Why do we always pick the worst case scenario?

Mental health
1

Argh!!!

I know this is health anxiety all over, but every time I get a symptom, it'll come up with maybe 4-5 different causes, guess what mine is every single time? Yep! The worst, life threatening, horrible disease/condition you could have out of the choices. Im sure alot of you are the same.

Chest pain;

Could be anxiety, angina, valve prolapse or some birth defect.

I choose the last three, guess what? After all the tests, turns out it was anxiety

Blood in stools;

Could be piles, or could cancer.

I choose cancer, guess what? turns out it was piles.

Lymph node swollen;

Could be normal, or could be cancer;

I choose cancer, guess what? turns out it was normal.

Mole on my arm has gone funny;

Doctor says normal, i think its cancer. Turns out normal.

Argh this is my life round in circles constantly. My latest one is the other day I was under mad anxiety, all my symptoms were at 100%, i felt absolutley terrible. Then all of a sudden I felt this tremor/spasm/flutter that i get all over my body, feels like when your muscles spasm on your body a really fast flutter over within a second, happen deep in my chest, it only lasted a second but it took my breath away. 

Now, i've narrowed it down to three things, anxiety, esophagus spasm and you guessed it, a deadly arrythmia (Venticular tachardyia)

On the morning of it i noticed a mole on my arm had gone funny again and i was having a full on meltdown, this is on top of my anxiety symptoms already been at 100% all week. So could it have been a panic attack? My panic attacks never last longer than 2 seconds, its more physical my attacks than mental, my breath gets snatched away from me and thats about it.

So thats option one, i know my anxiety was at 110% that day/week.

Option two; Esophagus spasm, I'd been feeling really sick in the build up to that day and getting acid reflux symptoms, was it anxiety and my acid reflux combined to cause my esophagus to spasm? My anxiety attacks in the past have involved my muscles tremoring for a split second very fast and my breath get taken away, was this another one of them but instead of my muscle it was my esophasgus?

Option three;

The arryhtmia, the one im obviously fearing that it actually is It's scary having your breath snatched from you, i know ive got extreme anxiety, ive had every anxiety in the book, everything, but ive also had every heart test done aswell and all has come back on.

So im stuck, ive been crying on my dinner break driving around pointlessly, telling my girlfriend i love her over text etc, i hate hate hate this feeling we're you feel like youve 100% got a deadly disease. hmph  

i just feel worthless, ive got my first ever CBT on tuesday.

 

2

Of course we will pick the worst case scenarios we are residing in the fight or flight mode. Looks for danger. Its like fear is switched on and happiness is switched off. It is a part of the disorder to seek out danger. Although there is no danger but the brain doesnt know fake from real. 

Ailments and anxiety co exists. This i know. And doctors cant cure or fix many ailments either, so it creates anxiety be ause we are human and dont like pain or discomfort. Suffering sucks.

if you feel you have a specific heart issue and have been tested for it and it clear look elsewhere for your answers. If you have not been given the correct tests then seek them out. Its not unheard off for a doctor to dismiss things under the guise of anxiety and give no testing at all. You want the testing to rule it out.  This is way harder to do if you are dealing with insurance gatekeeping. You might need to go private insurance or out of pocket to do it.

you have had the tests so stop creating stuff in your brain and realize since you have had the tests thats not it. You do not feel well and that sucks but living in denial sucks more because unmanaged anxiety grows roots. 

3

Yes, my anxiety has always been about my heart lol I was 100% convinced I had some heart disease causing my chest pain, i couldnt walk down the street without getting some kind of chest pain. Then as soon as my tests come back clear that i had no blockages or anything, the chest pain went, havent felt any since.

But then as always with anxiety, you clear one thing out the way and another one comes along. Now it's these palpitations, now its time to think I have some deadly arrythmia. Honestly i'm in such a deep black hole at the minute i can't see myself getting out of it, hmph  

4

To maybe an outsider i'm been stupid, they'll think right so hes got 3 choices..

Anxiety - 100% has it, badly

Acid reflux/Esophagus spasm - yes he has acid reflux and anxiety makes it worse

Arrythmia - Had all the tests on his heart and all come back normal..

which of course i think its the last one lol 

5

Stomach stuff does come with anxiety. So thats okay to check that out.

Forget about the heart stuff completly. Dont care anymore what it "feels" like. Its not your heart. Lol i know that wont stop you but its a waste of good energy and time. Your hearts fine. And yes anxiety part. But i dont know why people dont realize how potent anxiety can be. The brains an organ too. This stuff is life ruining. It is. Nothing to do with being stupid here at all..its a mental disorder that needs to be addressed and guided to a manageable level. Real stuff going on. 

6

The symptoms of Anxiety Disorder are so awful it is hard to accept for the sufferer that this can ONLY be anxiety

However, Anxiety Disorder is an illness the same as any other. The symptoms are varied and many and quite horrendous

But, and this is a big but, until you accept it for what it is and stop imagining it is something else, a worst case scenario, then you will not be able to deal with it and move forward

You're stuck in the same cycle.

I know it's not easy. I am not making light of it. But you have to change your mind set. You have to deal with that you do suffer from and not what you don't suffer from to break the fear/panic cycle

And you can do it!

Have faith in yourself. Dismiss unnecessary worries over imagined illnesses. Be positive in your outlook. Be determined. Strength is there if we dig deep.

And good luck!!!

7

I know, i read some peoples threads on here im sat here thinking its anxiety man, calm down! but when its you yourself, its so much harder to convince yourself, anxiety is horrible, the thing is i need to know what something was to move on, i can't just leave it. I need a test, i need google to tell me its ok, its so sad im like this but I am, i wont rest until i get an answer on this.

8

I know, I need to accept I have very bad anxiety and that it causes wierd sensations, But they're so real its mad that your not going to drop dead. I don't think im getting out of this one any time soon, im going to be stuck like a zombie for a few weeks unfortuantly, worrying that I have something very bad with me. 

It's so annoying because when I was convinced I had a blockage of some kind, i'd get bad chest pains with shortness of breath, i'd get arm pain, i'd get jaw pain, all the right symptoms.. but nothing was found and it all went away.. anxiety is so good at convincing your body theres something seriously wrong and it's doing a very good job now.

Why is it that whenever your going through anxiety with an illness its all over the news? guy collapses and dies during a football match bla bla, i was literally going past the place it happened yesterday and as i was going past the radio was on about the guy who died in leeds from a suspected heart attack, its crazy 

9

Its awful! It is an awful disorder! No one should ever make light of it. Truth is the tests wont relieve the ocd. Youll keep thinking up new illnesses to test for. You do need answers and you do need help but in a different direction. Im being honest. Logic goes out the window when your all stuck in fight or flight. It just does. The anxiety disorder runs the show and bullies you with no mercy. I understand that very well. But the relief and the freedom that comes with addressing it for what it really is ..is priceless. It would be great if we could say calm down and it goes away..lol or just snap out of it. Its a horrid programmed auto pilot thing going on inside you.  Do you want me to send you some helpful info? Helpful links? Let me know ill send them thru PM. 

10

Why? Possibly because you're honed in and ready, on anxiety alert. It's a bit seek and ye shall find scenario.

There's a saying, look for trouble and trouble will find you

Find positives in your life to focus upon. Be determined to deal with the anxiety, not fighting it but forming a plan of action means taking control and does much to boost confidence

11

I suffer health anxiety really really really bad I have literally been dying since I was 16 with the symptoms I have . I have had test after test and scan after scan iv had cba Councilling tablets etc... and I am still living in anxiety mode every second of every single day . It's horrible I feel I have no life . I feel the only time I feel good is when I have goo ld news it lasts a few hours then I am onto something else . My partner said something that does make me think a little more positive it doesn't get rid but it does make you wonder . He said when I get the good results/news from my doctor I'm happy and that problem is dealt with so he said then you will find something else he said that's my anxiety I have to be worried about something otherwise I'm not happy weird but he's right I always find myself concentrating and searching up on something from a spot to bleeding from breathing to diszzines . He said I spend most of my life worrying about my life that I'm not living my life . WhT if you was told that you had 2 weeks left to live ? What could you do ? You have already spent your whole life waiting to be told this because let's face it that's our biggest fear isn't it the dreaded D word he said you can't do anything now . Your time is up and that's it he said but at least you have lived a good fulfilled life and done amazing things . Except I haven't all I have done is worry so much about dying that I have forgot that I am actually living . So maybe let's just live our life and keep thinking that until we are told we can no longer live we shall not live like we are dying . Good luck all my anxiety friends and I hope this helps I am going booking a holiday with my family on a plain I'm just going to do it x argh I am .