Hello, I am 23 years old and have extreme health anxiety coupled with panic attacks. It seems to be a very extreme case. It all started my junior year of college and waxes and wanes it seems. I jump from major health illness to another major health illness once one has been ruled out. For example, if I start having a head pain I will slowly convince myself its a brain aneurysm, and I will obsess about it for a long time. Every time I will then feel the head pain I will proceed to think its bursting and have an intense panic attack. I have several panic attacks a day. This will go on until I've had something like an MRI. I will then accept it I don't have one and be fine for a few weeks or maybe a few months even, but then I will feel another symptom like chest pain and think I have something else. It's awful. I've now been in about a 2 month rut of actually thinking I could die any second because I've had left chest, shoulder, and left arm burning and pressure. Of course, I think its a thoracic aortic aneurysm or dissection. I've had several tests which mostly rule it out, but I have not had a CT scan, which could help definitely rule it out. My doctor thinks its costochondritis, a benign inflammation of rib cartilage. Instead, I'm still obsessing about the TAA and thinking I could die any second and having panic attacks all the time. Literally tonight, it has been all I've been able to think about. I have moments of lucidity, and I know I am being extremely irrational. I'm becoming extremely depressed because I feel like I'm trapped in a defective body/mind that I can't escape from. I've been on antidepressants before which seemed to help the anxiety, but I went off them when I started graduate school. I recently started a week ago, but they have yet to help. Does anyone have any suggestions or stories they could tell me to help make me feel better?
I know exactly how you feel. I started with this in my 20s. I am now in my 50s and I wish I had learned earlier how to manage this. But I’m doing much better.
What happens is that you become trapped in a circle of fear which can totally take you over if you let it. I learned that these negative thoughts that we have about our health are nothing more than destructive brain messages that are not based on reality or fact. They are strictly based on fear. And formed by habit. you are not your thoughts!
when we have these negative thoughts time after time after time, year after year there is a groove formed in the brain where we automatically go to without even knowing it. It is a habit from all the negative thinking. Not a physical groove but a groove of negativity, fear, hopelessness. We have to reverse that and it can be done . you have to be persistent .
I read a great book called finding quiet. It’s excellent on how to deal with this. One part of it talks about steps to take when you have these negative brain messages
. The first one is to acknowledge the thought for a few seconds, then say “I know what you are. You are a negative brain message not based on reality. You are an example of a catastrophic thinking . I don’t have time for you goodbye.“ Then you immediately either think of something positive or go do something else.
be persistent do this each and EVERY time you get a negative brain message. That way you are in control and forcing it to lose power over you.
you know deep down that you are healthy, it’s just that you are allowing fear, what if thinking, etc. to take over.
I hope this helps you. Stay busy and active and i find that when I do something for other people it takes the focus off myself and it makes me feel really good! 
I have health anxiety too. I freak out over every little symptom and constantly go
to urgent care. Ive had multiple tests done
but i still think something is wrong. I also
go from one illness to another and get
obsessed with it. But im getting counseling
soon
i know exactly how you feel. i have been having headaches along with the right side of my face feeling numb and my first thought it oh i have a brain tumor or something. its crippling anxiety of when am i going to die? or i could die any minute now bc ive let this go on for so long. i have googled nonstop for a year now as to why i feel the way i do. feel free to message me if you need any reassurance on how you feel bc i feel the same way. i want to believe its all anxiety but my brain wont let me.
I totally get this too. My health anxiety is horrendous. I’ll have really bad muscle pains that could be a variety of things and think I’m having a heart attack or pulmonary embolism. It’s a really hard circle to get out of.