I'm suffering from health anxiety and am lacking support from family members.

[kt460]

I am 22 years old and am living by myself for the first time. I have a history of anxiety and depression (currently taking sertraline), but now that I'm alone, I find myself constantly concerned that something will happen to me while I am alone and won't be able to call for help. Currently, I'm experiencing muscle pain in my thigh and now can't stop thinking that it's a blood clot that will turn into a pulmonary embolism. (With the pandemic, I've been locked inside my apartment for the last week and have not left my apartment in 8 days nor done any physical activity that would pull a muscle). I saw in the news an article about someone who died from a pulmonary embolism and my uncle had a blood clot a few weeks ago, and now I can't stop fixating on it.

I have a regularly scheduled doctor's appointment tomorrow morning that I plan to talk to him about, but I keep thinking, "what if I don't make it until then?" I'm working remotely right now but am finding that my anxiety is getting in the way of working. My parents often respond in a joking manner when I express health anxiety concerns and I always feel like a burden when I reach out to my friends about this or that I'm "overreacting".

What has helped you (or someone you may know) deal with their health anxiety? Anything is appreciated !

[Agora1]

Hi kt460, I'd like to Welcome you to the Support Forum. Health Anxiety can be so believable because it comes from a negative thought in our mind that keeps playing over and over until it seems as if it's real as well as Catastrophic. I'm sure reading about someone who died of a pulmonary embolism didn't help as well as your uncle having a blood clot. The mind goes to a place of negative energy telling ourselves, if it happened to them, then it might happen to me. Being alone with those thoughts completes the cycle of fear begets fear.

You know kt, there are other reasons for pain in our muscles not due to physical activity or blood clots. And that is physical "inactivity". Staying in, sitting more, not moving or using the muscles can cramp up. Muscles are meant to be used including the heart muscle.

It's a difficult situation when our friends and love ones make fun of this real fear that we have. I think you will be okay since you are seeing your doctor tomorrow. Write down a few questions you want to ask him regarding the physical pain as well as your emotional fears.

Good Luck with your appointment tomorrow, let us know how it goes. xx

[Benji62 in reply to Agora1]

I also have health anxiety, it can cause pain for no reason, I had really bad pelvic pain that bad I was taken to hospital, I've had scans etc and nothing, as soon as the Dr tells me its nothing it disappears, then a couple of months later starts somewhere else, then I have to go through the whole cycle again, my Dr once told me that anxiety can mimic illnesses, and sometimes people get pain for no apparent reason and can never be explained,

[designguy]

Hello KT, what helped me was reading the book "It's Not All In Your Head, How Worrying about Your Health Could Be Making You Sick— and What You Can Do about It" by Asmundson, Gordon J. G.; Taylor, Steven. it's available on Amazon in print and digital. I learned also that health anxiety is really about trying to control the future and that we ultimately have no control over anything except our next breath. Our anxiety response and OCD thinking is an illusion of control. It also ties into our fear of dying which is what our response to anxiety and especially panic attacks is about physiologically - the fight or flight response.

Another book/author that helped me was "The Work" by Byron Katie, which is about learning to question your thinking and living in the moment.

We have been led to believe that only good things should happen to us so we try to maintain some illusion of control so the bad things don't happen. The truth is that good and bad things happen to us, it's all a part of being human and living life and how we respond to them. Most of us with anxiety disorder didn't learn the skills to be comfortable and safe in our own skin and life so we need to learn those skills and make a commitment to ourselves to recover. Ultimately, it's up to us.

It takes understanding, time and practice to resist the physical sensations and to let the anxious thoughts flow away but it's possible to do. Learning to surrender to it all is deeply freeing and rewarding. I still have moments of anxiety but they pass. Hope this helps.

[kmbrown87]

Health Anxiety is a monster that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I suffer from it as well, having repeated thoughts that every little discomfort is literally "the end." I've learned to cope with it and not go running to the ER like a damsel in distress by refocusing my thoughts and talking myself down from that imaginary ledge of fear. Just take deep breaths, focus on positive things like hey the holidays are coming up! What dish are you looking forward to eating the most for Thanksgiving? Make plans for the weekend, although its a COVID lifestyle we lead these days, think of maybe buying a new mask, going grocery shopping or paying some bills you put off that you know you should just knock out n keep it pushing. I really try my best to take my mind off the negatives and focus on the positives or upcoming tasks I need to get done.

[Kat_21]

Always take anything that may concern you (health wise) seriously! Never let anyone play it down, not family, friends or doctors! I have an autoimmune disease, but when it was first flaring up none of the doctors took my migraines or optical myositis seriously. My arm ending up going numb one night, then the next day I spent at home coughing ip blood. After hearing so many doctors tell me it was nothing, I didn't bother going. Until the second day of coughing up blood, I couldn't stand up and I couldn't hardly breathe. My husband rushed me to the hospital and I had multiple strokes, a pulmonary embolism, sepsis, blood in my lungs and stage 5 kidney failure. They STILL didn't believe something was wrong, they insisted I did IV drugs. They sent me to a better hospital where I was put on life support and shortly went into cardiac arrest.

Always take anxieties about your health seriously, never let anyone down play it. Your body knows when something is wrong.

[JT25]

I too am suffering from health anxiety, it’s starting to consume my life, onset came on more so after I lost my Dad very suddenly and witnessed him on a ventilator in ICU, it scares me that I could leave my family in a split second and this really plays on my mind. Some days I’m fine, but then other days are bad and I hide it from my family, i worry about each ache and pain and suffer frequent anxiety attacks, but always think I’m going to have a heart attack, it’s an awful anxiety to suffer. I take medication but it doesn’t 100% work for me, I feel your pain and wish there was a switch to turn off to get rid of it