Health anxiety?

[Mummybee]

Hello everyone,

I am new to posting here.

I think I am getting health anxiety...

i have always been prone to panic attacks followed by periods of anxiety, but usually just situational, and as soon as the issue I'm worried about is resolved the anxiety fades and I go back to my usual self.

the problem this time is that it's my health I'm worried about and I'm scared that's making me find symptoms that aren't there and I will never escape this!

it started when I had some foggy brain and when to the Drs about it. He said he wanted to do an MRI after my blood tests came back all clear just to make sure there wasn't anything sinister going on, and that's when I panicked. I'm a 32 yo mother of two young children and between the time he said I needed the MRI and when I saw him again I had convinced myself I had MS or a brain tumour or something that would kill me.

when I rang for the results the receptionist told me that my dr wanted to see me regarding the results and I went into full panic attack. I couldn't breath, my heart was pounding my ears ringing I couldn't move my legs or arms... I made it to the doctors with some help from my mum and was told he just wanted me to see an eye dr as the MRI radiologist had queried a slightly larger optical nerve. No tumours no signs of anything nasty. But my muscles were so weak from the panic attack and it just won't go away, so now I'm so wound up and sick with worry about my muscles and why they are twitching like crazy and feel weak. This was three weeks ago and I'm still weak and twitching and can't get back to my dr until next week.

 i thought posting on here might help take my mind off it for a while and hear other people's experience with health anxiety.

when I went to the eye dr my optical nerve was fine and my vision perfect but they did find slight changes suggesting cataracts. Cataracts at 32!! So now I have dr googled myself into being sick about the diseases I must have underlying to have cataracts at 32!

thanks for listening. 

I'm so worried about not being around to watch my kids grow up 😞

[oska]

hi moonstruck thanx for sharing a part of your storey with me thank you oska

[Mummybee]

Hi Oska

welcome!

you have come to the right place to discuss your fears.

you are certainly not alone

mummybee 

[Rosablue]

Hi all,

I'm new to this site. Like everyone I'm hoping that sharing my experiences and hearing of others experiences will help me though a very difficult time. Health anxiety is something I live with everyday. I feel it myself on a daily basis and I see it almost every day in people I treat. I hope it makes me a more empathetic doctor if nothing else. From a societal point of view I think there are reasons why it is so common. We don't cope well with disease. We are told everyday though advertising that we should be a picture of health. We are warned about recognising early symptoms. We see adverts that tell us to quickly take pills to take the pain away. Then there is the medical profession. We are the pessimists. We are trained to think of the worst case scenario. Many of us a highly anxious and obsessive people. That is how we got though medical school and specialist training. We don't want to miss a diagnosis. There are good reasons behind this. Treatment may be available. But it often means that many people have to go through unnecessary investigations so that one person can benefit.

If you're anxious you may also find that your doctor will do more investigations to try and quell your anxiety. This doesn't work. It's like how we are taught that seeking external reassurance is not helpful for our anxiety. But most doctors don't understand this. If they do then you can probably assume they are one of the many that have personally experienced significant anxiety.

 Anyway I'm rambling. What I really wanted to say is that many of us doctors truly understand your anxiety. We experience it too.

 I'm very much suffering right now with health problems, anxiety and now reactive depression. I have found myself disappointed in the medical community (some - not all by any degree - most very much want to help). I was given a very worrying diagnosis without any empathy or support. In my field of medicine if we give a difficult diagnosis we are there to help the person through. If we can't cure then we can comfort. I'm struggling to find comfort right now and I'm hoping that hearing from others will help me through this time. Finding peace in life can be a difficult journey.

[Mummybee]

Hi rosablue

Nice to hear from you.

my doctor is always very dismissive when I mention my anxiety. He barely ackowledges it, brushes it off like its a waste of time discussing and moves on to whatever physical symptom I have at the time.

i couldn't cope in a medical environment, I would be constantly thinking that I had everything the patients had.

sometimes I think mine stems from my belief that everything in my life is too good, I'm always waiting for the devestation to happen to ruin everything. I'm starting to think my health anxiety might be the thing that's ruining it!

thanks for sharing your story, I hope reading these posts has helped you.

mummybee