I’ve been battling with a severe case of health anxiety for the past few months and every day it just seems to get worse and worse no matter how many tests come back clear and my GP reassures me.
Every day I seem to focus on the range of symptoms I’m feeling that day and relate it to a serious illness and drive myself crazy!
After an ultrasound showed the lump on my neck to just be a gland which was normal and bloods that have come back normal. I’m still so scared that they might’ve missed something or I have another serious illness.
I’ve had this persistent chesty cough for over 6 weeks now, on and off chest, shoulder/arm pain, upper back pain and constantly feeling so tired and dizzy. I’m worried it could be something serious and sinister like lung cancer. I’m worried sick and I try to convince myself that I’m only 19 and it’s almost impossible since I’ve never smoked a full cigarette in my life (maybe taken a puff of my friend’s once or twice).
I don’t have any alarming symptoms like coughing blood but the pain in my back/shoulder/arm can be so bad and it feels worse at night! I’m terrified and I don’t know how to overcome this constant fear that I have something seriously wrong with me.
I haven’t consulted this concern with my doctor as we have just put to rest my concern over head and neck cancer! I’m stuck and not sure what to do. If anyone has any advice please feel free to reply! Thank you
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Sugarplum1811
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GIRLLLL Lol let me tell you! My heath anxiety started because I had a lump on each side of my neck (hard non mobile) and I freaked out, went to my doctor, and they told me they needed to be biopsied, went to that appointment and they told me they weren’t big enough yet and if they get bigger they’ll do it and just to wait, well that drove me crazyyyyy. Then finally I found out they were calcified lymph nodes from recurring ear infections when I was a child and I should’ve gotten tubes and that everything was fine (6 years later they’re still the same size, same spot etc) BUT from waiting sooooo long to find out what it was I was already in the anxiety swing and once I figured that out it moved onto another part of my body to worry about and dwell on, and obsess and panic over. If your doctor did tests honestly the besttttt thing you can do is try to accept it (I know the physical symptoms your mind creates makes it sooooo hard to accept) but the mind is very powerful and once we believe there’s an issue we hold onto it. I’m 22 years old, I’ve had health anxiety since I was 16, if you keep dwelling after tests have been done you’ll eventually give in and know that parts okay and move onto something else, stop it before it gets that bad because it gets sooooo much worse, my anxiety disappeared for a year and came back with a vengeance to the point where I’m agoraphobic and won’t leave my house, I haven’t left my house for 2 months, and more recently (the last week) I’ve been laying in bed, scared to even more, I really hope your mind allows you to calm down and get back to being YOU. If you need to talk you can always message me!
my health anxiety also started or intensified when my thyroid nodules were found. It took ages to get biopsy results, therefore I became a wreck. After 5 weeks of waiting everything came back normal but then my mind found something else and still going...However I try to tell myself that most of them are due to anxiety and if it bothers me for too long - I go get them checked. Short lived reassurance though.
My way forward is to to prove myself wrong by just ignoring and carrying on with my life. More busy I am- less time is there to worry. The worst is the weekends- more free time to worry. Crazy but true.
I hope you will find your way out of this.
You are so young, do not waste your life. Therapy might help or just going out a little - park maybe?
There must be something you really want to do or go??? Make a plan and do it. One step at a time!
I too concentrate on my physical symptoms too much and can not let go even after Dr reassurance that it is nothing to worry about. Easier said that done. However therapy is the way forward. Have you tried talking therapy? Sometimes just going through your worries out loud- they become less real.
Try to tell yourself that you are young and healthy- you are OK. Occupy yourself with something that brings you satisfaction- cooking, biking, painting, reading....
Going out for walks is the best for me. Being with kids also- they are bundle of joy!
Meditation- Call App- is perfect for that.
All the best
You are not alone
And do not google- it is the worst mistake we all do.
I’ve had chest / rib pains, random arm and nerve pain, blurred vision, fatigue etc - all started 2 months ago after a panic attack - only way I can describe it is like my nervous system went into complete meltdown. I had jelly legs, adrenalin rushes, shaking, etc - my doctor said anxiety and Costochondritis. I’m still amazed that anxiety can cause such awful physical symptoms. I worry too that there’s something serious wrong so I’ve had many hospital tests - all normal so far! Only thing which helps is time - where severity of symptoms ease gradually and healing foods and resting.
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