topic Severe Health Anxiety in Anxiety

Severe Health Anxiety

Joey7 — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 22:45:40 GMT

I suffer from severe health anxiety and have for the past 6 years which all started after my son was seriously iill and we came very close to losing him thankfully we didn't. Since that time my anxiety has gotten a lot worse these past 2 years have been so bad with my physical symptoms worsening to the point I'm googling my symptoms all the time constantly thinking I have some disease that relates to the symptoms I have at the time. I guess I just don't believe that even though my anxiety is so severe it can cause these weird sensations and symptoms in my body which with having health anxiety the symptoms just escalate my anxiety and I can't function at all. I'm constantly waking up anxious hoping I won't have a the symptom that day then when I do it makes me so upset and frustrated I think I must have a serious disease for it to still be there. Can anyone else relate to this and has the horrible scary physical symptoms that go along with anxiety what did you do to help I don't want to be like this anymore the Physical symptoms are horrible.

Severe Health Anxiety

pete62 — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 02:54:11 GMT

HI Joey7, you are not alone and if you read through other posts in here you will find that others suffer along similar lines as yourself, My health anxiety has gradually worsened as I have gotten older and lived and seen and heard things along the way, I don't fully understand why I have this anxiety or why it has effected me in the way it has but I suffer terribly with it and am still trying to come to terms with it and try to manage it, yes the physical symptoms are all there also , the ones that make me feel like I have a disease of some sort and I will die an agonizing death, Joey, stay off Google, I too had a go at self diagnosis and it will only do your head in and make you feel ten times worse, easy to say but hard to do I know, you are not suffering alone and I hope you get some comfort from knowing that, have you consulted your GP ? I found it a lot better to go to my Doctor and just spilling it all out no matter how weird or odd my symptoms sounded , I was also referred on to a Psychiatrist who is very good and I have been very up front and Honest with Her no matter how weak and small I felt at first, now that I have an idea on what is going on feel somewhat better knowing what and why . I hope my reply gives you a bit of comfort knowing that you are going through this with others, let us know how you go , hope you can start to get some sense out of your anxiety and you can start to learn to deal with it.

Severe Health Anxiety

Joey7 — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 07:56:20 GMT

Hi pete62 thanks so much for replying to me it's so hard being like this its good to hear from someone who understands exactly what you mean and what you are going through. I'm really struggling with the physical symptoms especially with me having health related anxiety. If you don't mind me asking what types of symptoms have you suffered from I guess you read all about these symptoms over the Internet but actually talking to someone is totally different who's experiencing these weird symptoms sensations. I have had jelly legs, saw jaw , shaking,feeling sick,sweats,dizziness, stuff neck the list goes on the weirdest one I have experienced lately is like twitching/vibrations if that makes any sense hard to explain across my stomach,top of my legs and in my feet it's the most scariest symptom by far which is why I guess I don't believe it could possibly be my anxiety although I know I have been really low and extremely stressed and anxious I just feel as though I am never going to beat this and I want to so badly it makes you depressed. I have been to my GP and have just started seeing a psychiatrist have been to 4 sessions. Thanks so much for your reply again and I'm so sorry to hear your going through this also but looks like you are doing the best for you also to get better. Is very nice having this site for people to talk to each other and help each other out with their own stories knowing we aren't alone.

Severe Health Anxiety

pete62 — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 10:20:10 GMT

Hey Joey7, Im feeling your pain,, symptoms? all of the above and a few others, anxiety seems to do some pretty nasty stuff to our system, I get all that when I spin out of control with anxiety, Im lucky in the sense that I have a great Wife who has stuck by me and reminds me of what I should be doing rather than laying around thinking of the what ifs, it seems to me that anxiety likes to take the easy route and just make me worked up , the difficult part is turning it around and putting things into perspective , that bit of advice just rolls of my keyboard and makes it sound easy but we know its not, this is something I am learning to live with, this is who I am, I have been very up front about it with my friends and of cause my family and have been overwhelmed with the love and support I have received, yes it is a crazy thing to suffer with but I think when you finally accept it then is starts to make it just that little bit easier to live with, I say a little bit as I know how easy it is to become anxious again and let it run away into that spiral of worry , like I said before, you are not alone , you are as Human as the rest of us, we all live with our burdens, some are just a bit harder than others, Take Heart Joey7 you don't suffer alone

Severe Health Anxiety

Mummybee — Thu, 05 Nov 2015 10:16:28 GMT

This was like looking into a mirror.

thank you.

every morning I wake up with dread at what will be wrong with me today, prey that the symptoms will be gone, feel my body flood with adrenaline and it starts all over again before I lift the covers...

Severe Health Anxiety

Iruleanxiety — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 11:46:51 GMT

I was the same..Until one day mid last year I just stopped caring. I got sick off worrying all the time and just accepted my own demise. I stopped caring about symptoms. I started ignoring every slight pain, tick or a weird hearth beat. I stopped anticipating what might happen. I accepted that I had no control to a larger extent of what might happen next. At the begging it was hard but I made a rule if it hurts try to stick it out if it gets unbearable visit a doctor. Never ever Google symptoms.

Severe Health Anxiety

Jessme — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 10:41:48 GMT

Hi guys, I'm a newb here,

my health anxiety has gotten out of control, I've become dangerously underweight as I am constantly in a state of panic over disease and dying ( not just myself but my husbands health too) I don't sleep without pills and I spend my spare time pacing about the house and googling symptoms. Is anyone learning how to get better?... I tried cbt but my mind seems to overpower any logical behaviour... My husband is super logical so doesn't understand my behaviour very well..

Severe Health Anxiety

Jessme — Sun, 24 Apr 2016 11:03:36 GMT

I understand completely... I seek reassurance from family members but it doesn't suppress my fears for very long...I wish I lived in a blissful time before Google existed. I have to try and remind myself that google doesn't supply you with results for minor ailments because they are not worth mentioning.

Severe Health Anxiety

Queen_Diamond — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 03:44:13 GMT

Hi Joey7 and other Health Anxiety sufferers.

PART 1!

Joey you are definitely not alone. I too obsess over physical sensations and am always worried about death (only from disease/illness) and being taken away from my 3 beautiful children. I am also a Googler and have been told by my therapist that this is a "safety behaviour"; just like carrying instant hand sanitizer everywhere; always having phone close by (in case need to call ambulance), symptom checking etc. All these behaviours make us feel.like we have control of the unpredictable and are keeping us safe from what we fear; but they are also impacting our anxiety.

Overtime I have been able to slowly reduce or eliminate my safety behaviours and believe me it makes a difference. Googling is the biggest one to improve anxiety but for me also the hardest habit to break.

My fears seem to come in waves. I can go a few weeks or if I'm lucky a month or two without needing to Google symptoms or diseases. If I have a pain I recognize it's just a pain and it will pass. I can feel when my anxiety is starting to creep back in again because I am not able to brush ofg physical sensations as easily anymore and will start Googling again. It may start off as just Googling one little thing for a minute then I can leave it. Then the next day it will be a bit longer, till before long I'm back to Googling for hours at a time, obsessing and convinced I've got or am going to get whatever illness I happen to be fearing that day. Soon I can't distinguish between what may be real medical symptoms and what my mind is producing in my body. Eg Is this chest pain anxiety or is it pneumonia?

Severe Health Anxiety

Queen_Diamond — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 03:46:04 GMT

PART 2!!

I'm having a hard time at the moment because I recently had gastro and now I'm afraid I have ruptured esophagus. I know it's illogical. It is rare for this to happen and if it did happen I likely wouldn't be sitting here on my phone right now. I know this logically but I just can't stop those "what if" thoughts. "What if I'm an exceptional case"?!! Another common one is "What if the Dr is wrong". Which they often can be. Mistrust or Dr's opinions is common in health anxiety. Hopefully you can find a good regular GP and build an open and respectful relationship. Be open about your condition and your fears/concerns. I have been able to find a GP who I can openly say "I think I have ------". He sometimes chuckles because I'm always coming in with ultra rare diseases!! But he always takes me seriously. He says he would rather run a non-invasive test than lose a patient. He always rules out the possibility of my fear first then we discuss my anxiety. In result I trust his opinion and diagnosis. He is also always right!! Joey the physical symptoms are horrible. Your mind can create the most random sensations. I too have gotten the tingles and buzzes in different spots, hot spots that feel like someone holding a warm coin on my body, classic anxiety things like chest pain, tightness, neck tension, loss of appetite and everything in between. Be assured though that your anxiety can be managed. Try first by picking a saftey behaviour and reducing or eliminating it. If you feel like Googling distract and delay. Write down your fear and why your are concerned in a diary. Rate how concerned/anxious you are out of 100. Set yourself a time (eg: 4.30pm) to Google and limit it to 15 mins. If you are still worried about the fear at 4.30pm then Google for the 15mins only. You can return to diary later or next day and rate again your fear. I have found as time passes my fears reduce and something that might have had a 80% anxiety rating will reduce to 60% at end of day. Sometimes I go through my diary and am astonished I was so concerned about a particular thing! I also hop onto these forums as a strategy to not Google. Hope some of this has helped and stay in touch. xx

Severe Health Anxiety

Southern_star — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 16:24:18 GMT

Health anxiety in overdrive so up at 2 am typing this.

Does anyone have a constantnumbness and tingling especially in the arms and leg?

Severe Health Anxiety

Jessme — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 02:26:04 GMT

Yes... When I thought I had a brain tumour and /or ms,I was convinced my arm was always numb.. Now my back hurts so I am sure it's lung cancer. Hence why I'm on here during work hours 😂

Severe Health Anxiety

Mummybee — Tue, 24 May 2016 23:45:32 GMT

I too am a health anxiety sufferer.

Does anyone else feel that when they read other HA sufferers posts they are able to logically explain their ailments, but when it comes to your own fears we cannot?

For example, I read about numbness/tingling that southern star wrote about and my brain says "Thats just anxiety, ive had that"

Then i read about your sore back, you think lung cancer, i think slept wrong or twinged it doing something without realising.

Yet im sitting here with a lump on my foot, thinking cancerous growth, and you guys probably read it and think "Probably just an injury or something"

I wish we could view ourselves the way we view other HA sufferers.

Mummybee

Severe Health Anxiety

Ukgirl — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 11:54:14 GMT

I feel so much for you Joey I suffer with health anxiety and I hate it , I like a lot of people here constantly checking and anxious make myself vomit until I bring up blood. Every symptom is Cancer ,Now keep getting checks for skin cancer checking myself all the time

I take medication and it dulls it but it comes back ,now seeing a psycholigist will see how that goes ! Hang in there all of you. God Bless

Severe Health Anxiety

humbleb — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 15:07:21 GMT

Yep I know how you guys feel.. perhaps our body is crying out for help by creating more unique symptoms from the normal anxiety ones we first experienced, so it's more obvious in hope something can be done. I think our body speaks in a different language...

yes, my symptoms are bizarre and strange and even can't explain to people anymore.. and evolving.. hence I'm always thinking it's cancer, some disease, even thought at times maybe my wife puts something in my milk. I think it's constantly aggravated, even though I'm past the hurts and stress of nearly all things in the past. They linger with me in my memory. I don't know..

i pray for you all, I wish you all wake up tomorrow with a less of a worry, a slight more clarity, and pray for a continual improvement.. for all of us.

love 🙏

Severe Health Anxiety

sbsi908 — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 17:11:40 GMT

Hey joey, you're not alone here at all!

I have suffered from health anxiety for about 5 years now and it has had its moments of being debilitating. I fully get it.

i strangely only fear certain illnesses that will most likely not kill me, such as a chest infection, or even a simple common cold. This all started from having bad luck, and getting sick at the worst possible times for example; a pait event, a holiday, a job interview, Christmas etc. I became so frequently ill especially on these certain occasions, that i started to suffer terrible anxiety and obsessive thoughts such as; "Am I going to catch a cold and be sick next weekend when I'm suppose to be going away?". I also experience consistent unexplained pains and illnesses, most likely due to anxiety. These symptoms make my obsessive thoughts 10 times worse, as I will start to think "that's it, I'm getting sick. I'm gonna have to cancel plans."

it is an awful thing to go through. But knowing somebody like you understands makes me feel relieved, so thank you for sharing this.

Severe Health Anxiety

Sieraphin — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 09:34:24 GMT

Hey Joey and all,

This is my first post on beyondblue and I'm here because I was feeling pretty hopeless. I was blown away to see you and all these other people suffering from the same health related anxiety I have. I had no idea that other people got it too.

I am constantly worried and I ruin holidays, and even normal work days with my anxiety. I almost quit my job because I had to work in a building with asbestos (even though they had it thoroughly checked for me). I was also diagnosed with MS after a freak seizure last year and that triggered the anxiety like crazy. I constantly think, what if they got the diagnosis wrong? What if I have something worse? It's terrible because all my life people have said 'what you're worried about is nothing' and suddenly I do have something (though this is one thing I never thought I had). Im constantly thinking Im dying or sick. I drive everyone in the house crazy and even my friends and colleagues have figured out I have a problem and I'm so embarassed but I can't help it at all. Its humiliating and debilitating. It ruins everything. I watch TV and think I have every disease on the ads - my husband has learned to mute the ads. I hear of someone else being sick and immediately start to wonder if I could have what they do. Im seeing a new psychologist soon and am hoping to see some real improvement.

Has anyone here figured out the root cause of their anxiety? Is it all deeply personal? Is it chemical? Why does this happen to us? Is it something we can ever fully get rid of?

Any advice appreciated. I wish I had some to give - all I can say is none of you are alone.

Severe Health Anxiety

rmcg — Tue, 02 May 2017 06:16:01 GMT

Hi all, I'm a new user and came here because of health anxiety. I was under some pressure earlier in the year which led to me not sleeping well and losing weight. I have since spiralled into worrying about my health. I've been worried about breast cancer, brain tumours, dystonia, even bipolar. I've seen two doctors and both suggested a mental health care plan which made me worry they weren't taking my symptoms seriously.

My main concern at the moment is when I try to sit still I feel a muscle spasm/tic at the base of my head which sometimes feels like a full head zap, I've also had a stiff neck down the right side mainly. The doctor thinks I'm just stressing which is causing the stiff neck and muscle spasm and therefore I'm making it worse by worrying, and perhaps worrying up more symptoms. But I still can't shake that feeling something is wrong though!! I have a family history of brain aneurysms, brain tumour, bowel cancer, a couple have had Parkinson's, so I'm worried I'll end up with a poor quality of life before finally losing my life.

I thought I would join as I feel better after I've spoken to the doctor and gained some reassurance, but that only lasts a day or two and I'm back to worrying, so maybe talking to people on here may help. Glad to see I'm not the only one so worried!

Severe Health Anxiety

humbleb — Tue, 02 May 2017 09:14:55 GMT

Hi rmcg..

yep that's anxiety. I had something I used to call zing head. Hard to explain but I think you understand. Health anxiety sufferers symptoms differ. Like I almost got knocked to the ground from what felt like something hit my head and knock me over and this was prior to a bad panic attack.

i can recommend you get some scans of the areas your worrying about and this is the beginning of getting clarity for your mind and body that you're ok. I've had biopsy, cat scans, mri's recently and it gave me that assurance I needed. To begin healing.

keep going to your gp.. but your body and health are fine. Look in the mirror and tell yourself your fine, and you look good too.

stay positive and it's hard but distract those thoughts.. there are ways.

i have my anxiety a name and tell it to go away. Yes with so many different type of physical symptoms. But every time I get checked out.. I'm fine. It's time to heal.

please let us know how your going and talk to us when you like 😊

Positive love xx

Severe Health Anxiety

Nanel — Wed, 03 May 2017 01:06:16 GMT

Oh boy! I have felt so alone in this for so long!! I'm a newb to this site, and I am being so releived and yet at the same time saddened that there are so many of us out there that struggle with anxiety and in particular anxiety about health. Queen Diamond, I hear you when you say you don't feel you can trust a doctors opinion, and your mind is full of 'what ifs?' That's exactly my question with anything I worry about health wise 'what if I'm the exception?' Oh I so understand, and I've so had enough! It's literally wearing my body out! I've been like this from early memory, as a child fearing going blind, oh it was so real, I truly believed I was going to go blind, I've always feared cancer since I was in my early teens (I have also been diagnosed with OCD, but I don't do any repetitive actions to try to combat it, i just get the massive anxiety from it with no relief), I've had migraines since I was young, and my body is racked with pain, due to the massive tension mode I have myself in 24/7, my neck and shoulders scream in pain due to muscles so tight they are at breaking point! As well as back and joints etc. I've had everything checked and double checked and the docs can never find anything wrong! I also have coeliac disease which means I am allergic to wheat rye barley and oats - gluten in general, so I continuously have bowel probs even whilst on the diet (been coeliac for just over 20 years), so always fearing bowel cancer - that's a big one! And my dear Aunty of 63 years, full of life, never married but travelled everywhere, and was a midwife for all her life found out early last year she had cancer of the liver, bowel and lungs!! She basically had no symptoms, except for a pain one night that felt like appendicitis, but no it wasn't! She died this march just gone! So my stresses for bowel cancer have hit an all time high!!! That's one among many of the reasons why I have joined this site forum, I just related to your post so much, and just want to thank you for being on here for others like me to see that we are all not alone. Thanks again