Health anxiety yet again

[Jayde_96]

How are some people so calm when it comes to health problems? My biggest fear is suffering a long terrible illness! Just as get one thing out my mind another comes along. It’s so hard to distinguish what is really symptoms and what is anxiety symptoms 😫 just so sick of it now

[01021968]

I feel you there mine will be good couple days than bam. All over with right back stomach turning bathroom and feeling like crap. Pulse also runs on the low end resting 55. But I have no clue. 25 years now I’ve had every symptom you can think of. But mostly chest discomfort

[Natsteveo]

Hi there jayde

I too am a huge health anxiety sufferer and with that comes fear of any terminal illness I can be ok then boom out of nowhere I’m a quivering nervous wreck day and night thoughts I’m gonna die of some terminal illness.. to deal with this you have to find you’re triggers!!!!! Mine is anything to do with death or anything medical... so if I find out for instance a friend or someone I know or even if I don’t know them has passed away i automatically assume I’m going to die of what they have,.. my health anxiety started when my mum died of cancer 13 years ago she died 7 weeks 2 days after diagnosis and it blew my entire world apart.. so now I over catastrophize everything when it comes medical... this is a horrible nightmare for anyone who suffers from this and unfortunately people who suffer with it only understand it family and friends try to understand it but can’t I’ve lost friends and family because of this illness.. find out your main triggers and work on it from there you’re not alone we with you

Nat x

[Jayde_96 in reply to Natsteveo]

Hi Nat

That is sooo sad! I’m so sorry to hear that!

I can totally understand where your anxiety has stemmed from and I too absolutely freak when I head of an illness or a sudden death! I will literally start feeling the same symptoms and convince myself I have it.

I often wonder how some people can be so calm about illness and death it baffles me.

Take care lovely x

[Miniwheats]

It's because they don't ruminate on thoughts about health like we do. We love to analyze everything to death because we want to be sure. We don't want to make a mistake. We don't want to be the moron that ignored a symptom and then wound up in trouble. We want to be responsible and avoid catastrophe. We want to eliminate risk. We want safety and security above all else in life. But the ironic thing is why aren't we constantly thinking and worrying about other things in life that could go terribly wrong? Why are we fixated on thoughts about our health? What about thoughts like, I dunno, is the front door locked right now? Is a tire going to pop off my car on the highway? How can we be positive without checking? Is my dear friend in another city still breathing? Is the foundation of my house still stable? Is the water coming out of my tap safe to drink? How can I be absolutely sure there was no accidental breakdown at the water treatment plant that lead to the introduction of a toxic impurity? The only way to be absolutely sure is to test every glass of water I'll ever drink for the rest of my entire life which you and I both know is completely absurd! Yet it's not out of the realm of possibility that I could become violently ill and suffer long term health effects from drinking tainted water that resulted from a freak accident at the treatment plant. Still, this is not something we will ever worry about because it's just not something in our minds that qualifies. When I look at the big picture of the total sum of all the risks in life that I can't control yet amazingly never give a second thought about, it brings me back to my center and the worrying thoughts begin to dissipate. Because in the end, they are JUST THOUGHTS. Yes you have symptoms. You've had them before just like the rest of us. Nobody is getting by in life symptom free and in perfect health (at least not anyone I know ). In real life you are already handling a whole lot of uncertainty, so take a breath, give yourself some credit and know that you can handle it, and move on to whatever it is you were planning on doing today and walk away from the miserable debate in your head about which symptom is "real" and which one is "anxiety" 🙂

It's not easy, but the more often you attempt this, the less hold your worrying thoughts will have on you.

Take care🙂

[Jayde_96 in reply to Miniwheats]

Hi thank you for responding! This was really helpful ... I’ve never really thought of it like that. I’m Definitely someone who dreads uncertainty and I think when it comes to health it’s one big risk in life.

My dad always tells me there’s only two things in life that are Guaranteed ...

one is we will always pay tax😂

And the other is one day we will die

I spose everything else isn’t worth the worry it’s just hard do get into the habit of not worrying and getting into an anxious state x

[keptainicandozatt]

I definitely feel you. I worry about every single symptom and it's like when a symptom passes, another one pops up 😭 I know I shouldn't google them , but I really can't help it 🙃