Health anxiety is driving me round the bend! Help!

[LC78]

I’ve been suffering from anxiety for a long time now and I’m only 18 but the fact that it is getting out of hand now is the reason why I am coming to here for help. For the last few weeks I have been suffering pain in my right lower abdomen and been going to a and e non stop because I think something is wrong with me. They finally admitted me to hospital so I stayed over night and they assumed it was a ruptured cyst on my right ovaries. But every time I go back and they say the same thing, they take my bloods and they’re fine, they take my urine and that is fine, they feel my tummy and that is fine. But I always think that they’re wrong and I automatically diagnose something that they haven’t even mentioned like for a few weeks I thought it was appendix and I was so certain. Then just last night I started feeling hot and sweaty and also shivery at about 5pm so I went to the doctors and they said I was fine. But I automatically thought that I had sepsis because I saw online and on the tv that people can die from it and that a girl died from it recently from catching the flu and it sent my anxiety all through the roof. The whole time I have been checking my temperature and the highest it’s been is 37.4. I haven’t slept because I’ve just been worrying like chronic and no matter what reassurance I get I don’t believe anyone and I always think I am dying of something. It’s getting to the point now where it is impacting my life so much that I don’t wanna go out because I’m scared I will catch something and I’m just in bed all day thinking about it and searching up online and then I’d i think I’d have something life threatening and then I would go the hospital or call an ambulance. Is this normal or am I really dying. Can someone please help.!

[Krn210]

You are not dying. Fear is playing tricks on you. Stop googling symptoms and stop taking your temp. Acceptance that all is ok and is going to continue being ok will help. Some distraction may help to break the fear feeding fear cycle that is going on right now. Imagine a day that you don’t feel scared or ill, what would you be doing on that day? Spending it with friends, drawing, reading, walking, binge watching a tv series? Maybe a combo of those things? Find something small to help distract you from what is going on, that could be something simple as staying off the internet for a few hours. Taking a bath, etc. You are not alone and you are ok. I too suffered from low right abdominal pain for a couple years. During that time I was so sure that it was my appendix and that they were missing it. Even after testing I was still certain that they missed something. I spent all of that time worrying and suffering when everything was really ok. We are here for you. *hugs*

[Jeff1943 in reply to Krn210]

Me too Krn210, I had/still have right lower abdominal pain, caused me a lot of worry for 3 years, finally had an MRI which showed nothing, the gastroenterologist signed me off with the comment "must be muscular skeletal". I came to the conclusion it is/was Abdominal Wall Pain, something that doctors are not very aware of when in fact it is responsible for a large percentage of people presenting with abdominal pain. I ignore it, if it was anything serious I would know by now.

[Beevee in reply to Krn210]

Lovely post Krn210 and great advice which I hope LC78 takes on board. It can be hard to let go and to focus on things other than anxiety but if you keep doing things like Krn210 has suggested, those pesky symptoms will fade away.

[LC78 in reply to Krn210]

Thank you so much for the advice and it’s good to hear that other people are going through the same thing as me which makes me feel tonnes better. It’s like tonight I’ve been worrying that I’ve got sepsis from an insect bite just because they’re two spots on my arm in the shape of a spider bite and then a mosquito bite next to it and then the cream that I applied to the bite I left to absorb for a few hours and then rubbed my finger on it and then rubbed my eyelid a bit and now I’m worrying that I’m gunna go blind or something it’s like the cycle never ends it’s just one vicious circle all the time and no matter how much reassurance I get or everyone who tells me I am ok it’s just not working and I just end up worse from the reassurance it’s just interfering with my life now and I can’t function without thinking somethings wrong with me or that I’m going to die. I just want things to get better but at the same time I can’t let go of the fact that it’s not my anxiety and it’s actual life threatening issues and it’s so convincing that I have all of these things that’s what makes it so hard for me to move on and that’s why I’m always at doctors or hospitals😔😔