Crippling health anxiety - suggestions

[ErraticAspie]

Having health anxiety about somatic sensations and automatic bodily processes.s Getting nerovous about things like where my eyes are (sometimes due to this I look out oof the corner of m eyes and then get stressed about possible damage - etc), walking, swallowing, etc. All started post Thyroid. Have autism and these symptoms are OCD, but managin this with Thyroid proving impossible.

[Dahliasanddaisies]

Hi Erractic, I feel for you, anxiety is the worst!! I've also developed health anxiety since developing UAT symptoms. Magnesium has helped a bit, lots of meditation, breathing exercises and vagus nerve stimulation (look up on YouTube). It's a constant battle though and goes up and down. I also don't think social media _ Google is doing me any good so I'm trying to limit

[Buddy195 Administrator]

I fully understand how crippling anxiety can be ErraticAspie. Increased anxiety has been the worst symptom of having a thyroid condition for me and it is always worse if thyroid medication or key vitamins (ferritin, folate, vitamins B12 and D) are not optimal.

At my worst I have a tendency to carastropise, & struggle to ‘get out of a negative loop’. I have a bank of things that help from my CBT sessions with a psychotherapist… active mindfulness, journalling and aromatherapy all help me (but I fully understand we are all different & need to explore other techniques). Like Dahliasanddaisies I try to avoid googling symptoms…. Pages frequently show ‘worst case scenarios’ which really doesn’t help!

Please remember you are not alone. Keep posting whenever you need advice/ support 🦋

[humanbean]

Personal anecdote...

I used to be anxious and depressed. It went away when I made a major improvement in my iron and ferritin (iron stores).

I suspect people who are low in B vitamins might be anxious too.

I keep my B12 at top of range or even a little bit over, and it helps with anxiety and depression too.

[JAmanda]

it might help to ensure you’re taking an optimal amount of medicine eg Levo. I’d get a private set of test say from Medichecks to see where my tsh t4 and T3 are (as well as vitamins and minerals if you can afford it) then post the results here (with the ranges stated) for advice.

[klr31]

This may all be due to not being on optimal thyroxine.

Karen