Health anxiety. how to get rid of it?

[dbeck128]

How do you guys cope with your health anxiety? I hate this feeling. I breath the wrong way and I swear I'm on my death bed. I want to get better. But some days I feel like I never will

[vbp123]

Hi,

maybe talking therapy could help? Just going through your worries and believes. Sometimes writing things down helps too. What proof do you have that one or the other symptom will lead to death and what proof you have that you would not? Write it down.

xx

[EleanorRose]

I’d recommend a good CBT therapist too.

My anxiety has improved massively since finding a good therapist. I’m having a bit of a bad day, I know you replied to my post earlier, so I may not seem like the best advert for therapy for health anxiety 🙈 But seriously, talking therapy has done me the world of good.

I have OCD too and health anxiety, though it can be it’s own thing, often forms part of OCD and learning strategies for that has really helped.

[hypercat54]

dbeck128 did you see my reply to your last post? I think it is possible denying or not trusting your feelings is a big player in your health anxiety. x

[Hidden]

CBT or even just recognizing that each day you're alive...you're doing it. If I had a specific order as to what I would do or have done from being paranoid about my health and anxiety it's this:

1. Go get a check-up or physical. This should be a more in-depth visit. Labs and EKG along with the usual stuff. This will show most organ function, heart health, and what's going on in your blood. Prep a list of your most bothersome issues as questions, write them down, and ask the doctor while you have their attention. Know your risks of whatever might be off and work on making yourself less of a risk. For instance, if you fear heart issues, look at the risk factors for cardiovascular disease and it might be as simple as cutting out something from the diet. Gather all data because you'll use it.

2. Take the information from your doctor and your concerns and address it with any and all factual data. Know all the common side effects of the medications you're on. In many cases, the medications themselves can be the problem. For instance, I recently felt so incredibly crappy/tired/lethargic/like I was dragging a ton of bricks around that I finally told my doctor, "I can't keep living like this." The blood work showed everything was good if not improved. Our suspect, then, was the beta-blocker which absolutely can make you feel like this. Reduced from 100 mg to 50 mg, I have felt improved on this.

3. Try coping with whatever it is you're feeling by calling your body's bluff. It's basically coping, but soon after my physical I began telling my body BS to everything it threw or suggested. I was walking into work and my heart rate jumped a bit and I was somewhat worn out...."Oh, shut up. Slept like crap today, so of course I'm a bit groggy..... and we're walking. If the heart doesn't pump blood rich in oxygen, I don't walk. The EKG was perfectly fine just two days ago." Desensitize the moment with rational thought. It helps to be 100% behind your reasoning which is where all that data collecting comes into play. You aren't just trying to put out health anxiety with a half-full cup of water, you're using a one ton jug of common sense water. This is important because as much as you want your body to buy in and believe, you also have to believe. If I was dying every time I felt bad, I feel for how many urns my family bought prematurely. And on the other end of the stick....the healthiest of people have days where they just don't feel good. The difference is, their mental wiring doesn't default into anxious or negative thoughts. It's our gift and curse.

4. Talk therapy as vbp and eleanor mention. Pep talks, reaffirming the conditions of anxiety, and so on. Venting out. Mainly, I think CBT should be the course because it's practicing a different view from your current. Again, practice and time. I might also add confidence into this area. I say that because so often I let my health anxiety drive me down because I'm just not being self-confident enough. Easier said than done, but we've practiced ourselves into a corner for so long that this feeling = we are doomed. We have to deprogram that, believe in our body as functioning living one, and be confident that every malady isn't doom. A good therapist should be able to help you on your way.

5. Basically maintain all of the above. Keep up with your therapist, keep up with follow-up appointments with the doctor, and adjust as needed. One of the keys I've learned throughout my issues is to become "comfortable being uncomfortable". It isn't easy and it is so much easier to say this, but it's trying so hard to hold your poker face against the bluffs the body keeps sending. Don't be so rough on yourself when health anxiety takes a win and you end up "freaking out" about anxiety. It's hard not thinking the worst is happening when we have anxious negative thoughts saying, "YES, YES, it is what you think!" Something else I like to do is to be present among family or friends if, let's go with heart attack, a situation seems at hand. I go about my usual anxiety quelling exercises but will find someone who knows what I'm dealing with and ask them to check on me. If the worst case happens by chance, someone can get you immediate medical attention. So far, they've all been anxiety attacks and not something worse. And in these moments, when we spend time with our symptoms, we begin to become more used to them and maybe have more certainty that it's our anxiety causing the symptom and not our heart, lungs, or whatever issue. Again, a therapist really helps there.

I hope any of this helped. It is much easier to tell you all this than walk it. I have days where all of this worked out great and I've had days where I'm left just stymied that anxiety could get me this out of my element. The best thing you can do is get your health examined, know your risk factors, and then experience your symptoms....and when you live through them, it's huge to chalk one up in the win column. I'm sure you know the usual suspects for help...medication, meditation/breathing exercises/mindfulness, and so on. There are others such as tapping, acupuncture, coloring...whatever. Utilize your anxiety/mental health tool belt when everything starts to feel off. It isn't easy, but you can do this. Just my own experience with health anxiety, so hope even a bit of it is helpful. I hope you get to feeling better in both body and mind. Leave some room for kindness for yourself in all this because we're already pretty tough on ourselves. Best wishes and take care!

[dbeck128]

Thanks you all are awesome