Long-term anxiety about husband's health

[Dilly2]

My husband has had serious health problems including 3 major (successful) operations in the past 18 months. We are very close and I have been extremely stressed and taking an antidepressant which helps to a certain extent. Now he is recovering well and I've been feeling better but the slightest hitch in his recovery sends me back into extreme stress mode. He had a short-term bad episode the other night which sent me into panic, even though he was back to normal next day. I was taking an (out-of-date) antibiotic for my slight ear infection - I presumed the tablets were causing my frequent, ongoing explosive diarrhoea. Have now ended the course but the diarrhoea continues despite probiotics and anti-diarrhoea tablets. No other symptoms at all and I feel very well apart from constantly being on edge - trying to convince myself it's all stress-related but then wonder if it's more serious. Very hard to get GP appointments in the current situation. Just wondering if anyone else can relate?

[Mark Z.]

Hi Dilly2,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing your story. I can tell it must be very hard for you.

You mentioned that you and your husband are very close. Maybe you can think from a different angle, that your own health, including physical and mental status has big impact on him. If you stay well he'll be strongly encouraged. So not just for yourself but also for your husband, you need to take care of yourself.

I understand that you have a lot of stress due to concerns to your husband's health. You may need to arrange more things for yourself to divert attention. For example, focusing on your hobbies, connecting to your friends and relatives, planning quality times with your husband, and etc. Definitely worth trying meditation.

Regarding getting GP appointments, yes it's much harder during the pandemic, but it's still possible. Try to use HotDoc app to search available GPs around you.

Hope everything will get better and better.

Mark

[HappyHelper88]

Hi there

im so sorry to hear i cant imagine how hard that must have been,

sounds like you are under alot of stress, please remember to take care of yourself as your husband needs you to be well also
Its definitely worth seeing a GP when you can to investigate but from my experience when i am under stress i do get alot of skin and stomach issues among other health issues so it could be from stress

Try searching find a GP appointment near me"
this has shown me earliest available appts in my city

I hope this helps and please remember to reach out if you need, if you need any support you can Beyond Blue support service 24 hours a day on 1300 224 636

[Dilly2]

Oh thank you so much Mark, your kind reply has helped me so much. Yes I fully understand and and always try hard to keep cheerful for him and I think I rattle with vitamins to try to keep healthy! It's just that some days are diamonds, some days are stones. I am now fairly sure my stomach issues are stress-related (Mr Google tells me this is common) and for the first time in my life I'm being treated for psoriasis in my scalp. But today everything feels a little better so thank you again.

[Dilly2]

Oh sorry HappyHelper - I read Mark's reply first and thought I was replying to him. So thank you again!

[Dilly2]

Hi Mark - this time I'll reply to you after replying to HappyHelper by mistake!

Both your replies have made an enormous difference to the way I'm feeling today. My husband of 49 years and I are so close that we do have a huge impact on each other and we both try oh so hard to keep positive for each other but some days it's just overwhelming.

I'm quite sure my stomach and skin (scalp psoriasis which I've never had before) issues are due to the stresses of the past 18 months - plus I've been taking antibiotics for an ear infection which I know can cause diarrhoea.

Otherwise I'm really healthy, we live on a beautiful remote property in a lovely valley and have no other problems and are now fully vaxxed. And my husband's health is generally improving so life at the moment is looking good - fingers crossed.

Thank you both again - I read your replies before we went to bed last night and they made me feel quite emotional and happy.

[Mark Z.]

Hi Dilly2,

So happy that my words make you feel better.

If you stay on this forum a little longer and browse more posts, you will find that many of us are actually similar - owning good things while suffering hardship or misfortune. So we appreciate what we have and encourage each other to get out of the woods. So many people here are ready to listen, give advice or share their lived experience.

If you have further questions or concerns, do not hesitate to share 🙂

Mark