A few months ago my Health Anxiety was triggered by a diagnosis of Prostatitis- for a while I was convinced that I was dying and it kept me up at night. I woke up in the middle of the night with my first panic attack, and it happened again night after night for weeks. Once I had the diagnosis, the pain eventually went away and some days I have flare ups but I’m seeing a Pelvic Floor therapist and it’s been a godsend.
On the other hand, my anxiety is now through the roof. At first it was the prostatitis, then it was worries about my sleep, then it was worries about my anxiety, and now all of the somatic symptoms that keep evolving (newest symptom is chronic pain, heart beat I can feel in my whole body and chest pains). I’ve also had almost all the tests you can think of (ECGs for my heart, Xrays for my lungs, ultrasounds for my kidneys, testicles, bladder, blood tests for my liver, prostate, infections, inflammation, etc) and I’ve been to the ER twice, and each time and every test I’ve been cleared as healthy.
All in all, mentally, I feel a lot stronger a few months in. I’m not having panic attacks and day to day is generally pretty good, but if I have a bad sleep or wake up with chest pains there’s a strong likelihood I’ll be spending the day at the doctor. I’m doing psychotherapy, meditation, mindfulness, exercise, physiotherapy, eating right, but I still feel a bit stuck. I’ve struggled a lot with getting onto medication because of the potential downsides. I’ve put it off for so long that now I’m wondering if I would be feeling better if I had just taken meds from the start. Really now, it’s the physical symptoms that are bugging me the most - my mid/lower back has been killing me for three weeks and docs just think it’s muscular, and I’ve had blood tests but I’m worried about gallstones too. I’ve also acquired these wonder GI issues where I have extreme pain in my gut that comes and goes, along with other gross symptoms.
ANYWAY, TLDR: Do you think I’m at the point that I should start taking medication? I know it’s not a cure and it doesn’t fixed everything, but I know that it can help. My doctor says I should but my psychologist thinks I shouldn’t and wants me to lose weight and get healthy instead, because that will lessen the likelihood of stress on my body and calm down my symptoms (I’m 6 foot and weigh 319 pounds (145kgs), and my blood pressure is slightly high so I’ve got a lot of work to do). My argument is, why not both? I’m also afraid he’s right and I might feel like crap from all the side effects and should just go the fitness route.
Thanks so much if you read all this. Big love.