Actual health problem or anxiety? - Anxiety Support

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Actual health problem or anxiety?

Brittbutt666 profile image
18 Replies

So, I constantly worry about my health. Sometimes I even feel like I'm hyperventilating or having a panic attack. My throat has been somewhat irritated, but no other symptoms. I always feel like I have some kind of problem with my body, whether it's a ache, twinge, or sharp, but quick pain. I can't stop. I feel like I'm going to die by just worrying. I don't have insurance and can't afford to go to a hospital. My family tells me everything is fine and I'm overreacting. The have also stated that they have had similar pains, but they have gone away and is nothing to worry about. I don't know what to do. Nothing stops me from worrying. I have an appt. a week from today, I feel like once they tell me I'm fine, I'm just gonna start worrying about something else. Cancer is a big thing for me, especially throat or lung cancer. I just don't know what to do anymore.

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Brittbutt666 profile image
Brittbutt666
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18 Replies
lauren23 profile image
lauren23

Anxiety sufferers have all sorts of weird symptoms because I have some really weird ones. My throat feels tight like someone has their hands round it I worried I had thyroid problems then throat cancer I take it your from USA because you said you have no insurance in the UK you dont need insurance to go to a doctor

Brittbutt666 profile image
Brittbutt666 in reply tolauren23

Yes I am from the US and everything's pretty messed up here when it comes to health care. My throat has been like this for awhile, and I always think I feel something knew everyday in my neck. Everyone tells me I'm fine, but I don't feel like it.

lauren23 profile image
lauren23 in reply toBrittbutt666

If a person doesnt suffer anxiety then they dont understand how we are feeling and then they just say get over yourself but its not that easy its our bodies and we know that we are f eeling aches and pains and only we know if there is a lump or bump I wish I could be anxiety free and just get over myself but it isnt that easy if it was that simple we would of been cured a long time ago. I keep hearing of good meds but they are only available in america in the uk the meds are different.

Brittbutt666 profile image
Brittbutt666 in reply tolauren23

I don't want meds. I want to feel normal and happy, but I don't want a pill to make me feel that way, you know. I'm sorry you are also going through this and it isn't fun. I always assume the worst and everyday it just gets worse.

Shiann123 profile image
Shiann123 in reply tolauren23

I feel the sack same way, it sucks I'm glad I'm not the only one, feeling like there's,Golf ball down in your throat when you try swallowing, and you constant feel it, it's awful wouldn't wish it on anyone, maybe it could be globus sensation, but I hope you feel better soon, sometimes it's cool to do breathing exercise also massage the back of your neck.

Brittbutt666 profile image
Brittbutt666 in reply toShiann123

Well I went to the hospital today. Doctor just looked and told me it was a virus, but didn't feel my neck and how stiff it was, or feel my lymph nodes either. I'm getting more freaked out by the minute, sometimes it as if I feel sharp pains in my chest, sometimes the pains opposite to my heart. Idk but I don't feel better at all. They didn't even look into it and I have been like this for weeks now. I do massage my neck, I even went out and bought heating packets that go to 130 degrees (doctor recommended temperature) but nothing is helping.

Hi. It certainly sounds like you are suffering from anxiety disorder. You said you have an appointment next week - presumably for tests? I am not sure what tests you have had done already, if any, so it is difficult to say for sure if anxiety is the cause of your problem.

When it comes to dealing with anxiety, families are not always the most understanding or helpful. It is true that people get various aches and pains, especially as we get older, and most people can just brush them off or seek out the appropriate medical intervention. Anxiety is not something they can easily understand, which can make them seem harsh and lacking in compassion.

It may be that after your tests next week you will be able to begin to return to your normal life again. But the reality is that if your condition is anxiety based then test results will make no difference to what goes on in your head. Then you need to ask your doctor what is available to help you deal with it. But for at least a few days try and not assume the worst things about your health, which I know will be difficult.

Brittbutt666 profile image
Brittbutt666 in reply to

I haven't had any tests done. I don't have insurance and I don't really want to be in debt. One doctors appointment last year costed me over 600 dollars. They felt my back and prescribed me muscle relaxers, which only made me sleep a lot. And you'really completely right about family. I can't help but assume the worse. It just flows through me and that's when the panic kicks in. I don't take it as harsh or mean because I know I freak out and they can't possibly know what I'm going through inside my head. They just try to help reassure me, but it doesn't quite work. I go in tomorrow, I feel like theyou are just going to feel my neck and tell me it will pass. I can't take it anymore. I'm not myself anymore. I was happy and worry free, but not anymore and haven't been for awhile now :(

in reply toBrittbutt666

Hi. As you mention insurance I know then you are not here in the UK. Well, we have to deal with things as they are and not as they should be, and I understand your reluctance to get into debt. However, you also say - 'I can't take it any more'. Anxiety can be a serious and debilitating illness - in its own way just as serious as many of the 'physical' illnesses. Intervention of one sort or another is going to be necessary if you are to overcome the anxiety demon. For the first time in about 6 months I spent 6 hours in hospital last night because my anxiety fooled me into thinking I was having another heart attack. Comments from family ranged from ' just take your medication and dont think about it' to ' you were doing so well and now its all spoiled again'. These comments were well meaning - but actually slightly insulting and showing a total lack of understanding of the nature of anxiety. In effect, we have the doctors, ourselves and sites like this to rely on for support and understanding. If your condition is so bad then maybe you have to put that ahead of not getting into debt, which I know is perhaps easy for me to say. But the reality is that anxiety disorder at this level needs professional help of one form or another.

Brittbutt666 profile image
Brittbutt666 in reply to

I'm so sorry you're going through that and I can absolutely relate to that. I did go into today, but all they did was look and told me it's some kind of virus, yet I've been going through this for weeks on end. He also prescribed me medication, but all it does is numb everything for an hour or so. I hope you are doing better now and glad it wasn't a heart attack. Do you ever get chest pains opposite of your heart? Or just pains around your chest, even maybe in your arms? I get them when I start to over think and it scares me. It's not the same here as in the UK. They want me to do therapy, but I've been through that for 7 years and I can't take the way they smile at you and tell you everything will be okay. It actually makes it worse.

in reply toBrittbutt666

Hi. Thank you for your kind wishes. Yes the chest pains can seem like they spread to the arms, a s they did the other day, which is why it was more convincing for me that something was really wrong. But I was forgetting the insidious nature of anxiety - how it preys on your worst fears when you are at your most vulnerable. In my case, the first anniversary of my first heart attack will be next week. That was the trigger, the way in for anxiety. It does not matter your background or experience - I have been a therapist for 30 years and a social worker for a few years before that - so I am aware of my emotional state. But still anxiety can sneak up on me. One thing I have to say - I never just smile at people and tell them it will all be ok :-) What I do say to my clients is this - therapy does have the possibility of success if we both work at together. We each have responsibilities in that relationship. I am sorry you have not had a good experience with therapy. It could be that you have not been attending the right kind of therapy session. There is no one size fits all approach. Your therapy has to be individually tailored to your needs.

You use the word 'overthink' - that is exactly what most people with anxiety are doing. Which is why I always go on about distraction techniques. It was when I did not put that into action myself the other day that I got into difficulty. So I would ask you not to give up on the therapeutic option just yet.

CDT2017 profile image
CDT2017

I feel the same way you do. No matter what I am doing, I am constantly thinking about my health. No one understands and I feel silly even talking about it. Every time I have a little pain, I think this is the end. It is exhausting! My doctor prescribed Xanax, which I take only when my anxiety is super high. My gyno blames hormones, so I am trying some supplements that she suggested to balance everything out, so I am hopeful it helps a little! I hope your appointment goes well and gives you some relief!

Brittbutt666 profile image
Brittbutt666 in reply toCDT2017

I'm sorry and it's not silly, we feel the way we do and can't help it. And I'm completely the same way, but I don't have a regular doctor...

Cwoods profile image
Cwoods in reply toCDT2017

Hi are they natural supplements she recommended?

CDT2017 profile image
CDT2017 in reply toCwoods

She recommended Vitamin E and a vitamin called Omega 3-6-9. She said it balances out your hormones which have a huge affect on my anxiety.

Cwoods profile image
Cwoods in reply toCDT2017

Thank u so much

Shiann123 profile image
Shiann123

So sorry I hear about this because I take the same things your hands go so cold, you feel dizzy, and your heart is pumping so fast, I've got diagnosed with anixty/depression/GERD

It's hard to deal with, one thing I hate the most Is feeling breathless i do exercises I lye down, put my hands on my stomach, feel my air expanding as I pump my lungs with air, it's a really good skill I hope it helps, stress balls are good to, and sometimes having a dairy is the best hope this helps, it's very scary I hope you get threw this.

Misty4372 profile image
Misty4372

I know exactly what you're going through. My anxiety is awful as well. I cry everyday and feel as though I have a multitude of diseases. I am gonna try and find a support group because I am a single mom of three and work full time. If something is actually wrong, I am so afraid of losing it. So, long story short you are not the only one! It's so scary!

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