health anxiety,ptsd,depersonalization

[Sophia__Colley]

Hi. Just would like to know if any of you suffer from health anxiety. I've never had this before. It started after some health issue,but it turned out to be just a pinched nerve. Anyway it scared me so much that i developed depersonalization which was super scary. I lost my balance couldn't feel my body,felt like I was someone else,couldn't feel the weight of things. My arms felt like they belonged to someone else. I would try to pick up a cup,but when I put it down I would do it so aggressively that I'd break it bcuz I couldn't feel its weigt. Anyway I had some other symptoms too. I still have it after almost 2 years,but symptoms aren't that bad. Just brain fog,a bit physical numbness and emotional numbness. It also paralysed my right hand,but it's fine now,i can't use it as I used to tho. Anyway now every little change in my body worries me. And this anxiety makes me exhausted 24/7,like I have chronic fatigue

[Hidden]

Sorry to hear

[Hidden]

These changes are super unpleasant, it creates hell in the mind

[Sophia__Colley in reply to Hidden]

They do

[Hidden]

Hi Sophia I have had health anxiety for 12 years and it is so destructive if you let it win . Like you I was also exhausted and am having a bad time at the minute due to swapping out anti depressants , been put on sertraline and have never had stomach pain like it . My personal advice ( I’m no expert) would be NEVER GOOGLE any symptom / feelings ,as er you are guaranteed to have the symptom or you will develop it after reading about it ( sounds crazy but it happens ) . Whenever your “voice “ in your head says what if ? Just say out loud GOAWAY ANXIETY , again s very informative sound s crazy but can help, talk to people family / friends /anyone ,I found this helps after years of keeping it to myself and making my illness worse .. this is an illness that will get better and is a lot more common than you can imagine . There are some good anxiety sites on you tube health anxiety Ken Goodman parts 1 and 2 is good at being informative and will show you your not alone. Apologies for long post but hope your journey improves … good luck 👍🏻

[Sophia__Colley in reply to Hidden]

Thanks a lot,I've never been on anti depressants,even tho I used to be super depressed,even suicidal, had alcohol withdrawal symptoms which made me even more anxious. Turned out I drank alcohol as anti depressants, so my brain got used to it. I stopped googling my symptoms a long time ago,bcuz Google is very depressing. The thing is if you think you have some illnes you start to get its symptoms. Brain is a really strong thing,only if we could use it for better things. My health anxiegy has been ok for these past few days. The thing is i used to not care even if i broke my foot or idk etc . My tonsils used to bleed when i was young bcuz i injured them,but I didn't even care,I'm pretty sure if it happened now I wouldve gone mad thinking its cancer 😂.Thanks for your reply!!I hope you feel better soon!!

[Leopard45]

This sounds like I could have wrote it. Feel the same way

[designguy]

My primary anxiety issue was social anxiety but had it morph into health anxiety at one time. I think if a person is predisposed to anxiety and they have a health issue they start to become aware of their own mortality and the fear kicks in the anxiety. They then become sensitized to the anxiety and start fearing it and repeat the cycle. It also becomes a distorted dysfunctional means of trying to be in control. The anxiety causes us to blow things out of proportion and it all becomes a viscous exhausting cycle. What helped me was learning that anxiety is truly a paradox, the more you resist it the more it persists and the answer is to surrender, give up the illusion of control and learn to be comfortable with the uncomfortable anxious thoughts and feelings. Those of us with health anxiety also tend to not do well with uncertainty and ambiguity so learning to tolerate the unknown and distress is helpful. I've found the DARE Anxiety book and youtube videos very helpful as well as the youtube videos of Paige Pradko, she even has an online program for health anxiety. And yes, don't google your symptoms even though you want to, it's a good way to practice distress tolerance.

[Sophia__Colley in reply to designguy]

Yes,YouTube videos are helpful. And I agree with you it's like a never ending cycle. I keep checking my skin,throat,eyes just in case there's something wrong with them. Sometimes it feels like your brain is about burst and your heart is about to stop bcuz you're overthinking a lot. It's a terrible feeling. I hope you feel better soon and thanks for your reply

[Hidden in reply to designguy]

what helps with scary intrusive thoughts?

[designguy in reply to Hidden]

I use to have them bad until I realized that they are just a normal part of being human and I always had them I just wasn't aware of them. I read where the average person has over 6000 thoughts a day and the majority of them are negative because our system is builtin to protect us. Fear and anxiety are just a natural part of us and are our body and minds way of protecting us, it's our builtin warning system. I can be driving down the highway and I have the thought, "what if i swerved into oncoming traffic" which is a normal curious self-protective thought of being human. The trouble becomes when we start to judge ourselves for having that thought and think it means something when all it was is an innocent thought. The reality is that we all as humans have lots of negative thoughts, it's perfectly normal, it's our attachment to them that creates our problems. The scary thoughts are just your minds dysfunctional way of trying to keep you safe but it's way no longer serves you and you are ready to outgrow them and move on with your life.

What really helped me was understanding and believing what I stated above and learning and practicing basic mindfulness which to me is just sitting, focusing on my breathing and allowing any thought to come and go out of my mind without reacting to it. Think of them as clouds floating by or as watching a TV screen with the sound off and the images just going by. It takes time and diligence but over time it gets easier to where it is automatic for me. Know that you will probably encounter a lot of resistance initially and your thoughts might get even scarier but that is totally normal. The other important thing is to make a determined commitment to yourself to never believe your anxious thought no matter how scary they are, they are just thoughts and have no power unless you let them. Hope this helps.

[designguy in reply to Hidden]

I forgot to add that what also helped me was the DARE Anxiety book, youtube videos and phone app. There is a lot of good info on scary thoughts and dealing with anxiety in general. I even signed up for awhile for their deluxe phone app, it was like having my own personal coach and quite helpful.

[Babe1213]

I feel, you Sophia 666 are allowing yourself to worry unduly. I truly understand how you feel, I have been in that place before, I don't know how you feel, we are both unique people. But all the fretting and worrying in the world won't be helpful in the long run. It is time for you to take back control of your body, every bit of it. Instead of thinking about the doom and gloom of the situation turn to positive thoughts. One by one you have overcome your symptoms, although there are still some irritations after two years. Our bodies need time to readjust, they will do that far quicker without your unfounded worries hindering them. Don't put obstacles in the way, but leave your way clear for total healing to occur. There are some things we need to do for ourselves. It may be helpful for you to change the last 3 digits of your call name, Sophia is a beautiful name! 666 carries with it for a lot of people 'fear' of the unknown. Whatever you do, you can change from the negative to positive.

[Sophia__Colley in reply to Babe1213]

Thanks for your reply! Yes,it feels like I've lost control of my body. It doesn't feel like it used to,I hate it. I tell myself I need to get the control back,but anxiety just keeps ruining my days

[Hidden in reply to Sophia__Colley]

its okay beautiful, we innerstand. We have different suffering, but all have 1 goal

[Jobee59]

I don’t know if this will help. For one I’ve gotten Thea depersonalization problem since 1985 it comes and goes. I am 62 now and every time there’s a big change in my life I get this. I retired about a year ago now and I have had the depersonalization very sense last November. For me it’s just a matter of time to adjust to my new style of life and that always helps it kind of goes away and I go back to normal. But again this happens every time I go through anything big like a divorce or a death or retirement door my kids grew up and move away things like that. I’m gonna post a link on the bottom of this and you can read that it may help you but relax you’re gonna be all right.anxietycoach.com/depersonal...