Constantly Worrying

[SN6530]

Hi. 3 months ago I was mis-diagnosed by by doctor with Hiv which was only recently cleared. During that three months I thought my life was over and could barely eat or sleep, I dropped out of my uni course and lost 20 kilos because of it. I thought I was finally over my ordeal and able to enjoy life again until I woke one day with a stomach pain. I started googling stomach pains and now I cant stop freaking out about cancer. I've seen 3 doctors and they all say the same, that they cant see anything wrong with me. Its obvious that I don't have cancer but I worry so much that I constantly have IBS which then makes me think I have stomach cancer which in turn makes me worry. I try to think about things logically but the logic doesn't seem to ease my mind. I cant do anything anymore. I think about cancer when i wake up, when i'm driving, when I go to sleep, I've even had times when I've zoned out of conversations i'm having with people because I'm constantly worrying about it in the back of my mind. I am never happy anymore. I really need to know If anyone else has had thoughts like this and how to overcome them.

[Zeal]

Hi SN6530,

Welcome to the forum!

I am so sorry to hear that you were misdiagnosed with HIV, and experienced intense anxiety and fear for three months as a result. Pulling out of uni and dropping 20 kilos would have had a huge impact on your life. I hope your doctor was sincerely apologetic, and that this won't happen to any other patients. Being cleared by three doctors regarding your stomach pain makes it clear to me that what you're experiencing is health anxiety. These genuine physical symptoms are the result of intense anxiety. Dealing with the anxiety is crucial, as this will help you both physically and psychologically. Asking your doctor for a referral to a counsellor or psychologist is the best way forward. Being able to have emotional support from loved ones is important too. Having close support from a few family members can have a positive influence on your emotional wellbeing.

In addition to seeing a counsellor/psychologist, I recommend looking through this online resource on health anxiety: http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/resources/infopax.cfm?Info_ID=53

It would be great to hear back from you 🙂

Best wishes,

Zeal

[Doolhof]

Hi SN6530,

Zeal has provided you with some helpful advice. I don't suffer so much from anxiety, for me it more stress and depression. With the stress, I have a lot of negative energy that I channel into getting jobs done in the garden, cleaning the house or whatever.

My brain freaks out more in relationship to time and what I think needs to be done.

Would it help you to write down your symptoms, write down what the Drs. have told you then write down why you are not accepting the results from the Drs. You could take this in to your Dr and ask them to help you with it all.

Being wrongly diagnosed with HIV must have been horrendous for you as well. I can well understand why you may be dubious about accepting a Drs. diagnosis this time.

Googling for recipes can be beneficial, Googling for medical symptoms and illnesses is not always that beneficial.

If I do use Dr. Google, then I take that information and ask my Dr. if it is relevant or not.

You may also gain more insight into ANXIETY by reading the resources attached to this site or by looking at some of the responses to others in the Anxiety section.

Welcome to the community here.

Cheers for now from Mrs. Dools

[pipsy]

Hi SN6530. Having been wrongfully diagnosed with HIV would've been devastating. Zeal and Doolhoff have given you some great ideas, one of which seems to be googling for diagnosis can lead to other problems. The more we read about serious sicknesses the more we start wondering if we have these. Perhaps a visit to the Dr for a complete physical check-up would help reassure you. Stomach pains can caused by any number of things. You may have some indigestion which can be painful. It is possible your anxiety over the misdiagnosis of HIV has really caused much of your pain. You had 3 months of agony over this misdiagnosis, I would be very surprised if it didn't have some affect. Perhaps a new Dr might be beneficial as the same doubt would not be there.

Lynda