Does HA make you feel really tired?

Hi
I just thought to myself today how "worn out" I am making myself feel with HA.
My poor brain doesnt get a rest!!! I mean how many lumps and bumps can one person find in a week?
On a good week i am fine---no HA and i can feel "normal".
But on a bad week like this week i am finding stuff on a daily basis.
This week i have had what i thought was a swollen gland on the front of my neck(gone down now whatever it was!!), I can now feel a tiny bump on my left collar bone which is really hurting when i touch it and which OH says is just part of the bone!!!!!! and I have poked my groin til that throbs!!!!
My preoccupation with lymphoma this week has taken over to the point where i have barely thought about much else!!!
I know it is crazy---but today i feel so tired and i know it is all down to the HA.
Does anyone else wear themselves out like this??
I am aiming for some early nights this next week as OH has been on nights and that is a real struggle for me as i tend to sit up til the small hours reading!!!!
x

Yes, I find any kind of anxiety or worrying really takes it out of me. (Doesn't help when it causes insomnia as well)

My counsellor told me to choose a particular hour in the day for worrying in, and then when the hour is over to say I've had my hour and it is time to move on to doing nice things for myself.

I found this a rather startling and interesting idea, though it is easier said that done. I guess I need to try harder.

Hi
Thanks for that reply.
I am waiting for CBT so will hopefully learn some ways of dealing with it all!!!
I have just read a book on HA and it suggests a similar thing. To have one worry day and one worry free day!! I mean how the heck could i have a day when i dont worry.
I honestly dont know what that feels like!!!I would LOVE TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT!!!
I mean how good would that feel ---to have a whole day of not worrying about my health!!!
xxx

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jellybean43

Hi
I have just read a book on HA and it suggests a similar thing. To have one worry day and one worry free day!! I mean how the heck could i have a day when i dont worry.

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I know!

I think it's got to be a gradual process: first you decide on your designated hour/day, during which you carry on doing what you're good at: worrying yourself sick. Then of course there's the non-worry time. At first this has got to be pretty hard work, because not only are you trying to focus on doing something fun/nice or whatever, but every time you find yourself starting to worry, you have to cut it off and say "no now, later". So:

(1) you've got to become aware as soon as you start worrying

This is a bit like what anger management books say - it's not easy for everyone to notice when it starts. Certainly for me I often 'become conscious' suddenly that I've been dwelling on a worry for half an hour or so without realising.

(2) you've got to find a way to stop it short

This is the million dollar one of course. CBT helps. But I think the idea is that it might be easier if you're saying you will 'postpone it' rather than that you'll never be allowed to voice it at all. A bit like a small child demanding attention, you say "yes little distressed child of mine, I know you want attention, but I am busy, but you will have time later". You have to convince yourself that it doesn't matter if you don't worry 'just now', and that you can actually control it [isn't so much of it about feeling out of control? But you can regain control, because your feelings are caused by your thoughts, and you created these scary thoughts so you can (with some work) make different thoughts instead].

(3) you've got to seriously believe it is OK to be doing something else

Even if you did have terminal cancer (or whatever) as you feared, it's still OK to forget that for a while and do something else. And don't feel guilty about having fun - don't let your anxiety make you feel you should be avoiding doing what other people do, or that it is your duty to spend every moment trying to make it go away, or that if you don't get medical attention now this moment it will be an irretrievable error.

Hehe - it's still easier said that done. But I like to break it down into parts so I can see some progress if I improve on any one of them.

I find im totally drained all the time - does anyone find they feel weakness in arms and legs? also does anyone feel funny when driving?