you suffer from back pain with your anxiety and if so do you have any specific symptoms?

Thankyou in advance for your response .

I huff erred from acute back pain for years

I read the book "The Healing Back" by Dr. John Sarno

Before I finished the book, my back felt great and pain has not returned for 15 years

It was my first experience realizing the link between mind and body

It is not a long book and will change your life, especially if you have tried many other options to feel better