Since May, I developed anxiety surrounding my health. I’m overweight and my dad’s family has a history of heart problems. I’m always scared of having a heart attack or something fatal. I’m scared of the pain. Anytime I feel some kind of pain like a sore arm or strange headache and even chest ache, I automatically believe it’s a serious medical condition.
My mom isn’t very sympathetic. When I’m getting anxiety, she just tells me to stop it. She just has this look on her face like I’m doing this for attention. That’s why I prefer talking to my best friends when I’m anxious. They know how to calm me down and don’t gaslight me.
I just don’t know what to do anymore. I wanna get better pero I haven’t been to the doctor. I feel like they’re not gonna believe me at all like my mom. Or there’s nothing wrong with me and I’m just crazy.
I just want the pain to go away. I really can’t remember the last time I was free of the aches.
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Kickstartart21
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I have something similar with an anxiety / pain cycle. I had GI pain and cramps, that seemed to automatically cause anxiety. Then, the anxiety caused pain and cramps... so much so that at one point, I could *think* myself into causing the symptoms or making them worse. No kidding, I could think of that spot in a certain way and it would spasm.
I have a few suggestions for you that might help:
1) Have you been checked for any heart issues? There's nothing like the relief of finding out there's nothing immediate going on, or even that there is something specific and here's what you can do about it.
2) Start a modest exercise program. Maybe just walk for 10 or 20 minutes a day. You could use this as another reason to get checked by the doctor.
3) Try mindfulness meditation. It involves just being mindful of the sensations and the thoughts and emotional reactions to them. By doing this, you can start to open up a gap between the sensation and the reaction to them. Yes, this takes a while.
This mindfulness meditation teacher Ines Freedman helped me a lot with pain and meditation. BTW, it's not a religious practice to me, it's simply sitting quietly and being mindful. Here's the course in working with pain. They have several intro to meditation courses that might also help.
I completely relate to this!! Please go to my profile (I guess that’s what they call it on here? Lol) and check out my latest post on health anxiety. I got some AWESOME replies, recommendations, encouragement, etc.
Kick-start please don't think just because things tun in your family as you will find it's only rarely this happens usually several things are similar but don't mean it will affect you like others in your family ! If you can get your doctor to run some test that may help ally your fear why not ask you doctor to run some tests to put your mind at rest I wish you all the best and hope things get better for you 😊
Hang in there, and don’t be too hard on yourself. Anxiety is cruel. The physical symptoms are very real, and even if not organically harmful they can leave you in the fetal position, in a corner, fearing for your life. Check out on YouTube or audible the late Dr Claire Weekes Hope and help for your nerves. It’s outstanding and gives you a breath of fresh air. A window to understanding and some tips to approach the anxiety. Hugs.
it sounds like exercise would really help. Start with a short walk. First it gets your muscles moving. If you are sitting too much they could be stiff and that’s a reason to have pain. I sat too much and had bad back problem. No more because of exercise. A headache can be caused by being inside too much
Second it gets those endorphins active. Those ultimately affect your mood and therefore anxiety.
Third the longer you keep that weight on the harder it will be to take off. At 24 you could take it off for life with healthy habits. Insurance may cover a weight loss program. One that I recommend it Noom. A more clinical one is formhealth.
After you get to the doc to rule out anything serious. Maybe try small steps-walking outside a bit. Just moving in general helps me. I do a little small 10lb weights every day. A set routine of arm exercises. Try a bit of yoga. Yoga with Adrienne is great. It’s online. Just google it. Hope you feel better. 🙏
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