Is it health anxiety or something more serious?

[StrayingDog]

Hi,

I have always been an anxious person, but generally it’s social and manageable. About 3 weeks ago I was got really stressed in a situation and got really sweaty and flushed. I could feel my heart racing without a break and felt like I was going to have a heart attack.

I was Ok in the end and brushed it off as nothing. In the past week I started getting heart palpitations, numb arm etc. and I really thought I had a heart problem. One night it go so bad I asked my parents to take me to a&e because I felt I couldn’t wait for a Gp.

We went there and they checked my heart out and they said it was perfect. I went home relieved, but ever since then I’ve had headaches and nausea. I had a lump on my head that I thought could be a cyst. It’s gone now but the problems remain.

I don’t really have a headache anymore, just tension, nausea and fatigue. I am having a hard time concentrating as I feel it could be a brain tumour.

I’m 17 years old and to my mind the symptoms I’ve experienced are along these lines, but I’m aware they can be caused by anxiety. The thing is I can’t start thinking about it and I’m starting to theorise etc. as to why it’s more serious.

I have bottled up depression since October 2015. It completely came out of nowhere alongside tinnitus. I keep on theorising that that was caused by a tumour and now I’m getting properly sick due to it. Throughout that period I’d always had some pain in my head but thought of it as nothing. I also sometimes get all fuzzy with my vision, but again I’d think it’s nothing.

I appreciate that this may all be a bit hard to follow, but my mind is all over the place and I had to get these thoughts off my chest.

The Gp is currently not allowing appointments unless it’s an emergency, that’s only for a week though. I just want to know what to do next, and what it’s likely to be. Should I get an MRI etc.

Thank you for reading.

[Christrev]

Hey StrayingDog, read through your post and it sounds very much like you're having a stress response to a regular occurence in the body. Sometimes parts of the body hurt randomly and it doesn't mean anything but if you react to them in a stressful way and worry then you will begin to create your own symptoms. Look at the website Zen Habits for tips on how to live in the present and stop dwelling on insignificant regular sensations.

[StrayingDog in reply to Christrev]

Thanks for the reply and recommendation, will take a look.

[Christrev in reply to StrayingDog]

You're more than welcome. Just put a post on here if you ever feel alone or like you're the only one.

[Staciel]

Yes this is anxiety in its 'best' manifestation.

To get rid of it, might take time. Every day try to pay less and less attention to your physical symptoms ( I know how difficult it is). As time will pass, your brain will react lesser and lesser to what happens to your body

[StrayingDog in reply to Staciel]

Thank you, I will try.

[Staciel in reply to StrayingDog]

Good luck!

This is the way I solved it, both times when I suffered from anxiety. It should get better with time.