Health Anxiety

[kimber1y]

Hey everyone! I’m a newbie here. I just turned 20 and I have been struggling with health anxiety for more than 4 years.

My grandma who i was not very close to pass away from lung cancer within a couple of days. It was the first time i lost someone in my family. I felt numb.

I was a part time model, one week ago i felt a little dizziness and headache after a photoshoot. I went to doctor next day he said it was because of not enough of sleep and that I didn’t have any food except a slice of bread at 2pm that day till 8pm. On the following Monday, i went to another doctor and he said i might got the cold. He said blood test is not necessary. Four days later, i still have a little bit of headache, especially when i think about it. My neck and shoulders muscles are tight. I was searching up online and i fear that i might have a brain tumour. I want to get a scan but my family said it’s not necessary.

Backstory: after my grandma’s death, i feel burning pain in my chest, and i went away after a few doctor visits and a good cry.

Last summer, i discovered that one side of my lower stomach is bigger than the other side, i went to four doctor and a ultrasound to find out that nothing is wrong.

[kimber1y]

It’s killing me

[Rosie233]

You get health anxiety because you have misunderstood health-related information.

[FordMus84]

Health anxiety is horrible and debilitating. Mimicks so many other illnesses it’s hard to ever know. I get odd symptoms everyday, some days new ones but usually just the same ones. Tight muscles, foggy, random body aches, headache but I’ve had all these since my early 20’s. I’m 35 and went many years with very little health anxiety until I started up again last October when I started having new digestive issues and many tests later nothing (fortunately) has been found. I find that most of my symptoms disappear when I’m distracted and that’s how I can tell which are from anxiety/tension/stress and which I need to really be concerned about. But regardless you should continue to follow up with your doctor if it gets worse.

[kimber1y in reply to FordMus84]

Health Anxiety is affecting my daily life, I don’t want to go out and work anymore. Yes, sometimes when I’m distracted, the headache went away but when I’m thinking about it, they come back. It’s so annoying.

[MsLockYourPosts]

Kimberly - Do you have access to a Women's health center with a good nutritionalist? Your eating pattern will lead to all of the symptoms you have described. Modeling leaves many young women with broken health because they are trying to attain someone else's idea of beauty and the perfect body. Hopefully you could find a center with an exercise program, also, to relieve the tension you have described - yoga, Pilates, swimming - something you enjoy and can stick with. Many also find mindfulness or some other form of meditation helps.

The worst thing you can do is to go to doctor google. When I do, my doctor gently reminds me that I'm missing something when reading everything there - medical school. You can take any one symptom, a headache for example, and easily convince yourself that you have twenty or more serious conditions, when all you have is a tension headache after a bad day. I hope you will find someone who can help you through this period!