Health anxiety

[crazydaisy]

Anyone else suffer with health anxiety?

It's not something I hear talked about very often (would love to have a podcast episode about it!) so just wondered if anyone else was in the same boat.

I've had this on and off for several years. I can't remember when it started. I can be fine for weeks/months (though it is always 'there' in the back of my mind) and then I might have a particularly bad episode lasting days/weeks.

I finally went to my doctor about it after the worst episode yet - 6 weeks of constant anxiety throughout May, unable to enjoy or concentrate on anything, because I was so convinced I was dying. It sounds ridiculous when I write it down but when the fear has hold, it's just the worst.

I've had 3 sessions of CBT so far, which is helpful but difficult… Very difficult to put things into practice (i.e. challenging my thoughts). Even though it makes sense to do it, it's just sometimes so hard when you're in the grip of the panic. But hope the sessions will continue to help.

Feel a bit worn out with the whole thing at the moment as it's been pretty bad again lately. Just want to feel like I'm okay.

[IdentityPoltergeist]

I don't suffer from this personally but had a friend who had extreme paranoia about STDs specifically. As a gay man just becoming sexually active with a Catholic upbringing, he really internalized this "gay sex is dirty" "AIDS is unavoidable" thing. Even though he always used protection, he would run to the free clinic about 2x a week, call the clinic frequently, and call his friends for advice on every bump or slight irritation. I know his body more than my own.

This is such a hard thing to go through and people get frustrated and stop taking you seriously after a while, because usually it isn't anything serious. But one time maybe it will be, and you need to be taken seriously. This puts you in a dangerous position.

I hope you are in therapy for this, I really didn't know how to help my friend and don't know what advice I could give other than asking your doctor for a placebo. Even if you know it is a placebo, they often still work from what I hear.

[littlem]

When I used to have panic attacks I always thought I was having a heart attack. I'd wake up in the middle of the night hyperventilating and with my heart racing, and I was sure my heart was going to explode. I even went to the hospital a couple times because I was convinced I was dying (I wasn't!).

CBT did help me, so I hope you continue. It IS hard, especially at the beginning, because you are challenging yourself, but it gets easier over time. You kind of have to "fake it until you make it". Baby steps--it takes time! You are retraining your own brain and that is not easy stuff. But you can do it!

[Brooke]

I definitely have health anxieties. I have fibromyalgia, so I'm constantly worried about the pain getting worse. I don't show it to people (or rather, I've learned how to hide it) so not a lot of friends know how much pain and depression I'm under. It just sounds like I'm looking for sympathy and attention. People don't understand it because they've never had it. I feel resentful sometimes, but I try to understand that they don't have a clue. I mean, I could have all the sympathy in the world and it wouldn't really change anything; I might lean on it and make it my identity, which I don't want. That's why these forums are so important, it's good to express your feelings without being judged or the fear of. But my goal is to be able to deal with my anxieties on my own and not "need" others in the real world to understand. It would be great if I could just express myself to the world without the "codependent attachment" (i.e, expecting others to sympathize and being offended and upset if they don't). Ultimately I want to get there because I think that is the most powerful place you can be.

[rabbitrun]

Hey guys. I think I may have health anxiety too. But I am not clinically diagnosed. I don't know if mine warrants seeking help. How can I tell? Maybe I can soldier through this? Like before. They come and go. Some come and stay for quite a whole, some shorter, some longer. I just, I don't know whether I need to or not. Maybe I am overreacting? How can I tell? How can I make an informed decision about this?

[Jitters]

I had a lot of health anxiety and it has lessened. I was having palpitations all the time and they would cause me to panic and feel like I would pass out. I got myself checked out by a cardiologist. When everything came back negative I went to a therapist. Any therapist worth their salt will make sure any physical symptoms are evaluated by a doctor first. You have to rule out physical causes before you call it somatic (caused by your anxiety). Having health anxiety can cause problems but it can also leave you feeling paralyzed and cause you to not seek help. Therapy helped me become more proactive with my back pain (chiropractor/massage/workouts). Good luck to you and know you're not alone. Remember: Somatic symptoms are real and not 'make up'.

[Massimo]

I also had palpitations due to stress a couple of months ago, plus a strange feeling of pressure inside my head. Loud noises became physically painful and I was convinced my hearing was going downhill fast. Three different specialists said everything was normal, and a general practitioner prescribed Escitalopram which essentially made my anxiety go haywire. I was told to hold out for at least six weeks to get the "therapeutic" effect, but after a month I had to give it up. I was already taking Alprazolam before sleep and found it helpful to also just take as much as I felt was needed during the daytime too, which meant some whole days were spent very "unproductively" in a blackout on the sofa...but it seemed to be just what I needed at that time. I considered going to a therapist but decided not to, because I was slowly getter better for each day that passed. It still feels good to keep a stock of Alprazolam but I'm off it now. Somehow this whole experience made me change my whole attitude towards stressful things in life and accept my own fragility and incompleteness. Nobody's perfect and shit happens for everybody. If you can't carry the load it may mean you've picked up too many things.

My theory is that sometimes you just need to allow the brain to slow down, and SSRIs can make things worse since they trick the brain into carrying on beyond the point where you probably should rethink your life and look at things from another angle.