Severe Health Anxiety

Joey7 · ‎15-04-2014

I suffer from severe health anxiety and have for the past 6 years which all started after my son was seriously iill and we came very close to losing him thankfully we didn't. Since that time my anxiety has gotten a lot worse these past 2 years have been so bad with my physical symptoms worsening to the point I'm googling my symptoms all the time constantly thinking I have some disease that relates to the symptoms I have at the time. I guess I just don't believe that even though my anxiety is so severe it can cause these weird sensations and symptoms in my body which with having health anxiety the symptoms just escalate my anxiety and I can't function at all. I'm constantly waking up anxious hoping I won't have a the symptom that day then when I do it makes me so upset and frustrated I think I must have a serious disease for it to still be there. Can anyone else relate to this and has the horrible scary physical symptoms that go along with anxiety what did you do to help I don't want to be like this anymore the Physical symptoms are horrible.

Mae83 · ‎27-05-2017

Hi Cakeboss,

Thanks so much for the advice! I saw an ophthalmologist on Monday and he said everything looked normal, so hopefully eye pain is just sinuses or something simple like that.

Good luck with your own health concerns and anxiety. It seems like you take a wise approach to these things 🙂

rmcg · ‎30-05-2017

Hi Mae,

MRI came back clear, small mucus cyst in right sinus. i felt so stressed for two days until I got the results. Went to optometrist too, slight trouble focusing so maybe eye fatigue. Then I started to get better, now today I'm worrying about bowel cancer again! Back to the doctor tomorrow, I'm thinking it may be time for medication. I can't keep putting myself through this! I'm a mess!

Mr_Walker · ‎30-05-2017

Wow, this thread strikes so many chords - with so many of us! I used to worry there was something wrong with my heart and that I was about to die - had ECG,s MRI's - was DIAGNOSED with Pericarditis which further tests showed I didn't have!

But I specifically wanted to answer Sieraphin's question - yes I DID find out what was causing my anxiety (which sometimes focussed on my health but was mostly around social situations).

I won't hijack the thread with the long story but after a year or so of therapy I realized what seems blindingly obvious now! I think it's hard to discover the causes of the anxiety until the symptoms are mostly under control - it's just too hard to be objective and think clearly if you know what I mean?

rational_thinker · ‎07-06-2017

I had what experts considered a low/no risk exposure but became terrified that I got HIV. I would compulsively search the internet which helped me feel better but I eventually became even more anxious and obsessed. I would call the hotlines all the time asking the similar questions and eventually became friends with some of the nurses.

All of that worrying caused my life to go downhill that it felt hopeless, it was as if the fear was even worse than the disease. Eventually I got tested and the results were negative but it just brought me a little bit of temporary relief and then I would get back into the same pattern. It became hard to accept the results. My self esteem is so low and sometimes I feel so pessimistic that I almost expect for something terrible to happen to me.

I just completed my final HIV test at 3 months which was also negative and the official policy is that it is conclusive and you don't have it. But predictably, after feeling a few days of relief I started worrying again, wondering 'what if'? The strategy I devised to cope with it is to look at my test results, or look at a picture of a full house MCG (which is a visual representation of the true odds of HIV and other terrible illnesses). Sometimes it helps to read posts from other frightened people with health anxiety and realise how similar our thinking is.

I think we tend to get overly fixated on specific low risk threats. Instead we should have a more general focus, and this can be done with blood tests measuring blood sugar, immunity, inflammation. Apparently they will be able to detect cancer from these tests sometime in the future. We need to accept that in life there is some minute risk of horrible illnesses and incidents like terrorism but avoid the compulsions and obsessions that stop us making the most of the time that we have.

Bear17 · ‎13-06-2017

Hi

Where to begin. I am not someone who had depression or anxiety really. I had what I call healthy anxiety, that is I would worry about things that should be worried about and so this drove me to fix things.

Within the space of a couple of years one of my older brothers died of lung cancer. Then I ended up in hospital with a septic infection which I didnt go to the doctor about until it was nearly too late. Ended up having major surgery and it was pretty stressful. Then my father died. Not long after this I developed afib and going through public health it took months for all my tests to be done and I had a number of episodes that put me in hospital. This was so bad from a stressful point of view that I didnt know if I was going to kick the bucket or not. I ended up having surgery and it was fixed. During this time I used another brother to confide in about my issues and talk it over with him. After I was fixed he ended up getting cancer and died at an early age.

Added to this was my wife getting sick and needing surgery to rule out cancer and during her pregnancy we had a false positive to a virus which can effect the baby in utero and we had tons of stress and tests to go through over it.

All of this happened in a three year window.

I have since developed health anxiety which has drained me for the next three years after that.

I thought I was having a stroke, angina, cancer, amongst others. However the worst has been the light headed and foggy head that I have had for nearly 3 years. Sometimes when I forget about it it isnt so obvious, but I am always thinking about it, so I have it. I have had an MRI scan done of my head due to it. I showed nothing. Now I have anxiety not just for myself but my family as well.

I can go through periods of months where it doesnt effect me, but its always in the background waiting the new health scare to react to.

The power the mind has over your body is incredible. I have learnt that my mind can create headaches, aches and pains, and nearly every symptom you can come up with.

It can destroy you.

Ebondi85 · ‎12-07-2017

Reading this thread has given me so much comfort.

ive always had anxiety but this year my mother was diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer and it's really done my head in.

I have had a colonoscopy, ovary scans, breast scans, abdomen scans, liver function blood test and every thing has been fine.

i went vegan in an attempt to reduce the risk of bowel cancer and in doing so I've developed petechiae rash all over my body. It's like burst blood vessels.

i know that the reasonable explanation is a vitamin b12 deficiency but after googling I've seen that it can be leukaemia which is of course what I am fixating on.

waiting for test results is torture.

whenever I get treatment for something I then start worrying about what other diseases can be caused by the treatment.

i also feel like I have totally lost faith/trust in doctors and feel like they only offer band aid solutions instead of treating the cause of illnesses.

Has anyone else experienced this with medical professionals?

Rea27 · ‎19-07-2017

Hi,

I too have had a lot of skin checks in the last 2months. If had 3 moles cut out ( one mole a really had some growth growing off it ) but was told it benign even then I insist it gets cut out. Pathologist results say normal.. so why do I question them thinking they didn't cut the wholeskin lesion out and cancer is there.. gahhh it drives me nut!!

Anxietyqueen · ‎26-08-2017

Hello everyone ,

Im Jane ,30 years old and have had health anxiety for about 5 years. As much comfort as I have gotten from reading everyone's posts, I am so sorry you're all going through this 😔

For me, anxiety started when my daughter was 2. My first attack was when I was watching tv with my family and had a strange pain in my head , this feeling came over me and I was just convinced I had a brain tumour . For a month straight I was freaking out , couldn't sleep lost 25 kg ( bonus lol ) I drove myself to the hospital twice telling them I was dying . It's horrible and I'm so sick of it . I use to be bad and google everything , but now I realise you could type in "hangnail" and somewhere down the line it will tell you that's a symptom of cancer .

My anxiety seems to come in waves now . And I'm going through a rough time at the moment .

I get anxiety symptoms like the numbness, sweating, nauseas , head aches, sore neck, strange sensations in my head , dots in my eyes. And just when I know that they are all anxiety related , my body changes them on me and I get different ones .

I've been on medication (I do believe it helps me) but recently stopped because I hate feeling like a zombie . I have other medication for when I need it .

Something I recommend is going to the dr and getting s full blood test. When it comes back clear , whenever s thought pops into your head , you can remember that nothing showed in your test so it's just anxiety . That's helped me so much and my family reassure and remind me that if there was something terribly wrong , it would show in the blood test .

I hope you're all anxiety free today and enjoying your day

KMTE · ‎26-08-2017

Hi anxiety queen do you find the medication to make you feel like a zombie? In what way? I've just been diagnosed with health anxiety amongst other things that has lead to depression and I am about to start a new lot of meds Monday (the first lot I tried didn't work well for me). I just really need some light at the end of the tunnel because some days are a real struggle and I have a young family which can sometimes make it harder

cakeboss · ‎01-09-2017

Hi i know the feeling of health anxiety.I recently went through some major financial stress .Being a suffer of anxiety already ,well anxiety was back.This went on for months to all my problems where sorted.Ive got support network and was so scared of falling apart.I have a counciler tried the relaxation tapes which i still find hard to concentrate with.I am on medication but still it is there.I went to a psycitrist one month ago fantastic understanding dr.I was that bad any slight sickness same as you would think is it cancer and major panic attacks.Ive been told going to take few months for the stress of all this finace thing to get back on track .IT can get to you on certain days cant it .I manage to work and been told go for distraction and i just take a day at a time at moment.Ive had some great days and then its back as i wake .Music is my saviour at the moment and walking but yea pray for the day no anxiety at all .Try and do things that make you feel happy it does help .I totally understand what you are going through .