Hi im a 28 year old single mom to a 3 years old
i have been having health anxiety about 2 years ago when i had acute bronchitis.
since then, i have stopped smoking completely.
the bronchitis comes and go, and i have to use inhaler now.
but my health anxiety really arises from the thought of me dying and leaving my 3 year old. im terrified of that thought.
so the slightest pain i feel in my chest , i will be on my way to the ER.
i have done EKG, head CT, MRI , full blood test and everything turns out fine each time.
my mom had lupus and my grandmother died from cardiovascular disease. my grandfather had diabetes.
so all these thoughts always makes me feel anxious and googling things im not supposed to.
i know its not possible that 4 different doctors missed anything , but i just sometimes feel that i am about to die and my child will be alone in this world.
Hi Mai,
A lot (and I mean A LOT) of women develop health anxiety after having children, we have a fear of something happening to us and leaving our children alone.
I developed serious health anxiety when I had my daughter, it got worse and worse, I used to spend so many hours googling symptoms, time taken from being with her. She will soon be 13 and I have lost so much precious time worrying about illnesses I didn’t have. Who knows, maybe more time than a mother who is physically ill.
And in the end if something health related is going to happen to us, it will happen wether we think about it or not, it can’t be controled.
My humble advice? go to the doctor, but to get help with the health anxiety not the physical symptoms. Good luck x
hi there,
im a 40 year old male who has dealt with this issue as well, since i was 20, everytime i have any kind of pains or dont feel well i use DR Google which makes my symptoms much worse to the point its doom and gloom, i run to the drs, have tons of expensive tests done and everything comes back normal, sometimes it gets to the point were its frustrating that i wish they would find something wrong with me so my dr didnt think i was crazy, i have kids as well so i would stress about them if something did happen to me, it made me miss alot of moments spending time with them feeling like that and to this day it still does , its a very scary thing and your not alone believe me!!! stay strong and try to live life to the fullest
I know exactly how you feel, i am a 36 year old mum to a 5 year old and for the past 3 years i have suffered with health anxiety terribly. Im so worried about something happening to me and him not having me around. I also fixate on all of the physical symptoms that i have, i get myself so wound up after searching google and obviously that telling me i have some kind of life threatening ailment that i then get my doctor to test me to check. I get so anxious and depressed that then the physical symptoms im feeling become 10 x worse, its a vicious circle. I have recently started therapy to see if it helps and i have also started taking Ashwaghanda which is meant to help anxiety and stress. I am trying more natural things instead of anti depressants first. I just wanted you to know that i know how you feel because im also living it, i believe so many mums are also in our boat.