Health anxiety becoming a nightmare now!!

Mental health
1

Hi all, so im new to the forum, but not new to being an panicking Polly!!

For a good number of years I've been anxious about my health, despite all the logic I can muster,and outward facing expression I put on to mask the real (to me) worry about my health.

Almost every time i have something wrong with me its either nothing at all, or turns out to be something the doc can sort with a bit of cream and/or a course of tablets.

Sounds simple enough rite?

Yet no matter how trivial it turns out to be, I can NOT stop myself from getting into an internal frenzie of worry and sheer illogical state of believeing its something very serious. Im my case everything is either cancer or a heart attack, or along them serious lines.

My latest worry is for at least a year ive been suffering with acid reflux, and the docs have given me a couoke of courses of omeprezol, which works very well.

Yet im sat here daily panicking myself silly that its something serious.

See how the logic is just massively and easily outweighed!!

I hope and pray after this course that all will be well, or at least a completely lesser problem is present and easily treatable.

(Doesnt stop me panicking like a mad man in the mean time)

I also happen to be someone that used to suffer quite badly with panik attacks, and stuff like this seems to set them off again.

Seems like im stuck in a horrible loop that i cant seem to break.

Im 32 married and 2 amazing children. But while on the surface I appear to be ok, and in general I feel I am, it would seem it/this whatever you want to call it has yet to really interfere with my everyday worklife, is most definitely messing with my mental state, which is slowly changing me as a person, I feel emotionally unstable and unsure of myself in life.

I guess if I went through this with my doctor I kinda feel like ive let it win!!

Maybe im totally wrong and actually need help but struggling to know where to turn for the best.😥

2

Hang in there...you need to talk to your doctor about everything you are feeling and ask about treating the anxiety and not the symptoms. I am assuming by what you wrote that you have been given a clean bill of health and it is just the little things and that your anxiety is making you focus on the what if and why?'s. Anxiety is exactly that, irrational!!! I mean we are smart and can understand the test results and what the doctor is telling us but anxiety is like a whisper in your ear saying yeah but what if this guy is all wrong, what if you have some weird rare disease that they missed, what if after the 1000 time in the emergency room they still must have missed something. I know, because I've been there, heck I'm still there. Anxiety is a vicious circle and it is so hard to break out of. I don't know if you have seen a therapist/psychologist but I think it might be very helpful to you as well as discussing all your treatment options with your doctor or seeking out a psychiatrist that can work with you to find the plan that works best for you. The thing that helped me the most was a combination of meds and therapy but everyone is different. Once you are able to focus on the treatment of your anxiety instead of looking for the what if's I think you will be a changed man.  Anxiety is a real disease, so in reality there is really something wrong with you, but anxiety is tricky and makes you think it has to be something else because there is no way it can just be anxiety. I promise you it can be "just" anxiety and that can cause so many horrible physical symptoms that can affect you to the point of being crippling. I am struggling now because I am not on my meds or under a doctors regular care due to not being able to afford it but I promise you there is hope. You may have to try a bunch of things before you find what works for you because we are all different but try everything, work with your doctors, and do your own research on things you can do by yourself. Things like yoga and aromatherapy and breathing exercises, just to name a few. Best of Luck to you!!!

3

Hi Jason, it's really annoying having to worry about our physical health even tho it turns out it was nothing or it's something that can be fix easily. It's different with our mental health. Our mind is very powerful things. I'm just like you. Alwayss worry about my health. I still am. Everytime i went to Dr, it was almost nothing. They just said to eat healthy and exercise. All the time. Maybe you should do something that can distracting yourself from your worry. Maybe do something therapeutic. Refreshing or gardening. They said it helps with the anxiety and focused our mind into something other than our worry.

4

A clean bill of health in the sense that they have given me a course of meds to settle the current acid reflux, and they will reassess in a few weeks. And there is currently nothing else wrong with me, imagined or otherwise!!

But I think its the few weeks in bitween that set off the irrational fears and feeling of sheer panic as i have no instant answer.

But yes regardless of ongoing medical conditions that i may or may not have.

I understand that anxiety and panic attacks are starting to get the better of me. And sending me into that circle of never ending worry.

There are moments throughout the day or even day's throughout the week etc where i have none of this fear and worry, and i think what was all the fuss about. Then out of nowhere , it resurfaces and is as present as ever.

I will be approaching my docs asap.

Bit i feel they are to quick to just chuck another course of meds at you or sign you off work for a while, which like most people i just cant afford, rather than deal with the actual problem.

Not to mention i have a totally irrational fear of tablets!!

5

Thanks for the advice rieez.

I must admit it does almost go away or ar least subside when im really concentrating on something else. Or when i have something to look forward towards.

I am going to look into some form of meditation / yoga technique , as i hear these can really help.

6

Hi The PPI's such as pantoprazole, omeprazole lansoprazole are  only intended to be prescribed for a few weeks due to their side effects. Cardiac issues, nutritional issues etc, etc.

​I have GERD.

​Please research the side effects and ask for an alternative. I take bicrab or soda and stick k to small bland meals and non acid drinks.

j

 

7

I understand totally!!! You are the only one who gets to live in your body and you are the only one who really knows what you are feeling. You also have the final say in all your medical care so if your doctor suggests something you aren't comfortable with talk about it, ask questions, let them know why you aren't keen on it. Then you open communication up for alternative suggestions. I was totally anti-medication when this all started with myself. I still don't take pain killers other than the occassional ibuprofen because I don't think they work and I don't like how they make me feel overall. That being said, try to keep an open mind about using medication that might benefit you, it might be just what you need. And of course if you do decide to try something and it does absolutely nothing for you or you have some sort of adverse reaction to it, tell your doctor immediately. They will help you stop the medication safely or adjust your dosages or suggest adding something else to it. Like I said before, what works for one might not work for another. I really feel like you would benefit greatly from therapy, someone you can just vent to and discuss how you feel and all your thoughts and concerns no matter how rational or irrational. I know we have all spent time on google looking up our symptoms only to find out we are dying, that we must have that horrible incurable very rare disease because google said so. I'm guilty of it myself. I try now to spend my time only looking up ways to treat anxiety, coping skills and techniques, only helpful things. You might find something that works for you, you never know. Again, best of luck to you!!!

8

Hi Jason I have had a lump in my throat which my doc told me last week I would be dead by now ,if it was cancer I ve had it 5 years .This week I’m in meltdown as I feel my food is lodging between my chest as I’m eating I’m in major panic praying in my mind “please don’t lodge “Afew weeks ago I had a different cancer no piece of mind NEVER I’m 55 btw .Get help don’t suffer years like I have (I am waiting at min for mental health team to get bk )It’s so sad you should be enjoying your children and your life Make that appointment and hopefully they can help you (and me and all of us that are suffering)👍

9

My god, no wonder your panicking.

Id be in an mess.

I always feel better after visiting the docs and they say im fine, and i do feel better for some time.

But as always at some point in time after that i just cant shake the feeling that there is always something wrong, especially when some small health issue crops up, the most recent before my acid reflux, a scab that appeared in my nose, and you guessed it i was sure it was some form of cancer, but no as usual with a bit of cream and some time it all cleared up. Seems absolutely radicolous now. But this is how my mind works and then forces me in to that pit of self pity and worry.

But no matter how many times these small things come and go with no lasting effects i cant seem to (at the time anyways) think even at all rationally about it.

I am logically thinking its health anxiety and the fear of all the potentially health threatening possibilities is more than likely manifesting its self in symptoms.

The other thing being is that typically as i seem to go to the doctors i always seem to feel better at that time and think in my head i just sound stupid and overactive!!