Health anxiety

[Bell87]

Hi all

I’m struggling pretty bad at the moment.
long story short I Have struggled with health anxiety for 7 years now sometimes it’s manageable but at the moment it seems out of control.
im just having a hard time believing all these symptoms I get are from anxiety.
May the moment my biggest symptom is tingling in neck and face only on the left side then I start googling stuff then

i work myself so much I start panicking thinking I will die.
I hate feeling this way

has anyone had this? How long does it take to go away? I would much prefer an upset tummy or sweaty palms over this feeling

I try and calm it down but I’m stressing about it all the time

[Rigour]

Hi Bell87,

You're not alone, I actually just posted about similar feelings a couple hours ago. I can't say I have much in the way of advice as I'm really struggling too, but just know that you aren't on your own in this, and that this really is your anxiety wreaking havoc. There's actually a really great thread in this forum about the physical symptoms of anxiety, it has helped me put some things at ease.

For me it's the fear of the unknown that triggers my panic, which makes me doubt that these things are just anxiety, and that ends up a in horrific spiral.

Try and stay strong, and don't be afraid to reach out to a GP you trust for help. They can probably ease your mind about some symptoms and then sort out a mental health plan so you can start seeing a psychologist to get some help with your anxiety.

Regardless of all that, don't give up or give in - you can beat this

[Bell87]

Thanks for the reply bell87

it makes me feel better that I’m not alone as horrible as it is and I wouldn’t wish this upon anyone.
Ive suffered with this alone and kept everything in until last week I decided I needed help as I can’t love this way anymore. I know there is no magic cure and it will take time.
hopefully cbt works for me

[Bell87]

Sorry got distracted lol thanks for the reply rigour

[katelh]

Hi Bell87

You are not alone! This is a very common symptom of anxiety. I used to get tingling in my legs and recognising all of the sensations that feel like pins and needles.

I don't suffer much from anxiety anymore, but when I do, I notice all of my symptoms first. Once I start the google spiral, I know that I'm not running too well.

It's been really good for me to know the pattern of my behaviour around health issues and stresses, so that I can look back and see that this is what I do and that I'm not going to die.

The truth of the matter is, we have little things going on in our body ALL the time. But when we're hyper-vigilant and in anxiety, we notice EVERYTHING. And that's bloody scary. What works for me is reminding myself that these things are happening all the time, I'm just super aware of them right now because I'm anxious.

Another thing that has helped me a lot is meditation and prayer. I don't believe in a God that sits in the sky and has a white beard etc. I just believe that there is something greater than me, maybe the universe, or something. When I'm in faith, there can be no fear. I repeat to myself: 'I have faith that everything is going to be okay. I have faith that when I let go things get easier and less stressful. I have faith that when I can accept things as they are right now, my mindset and symptoms change, and I'm much less anxious'.

I hope that this has helped you in some way xx

[44Max44]

Hi Bell, I'm really sorry to hear that you're struggling with this.

I'm the same as you, I've had health anxiety for a while now, sometimes it's manageable, sometimes not so much.

In my experience, there is quite literally nothing anxiety can and can't make you feel. If you truly believe that you are feeling a sensation, your brain will make you feel that sensation. There have been several case studies where they've taken people, given them a sugar pill (and said it was an experimental drug) and told them what symptoms they could expect, and lowe and behold, they started experiencing those symptoms even though they had just taken sugar. It's both amazing and frightening what your brain is capable of making you feel.
If you want an example of one such case study, Vsauce's 'Mind Field' has an episode on it. I believe it's the episode titled 'The Power of Suggestion'.

One tip I have that I'd definitely start doing ASAP is to steer well clear of Google. I find that 100% of the time if I google symptoms, all it does it make me worry more. Diagnosing myself was the worst habit I had when I was really suffering from health anxiety, it didn't help me whatsoever, all it did was make me worry more about things I didn't have.

Let your doctor do the worrying for you. If you go to see them, tell them your symptoms, and they aren't worried? Than congrats! You can stop worrying because if the doctor isn't worried there's no reason you should be, they're the experts after all.

I know it might be hard to not google your symptoms, I know how tempting it can be, but it's not a good habit to have and you should try to get rid of it as soon as you can.

Other than that, I'd definitely recommend 'The Anxiety Guy' on YouTube. He's just an all-around wholesome dude and he helped calm me down a lot. He also has some great advice and techniques that I use myself and helped me tremendously.


All the best.

[cc199918]

yeah i know exactly how this feels, not the same symptoms but i get a lot of physical symptoms like chest pain and just random pains which lead me to googling stuff all the time and it’s just a repetitive cycle i go through.

i now just come to terms with my symptoms and tell myself not too google anything and it’ll pass, i try to take my mind off it by doing other things which usually works.

sorry to hear you’re going through this also, i feel you, i really do.

[Bell87]

Thanks for replying everyone

I am currently doing cbt Therapy for 3 weeks now.
I know there’s no easy fix but I just want to feel like me again. The tingling has gone now thank god because that was worrying me the most

I have recently visited the doctor and my blood pressure was abit high so now I’m worrying about that and having a heart attack

it only seems to get high when I’m at the doctor

when I’ve tested it elsewhere it’s been ok 🤷‍♀️
the brain is a very amazing thing that’s for sure making you believe all this stuff

I really appreciate they replies and it’s good to talk to someone else with similar issues who understand