Hey hey. So, I've been here a while and I was wondering if anyone else has the same kind of anxiety experience as I do. I often get random aches and pains throughout my body off and on throughout the day that only last for a maximum of two or three days. After that the pain will disappear from the given area and move somewhere else. A week ago it was my left lower back, yesterday it was my left shoulder blade, and today it's my right mid back. I also get duller pains as well, and they can happen anywhere from my feet, to my shoulder, to my neck and even the inside of my mouth. No matter what I am always in some kind of pain, though I can usually work through it.
I've had a bunch of tests done and a lot of blood drawn and nothing has come back positive so far. Lots of doctors have told me it's anxiety related and I'm inclined to agree at this point. I often fear disorders like appendicitis and gangrene, and I have to constantly assure myself that I would know if I had either of them. I regularly do the press test on my abdomen even though pain there is extremely common, and I sometimes rub my skin to make sure it doesn't crackle. It doesn't soothe my anxiety completely but it works.
I find that for the most part my anxiety is subconscious. Something like, I've pushed it all way back into my mind-it's still there, it's still affecting me, but I don't notice it unless it gets too great and forces itself back into the front of my mind. I have heard that this is pretty common but because my anxiety is health based I'm constantly scared that it really isn't just anxiety and I'm headed straight towards an early death.
Anyone else have this kind of "muted" but otherwise debilitating anxiety? Even as I type this I'm subconsciously brainstorming all the different ways these pains could be killing me.
I am the same so I probably am the wrong one person to be responding lol. I am constantly fearing the unknown inside my body. I also have persistent back pain. I also get random aches that I'm pretty sure are cancer rotting away my insides. I am a hot mess and I am clueless on how to get back on track.😔
Hi Angel!
I completely can sympathise with you, I too suffer with servere health anxiety, and constantly feel I battle with one thing and try and ignore it and put it down to anxiety until it comes back or then after I get something else that never seems to disappear and takes control of my brain thinking the worst eg cancer and something that will kill me instantly! Anxiety is an awful disease and one that I feel is never taken seriously especially health anxiety as your always seen as over the top and people laugh and say you being silly, but these aches and pains are real it’s just we are very sensitive to noticing these pains rather than someone that doesn’t suffers brain wouldn’t proberly notice the pain! It’s very hard! I always explain to people it’s like battling 2 brains, one that says don’t worry don’t feed the anxiety and the other that says what if it’s this... or what if this time you ignore it and it’s something ... it’s very hard and know how you feel, but it’s always anxiety related!
Hello Angel
Gangrene is very rare and it was a problem in the First World War, the infected skin would turn Jet black and would smell of decaying flesh. Generally it was caused by wounds that were not looked after and the infected area would need to be cut off well above the infected limb. So I will be very blunt and ask if you were fighting in the trenches on the Somme. Honestly the chances of this problem are not at all common, the area would also be starved of a good blood supply.
If you do cut your hand etc you need to go to get a Tetnus injection.
If concerned regards your appendicitis. Use your right hand. Place your thumb pointing and just covering your tummy button and your fingers down towards the top of your private parts, if it is really a searing pain you need to either talk to your GP or go to A and E
Angel it sounds like Anxiety, you could try Relaxation Technique Mindfulness and Breathing Techniques, found on these pages
Has your GP arranged a treatment plan to relax your Anxiety and stress
BOB
The logical side of me isn't afraid of gangrene, half because of its rarity and half because I very rarely get infections at all, and while appendicitis is a genuine worry, I was so convinced I had it a while back but they found nothing and the pain passed on its own. It's just the anxiety in me keeps giving me "what ifs," and the IBS really doesn't help at all.
I have practiced a bit of mindfulness and breathing, but as I have ADHD I find it difficult to sit still for a long time. I don't have a set plan or anxiety and stress right now, because it seems nothing I do is helping. I was supposed to get medicine but I can't for the life of me figure out where it was sent to.
For some reason my back pain is becoming more and more prominent these days. That, and I've been getting throbbing pains in my right side and back all day today, which is really not helping my monstrous fear of appendicitis. They feel sort of like muscle spasms, they're not that fun. I keep finding myself routing back to cancer with every new pain and it feels like I'm losing my mind with how incredibly worried I am all the time. I wish there was some miracle cure I could use to get my life back.
I totally get it. My parents are so sick of me talking about my symptoms because they're different every day, and never seem to go anywhere. My dad rolls his eyes whenever I say the word appendicitis because I talk about it so much, and I freak out any time I feel pain on my right side despite how often I do the press test. I keep feeling like my brain is broken or something, which isn't completely off the mark since IBS is just my head sending the wrong signals to my guts. I also feel like there's two separate minds with me, one of them is logical and the other is anxiety-ridden. Unfortunately the anxious one is way stronger than the logical one. Honestly I wish I could just snap my fingers and be rid of this awful nonsense.