Health Anxiety Ruining My Life

[Doglover66]

Hi All

I have suffered from the dreaded Health Anxiety since I was a young child. I have had so many diseases; mostly terminal...that haven't actually eventuated to anything. However; I have really suffered in the last two years. It all began after losing my job due to severe shoulder injury. In that time I have had tongue cancer, throat cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, bowel cancer, ovarian cancer........had numerous tests etc all ruled out any pathology.

I do realise that major stress in my life brings this on. Five weeks ago I began a new job. It was full on; 9 hour days of skype training....within two days I had severe thoracic and chest pain and decided I had lung or pancreatic cancer. I spent three weeks doing this job with the constant fear gnawing away at me and making the symptoms so much worse. I had a thoracic spine and chest xray two weeks ago which ruled out cancer of lung but did show a herniated disc...which is now being managed by physio etc. Deep down I still think there is something more sinister going on...and of course that makes the pain worse.

I thought that was bad enough. But then I heard about Van Halen dying from throat cancer and almost immediately my throat began to hurt. I absolutely loved him....I was so gutted to hear of his death. This throat business started four days ago. I took a torch and had a look and almost fainted when I saw one tonsil is huge and red and the other side has a yellow spot and looks so weird. I am now convinced I have tonsil cancer. It hurts constantly; my ear hurts...I am so terrified and so convinced it is cancer. I know....I went through all of this a year ago. My horrible mind is now saying "cancer can sneak upon one; regardless of clear mri 13 months ago"....I am now back on that rollercoaster from hell...of googling and rechecking and rewriting my will....I seriously cannot live like this. I hide it from my beloved teenage son as much as I can. My fear is all about him; not me. I cannot leave him until he is at least 18!

I cry all the time; I have panic attacks; I google stuff and almost faint...I cannot sleep or eat. I KNOW what I am doing is totally nuts. I have been doing this shite since forever...I feel a prisoner of my own mind. I have seen so many professionals and had so many medications thrown at me. Nothing works. I am truly at my wits end.

I have made an appointment to see my gp tomorrow and am terrified.

thanks 😞

[Snez]

OMG l am exactly the same. Since going into menopause 2 years ago l have never felt the same. Feeling terrible in my body, all kinds of symptoms l have never had before, and they change each week, with something new to keep my anxiety going. I’m not imagining my symptoms as they are real, l can see them and feel them, but having to always say to myself it’s nothing is hard work, and l am exhausted. Now l have come to the point where l never want to go to the doctors. I am actually scared to go just in case they do find something. So I’m starting to avoid anything to do with medical tests or even speaking about anything to do with my body. The thing l found that helped me is CBT. I have to practise it each and every day otherwise my anxiety turns into full blown panic. Menopause has done strange things to my mind and body and l was seriously thinking of taking HRT to stop all of this. Still thinking about it.

[Doglover662]

I am so sorry you are going thru this too. It is no way to live. I am in constant pain; back; shoulders; throat; hips....dreadful insomnia and hot flashes....dry mouth; anxiety thru the roof; huge weight gain...feel there is nothing to look forward to anymore....just more of the same day in day out. I started HRT a few months ago but it made me so ill I stopped it.....I am thinking of everything I have been through in the last two years and can totally see why I am as messed up as I am. However I cannot see a way out. I have seen so many doctors; psychologists etc...had every medication known to man thrown at me....nothing works. Absolutely nothing. 😞

[Doglover662]

Thanks Macca

Yes I know the feeling; it is horrid making the poor doctors feel that you don't trust them; it is not that at all really is it. It is just constantly needing reassurance...over and over again...OCD fulltime.....I am at the point where I am so saturated with it all I almost don't care anymore...which is not a good thing either. 😞

[Sophie_M]

Hi Doglover,

We are so sorry to hear how much pain you are in. We understand that this might be frustrating or exhausting. Please know that even in dark times there is always hope - things can always improve with the right treatment and support. Unfortunately, it can take some time to find what works for you.

Perhaps it would be helpful to join a support group with people who are going through similar experiences. As well as peer support, this can be a great way to get new advice and ideas. You can find information on support groups available on the Black Dog Institute site here - https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/resources-support/support-groups/

If you're feeling like you've lost hope at times, please remember our friends at Lifeline (13 11 14) or the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467).

Remember as well that you can reach out to the community here at any time. We hope you can find some comfort this evening.

[Snez]

Hi

just touching base with you. How have you been travelling? Are you feeling better?

[Tugboat]

Hi,

i also and currently suffering health anxiety..... it takes over my whole day/ night I cannot stop thinking I am dying 😢😢😢

[Rach93]

Aww tugboat! I can totally relate to you.. it really is ruining my life and how I operate everyday & I have a little baby to look after.. it’s horrible! I am convinced I have MS because of all these weird sensations and when you google which I advice you NOT to do, it says the worst case which is MS.. just stick to your drs opinion and try believe and trust in them, I should really be taking my own advice here but it’s true. 😭 it’s horrible isn’t it? I hope you feel better

[tikalouise]

Thank you for making me feel like I wasn’t the only human in the world who gets this kind of anxiety. I understand completely, it’s like as soon as someone coughs, as soon as the wrong post comes up on the internet, my mind completely turns on me. Every itch, scab, tickle or jolt is something serious. I’m only 21 and have been dealing with this for the last 4 years, my friends told me it’s been a lot longer but I only noticed 4years ago. I hope we both find something that makes our minds stop from being so loud.  (Disclaimer do not read if feeling on edge) 

I had headaches starting four weeks ago, I naturally suffer from vertigo but I’ve controlled it with medication etc, but this time it wasn’t going. Mind you I had spent the last two weeks prior not leaving the house, constantly looking on my phone( thx covid for making my anxiety worse) I ended up having manic break downs and then because of that I thought I had cervical cancer ( hormone changes= mood swings) so in the last week I had one MRI, CT ( on my head) and extensive blood work. It came back all negative except for a slight iron deficiency, barely could notice. I went to the chiropractor a few days later he clicked my neck and the vertigo went away. What didn’t go away was the last four weeks of isolation and making my mind so harsh on itself that I was having literal vibrations in my skull from power crying so much. My dad bless him, dragged me out the house every day and took me wherever he physically could, it was funny to me how much my mind let me come back to myself, it made me laugh, how in the front door did so much pain and sadness over a whole month or two just change with one click of the neck and a really good dad. My health anxiety is still here, I just took two Panadol cause my body was warm (I was in the sun all day) but in my head I have a fever and I’m sick and dying. The hardest part about dealing with this kind of anxiety is knowing damn right you probably are fine. Moral of the story is the hardest part of my days now are when I’m alone and by myself or isolated where I have the time to think, and being distracted only works if you like the thing you’re doing, so my advice would be to fill up as much time as you can doing something that creates a different bit of noise in your mind. 

[Bob_22]

Hi tikalouise,

Thank you so much for having the strength to post your experience with health anxiety. Yes unfortunately, health anxiety is quite common and as you mentioned can be very debilitating. I found some more information about here on this fact sheet. Similar to you, I experience health anxiety but have largely managed to keep it under control with a combination of medication and CBT techniques. I used to be really concerned about my chest/breathing to the point I have visited ED out of concern for not breathing properly. I've also experience shoulder pain from anxiety to the point I had a few scans done on my shoulder so I have experience in feeling somewhat defeated and invalidated by health anxiety. Fortunately, I can now more easily separate genuine health conditions from anxiety by using mindfulness strategies and similar to you, speaking to a friend or family member to help rationalise things. As you mentioned, it helps to keep distracted from the noise in your mind. Do you see a psychologist for any of the issues you mentioned by any chance? I only ask as they are usuallly quite adept and helping with these sorts of specific anxieties. Regardless, thank you so much for posting your story and advice. It helps me and others alot and I hope you find similar support here on the forums. 💙

Bob