Health Anxiety bringing everyone down :( - Anxiety Support

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Health Anxiety bringing everyone down :(

Leavic profile image
7 Replies

Hello...Just wondering if anybody else suffers with Health Anxiety? So a few months ago my cat suddenly died, was fine the night before, I got up the next morning for work and found him. This is what the doctor thinks has triggered my anxiety. A few weeks after this happend, I thought I felt a lump in my breast, had it checked, doctor said I was fine. Been back to the doctor because I thought I felt lumps in my head, and had a couple of headaches, everything fine. Everytime I feel something a little strange, or a bodily change (as my doctor has put it) I think it's something serious and give my self a death sentence. I was at a friends the other day and they were talking about another friend who had been diagnosed with Cancer. I immediately started to panic and had to go for a walk to calm down. Im also worrying about my partner and my other cats. I HATE feeling like this and my partner hates it when I wake up in the middle of the night, checking that everyone is breathing! Any tips on how to cope with this awful feeling?

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Leavic profile image
Leavic
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7 Replies
Julie_z profile image
Julie_z

I can relate. One day I was driving on the highway and felt a strange sensation in my leg. I thought my legs were going numb and pictured myself crashing. I immediately panicked and called the ambulance. I was dizzy and breathless. It took about 40 minutes t get to the hospital only to find out nothing "major" was wrong with me. I was traumatized and suffer from health anxiety since & have not driven too far from home. Since January I've been to the er 7 times for dizziness, throat tightness you name it. I'm still battling with this. I've l arms to manage the panic attack I just wish I could stop feeling sensations. It does feel like a sentence!

Michele_B profile image
Michele_B

I can totally relate. I was just in the ER last Friday because I was convinced that I was having a stroke. Was I? No. They did a CT scan just to verify. I've been to this ER three times in the past year which isn't a lot, but I'm sure once they pull up my file they think "oh no, not her again". Because every single time once they realize that its nothing, they have the "are you an anxious person" conversation with me.

I wish I knew how to stop the thoughts. I've met with my GP probably 10 times in the past year. Which is excessive for me. I normally don't go to to the doctor unless I HAVE to and here lately, I've seen her more than I've seen some of my friends.

It exhausting & debilitating and some of my family and friends don't understand. Sometimes I wonder if they think that its not real. Like I would purposely do this to myself?!?

Emest86 profile image
Emest86

Read self help for your nerves by dr Claire weekes. A member from here told me about it and it has given me hope. I have health anxiety generalised anxiety and panic attacks. I know you are reading this and thinking not like I have, because that's the same doubts we all have that nobody else is like this but I promise you with all my heart that we are in the same boat. I think you're extremely brave for facing this so early after diagnosis. I got a diagnosis 3 years ago and I am only now trying to help myself instead of fighting it. I have been to A&e so many times thinking I was having another brain bleed as I had one in a car crash 8 years ago I was tested for everything including ms and not so bothersome conditions and it all took its toll on me. Then because I was taking so many pain meds for my back muscles to start working again (morphine and tramodol were the strongest) I developed double vision leading me to believe I'd had a stroke and the scans just weren't finding it. I think I've had so many mris and cat scans that I should have radioactive powers like a superhero lol but I thought this was just something I had to live with this constant fear of every feeling and twinge being the worst possible scenario. But listening to self help for your nerves has helped me more than 5 rounds of cbt therapy. Best advice is to stay away from dr google clear all the cookies off your computer and smart phone because this technology we use remembers what we search for and it throws up articles about our worst fears because we have previously searched for it. Big hugs x

Jeff1943 profile image
Jeff1943

I address you all here, you all know that you are in perfect physical health, you all know you have anxiety disorder, but you still go on imagining all kinds of terminal illness. Well take it from me, you don't, you're not dying, none of you, and I know because in the padt 45 years I've had every imaginery illness in the Book of Imaginery Illnesses. So as I always say, instead of worrying about illnesses you don't have why not spend your time addressing the illness you do have which is anxiety disorder caused by over sensitised nervous systems. So start your sekf help recovery plan, learn to stop frightenibg yoursekf to death over fake illnesses because that fear is what's causing your nervous system to remain charged with iver sensitivity. Stop the needless worry and eventually, not immediateky but eventually, your nerves return to normal and you will feel normal once more.

So how do you learn to stop worrying? Claire Weekes' Acceptance method is the best way I know, stop fighting the symptoms because fighting only causes more tension and stress, do the opposite, accept the strange feelings temporarily because uf you accept them you don't fear them any more. That's the short version, the longer version us in Claire Weekes' book 'Self help for your nerves' u.k. title or 'Hope and help for your nerves'u.s. title available from Amazon.

Same here. The first time I ever had a panic attack I went to the ER literally thinking I was dying, gonna have a seizure, heart attack, psychosis, you name it. I've had constant anxiety and recurring panic attacks since. Not only does anxiety make you worry about everything including your health, eventually the symptoms of being stressed for so long do start doing a number on your body. I've wasted days of my life googling all my symptoms and multiple different disorders thinking I have anything from heart or neurological problems to even thinking I have schizophrenia or something. I've experienced just about every anxiety symptom in the book and spent so much time worrying about each little one. Another user showed me anxietycentre.com and they list every anxiety symptom and explain why it happens which I found very helpful and relieves me of thinking something worse is happening.

Mumof347 profile image
Mumof347

ER is not the right place to go with panic attacks. If you know you actually have this then try not to rely on them. ER is for people with Emergencies, and it is full of sick people. I know at the time it feels bad but if you have had all your tests and got the all clear, trust the doctors and learn to work on self help. You will feel much better for not running to them x

Leavic profile image
Leavic

Thank you all for the replies. I will research into Claire Weekes, I have heard of her before so I think it is worth checking this out! It is good to know that I am not the only one who is feeling this way and it seems it is a pretty common condition all over the world :0 Thank you for the advice :)

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