Hey there, thank you so much for reaching out to us, welcome to the forums.
Oh goodness, I'm so sorry to hear that you've been struggling like this. Anxiety is horrible in general, but health anxiety is another level of awful again.
I've also struggled with health anxiety for a long time. Appointments, blood tests, germaphobia, everything to do with my health tends to give me vicious anxiety.
Do you recall when your health anxiety started at all? Was there something specific that triggered it, or did it seem to come about fairly spontaneously? That can be a good place to start, as it can help you to understand where these feelings have come from, and where you might be able to direct your energy to alleviate them.
In terms of tension in your muscles, there is one thing that I've found can be helpful for relieving tension in the moment. Give yourself about a short period of time (like thirty seconds) to tense up all the muscles in your body, then after this time has elapsed, untense everything. That tends to relieve some of that awful tension.
I'll always suggest this because it's worked so well for me, but journalling is the big thing I love to do when I'm feeling really anxious. It's good for processing difficult feelings and can be super cathartic.
Have you been to a GP, therapist, or psychologist about your health anxiety specifically? Mental health professionals can have some really good advice and techniques for managing it that can make a world of difference.
I hope this helps. Please feel free to share as much or as little about your experience as you'd like, we're here to listen. As somebody who also struggles with health anxiety, I'm happy to chat some more about your experiences or share some more from my own too.
Take care, SB
