topic Health Anxiety is ruining me in Depression

Health Anxiety is ruining me

Tugboat — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 05:29:59 GMT

Hello,

it’s been some time since I have felt the need to reach out for support. I am 61 years old and have suffered health anxiety from my early 20s. I have had so many different health anxiety from stomach aches, throat issues and the list goes on….. my biggest fear is cancer and unfortunately I did get breast cancer almost 5 years ago and had chemo and radiation and on blockers. My current issue is I have pain in my breast and I am petrified the cancer is back, my anxiety has gone through the roof! I have scans booked in early Aug but that’s not soon enough for me. I am currently having time off work because I cannot function, crying all the time and just cannot get negative thoughts out of my mind. I am really struggling and grateful I have a very understanding husband.
In the past I have tried so many different therapy’s but none have worked for me.

Re: Health Anxiety is ruining me

Croix — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 12:50:05 GMT

Dear Tugboat~

Welcome back to the Forum, it's good to hear from you even under these circumstances.

Reading back your posts over the years I'm sad you have not been able to shake this particular anxiety. Admittedly it is very hard to do so and skilled assistance is essential. I guess sometimes it can seem it will never be brought under control.

I have various physical reactions to my anxiety condition, including chest pain. It was a bit ironic actually as I went thought all the tests multiple times over the years and they all came back negative.

This last time they did not come back negative and I discovered I had a heart condition which is being treated and is stable. It could get worse but I'm not as concerned as I was before it started. I'm not saying this is logical, just me.

You have had breast cancer, have been successfully treated for it and now have a pain again. Of course it could be a pain brought on by anxiety and also could be a recurrence of the cancer - or something else.

There is no way you can tell until you have test results so you know where you really are. Even if it has come back it is most likley more treatment will be as effective as it was last time

Unfortunatly this means waiting, and that is something we both hate. My own answer to waiting is partly keeping myself very busy so I'm distracted from the problem which works quite well during the day. At night time if it gets too bad and my mind keeps on coming back to the problem I use a free smartphone app called Smiling Mind.

This is full of exercises to make me concentrate on something outside myself, perhaps following a leaf in a stream. There are exercises for children and adults and are comprehensive. You do have to practice, it does not work properly without it but I found it was well worth the effort.

There was even one for me that kept reminding me that my mind was wondering, something I was always doing as I have the concentration of a goldfish. With practice it has left me in a calm state enabling me to do some pastime I was too het up to do before. For me that is reading favorite books. For you it would probably be something else.

Having an understanding husband is gold, he may even be able to suggests things to keep you occupied. You are not alone.

I hope this helps, if you would like to come back and talk more that would be great

Croix

Re: Health Anxiety is ruining me

Tugboat — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 01:02:23 GMT

Thank you for your response. I will certainly look into some off your options x

Re: Health Anxiety is ruining me

Croix — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:24:55 GMT

Dear Tugboat~

I'm just popping in to see how you are getting on, the waiting is something that can take over a person's life - I should know.

Croix

Re: Health Anxiety is ruining me

Tugboat — Sun, 02 Aug 2026 03:53:45 GMT

Hello Croix,

thanks for reaching out to me 🙂 I am doing ok trying the breathing tech which is helping me. I have tests tomorrow so quite anxious today, but I keep thinking it has to be done and that’s all there is to it. The only thing is I have to wait a week for results 😢. Thank you again xxxx