health anxiety and panic attacks

[sb9803]

Hi! Just putting this all out here to see if anyone can relate because I’m quite stuck and really struggling and nobody close to  me understands what I’m going through. 

I developed health anxiety November last year (7 months ago), I’ve always been scared of death but this is a whole new extreme, i started having panic attacks daily that eventually turned into a 24/7 panic attack that lasted 8 weeks, my mum had a brain aneurysm when i was 6 that burst, i was meant to get a brain scan at 18 because they can be hereditary but i put it off until November and I’m now 20. As soon as i had the scan done is when the panic started, I convinced myself I was about to have a brain aneurysm burst, I wouldn’t leave my room, didn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, could not function for 8 weeks and was stuck in a constant panic. I went to emergency multiple times and had 7 doctors tell me the scan was clear and still I wouldn’t believe them. 

About a week after I accepted the fact my brain was okay a relative passed from a heart attack, he was in his early 30s (has had major health issues his whole life) this then made me convinced that I was going to have a heart attack, still to this day and it is so debilitating cause once again i can’t sleep or do anything, i don’t go out anymore, i won’t go further than 10mins from my house and won’t even go into shops. It has gotten a lot better than at the start, once again multiple trips to emergency, multiple ECGs and been told countless amounts of times my heart is fine and healthy and i’m also very young still. 

Now one of my friends went into anaphylaxis from almonds randomly with no previous allergies, now i’m to scared to eat and when i do eat my anxiety convinces me im going into anaphylactic shock 

I just really need some support or advice because this has gotten so out of control and I just want it to stop 

[indigo22]

Hi sb9803,

Thank you for reaching out about what you are going through.

Firstly, have you spoken to your GP about your anxiety and perhaps set up a plan for counselling?

I had a similar experience when I was 14 and my brother passed in an accident when he was 20. I was sure this could happen to me and my behaviour changed to being reckless and irresponsible for quite some time. At that time, mental health was not openly talked about so I had to try to manage what I was feeling on my own.

I can understand your line of thinking that something similar could happen to you, however, I can tell you from experience, it will actually make you sick worrying about everything that could happen. Not sleeping, not eating properly, worrying constantly are all prime reasons why people become unwell.

If you have had yourself checked for the things you are concerned about and the tests are clear, you owe it to yourself to accept the findings and let it go. That may be difficult for you but you don't have to go through the process alone. You are young and healthy at the moment, you could be spending your time doing things that make you happy. So my advice is to seek help from a counsellor who can help you put your fears into perspective. You are unique, not everything that happens to others is going to happen to you. If you are worried about something, get it checked, but if the results are normal, allow yourself to let go of that worry.

I hope this helps, please feel free to continue the conversation if you wish.

Take care,

indigo