constantly worried i have something wrong

[Jo1981]

I suffer badly with health anxiety and i am constantly searching my body for signs of things wrong with me..if i find a spot i think its skin cancer if someone tells me they have had some sort of cancer i start to think could i have the same..its driving me mad and really need to talk to someone about it,i never go to the doctors with my symtoms because i fear i will be told the worst when really i know its nothing i just have to talk myself out of these things..x

[Dazza]

I'm the same as you in that I obsess about symptoms that I have and scan my body for things.

I'm the opposite of you however when it comes to visiting the doctor. I often visit the doctor to set my mind at ease, as I think to myself 'it's better to get these things early on' or 'prevention is better than cure'. I've made I don't know how many trips to the doctors and A&E (ER) in the past 3 1/2 years since my health anxiety started.

I'm happy to say that until now all symptoms have been due to benign things, and many caused the the anxiety itself.

Hug.

[Clow]

I do the same thing mate.

This is currently my biggest fear.

I keep finding all these spots that im not sure of being there before and i immediately think skin cancer or leukemia. Ive been getting lots of back aches/soreness as well..

I cant get the thoughts out of my head and it's making me crazy!

[happycarrot]

Welcome to the club I think almost all of us here do exactly what you described. If I hear about some horrible cancer, I immediately think I have it too. And the worst thing you can do is Google it! You can find websites that link almost any symptom you could possibly have to cancer, but in reality it's far more likely that they are caused by something else that isn't serious. So many cancer symptoms are also symptoms of much less serious illnesses, or even of anxiety itself. I think we all know that we're unlikely to have any serious problem and that it's really the anxiety taking over, but sometimes knowing that doesn't help to stop the worrying. I usually do not go to the doctor for all of my worries, but if I have an appointment for something else, I ask all my questions then. I'm sure it makes me unpopular at my doctor's office

[Jo1981]

Hey thanks for the replies guys and sorry to hear that we all feel the same..i sometimes think it takes over my every day life..i was never like this untill i had my two children,but now all i do is panic constantly!hate it..i wish i could feel better soon and stop worrying and panicking..good to talk with people going through the same thing x

[anitaa]

me too

i was never like it before my two children either! as i get older its getting worse, i go to doc for any little thing, dont know why because when i get there i dont belive what they say anyway im always convinced its something far worse and ill ahve it forever.... untill something else comes along to worry about!

[shanlynn1012]

Same for me, same thing too not until i had my kids, at least i do not do it to them. So annoying.

[Jo1981]

Yeah it is so annoying I get so mad at myself for being like this I wish I could just stop it and wen I think I'm ok something else pops up! X

[shanlynn1012]

I know me too it really sucks, i think it has something to do with that we are really worried about our kids but our mind cant bear that worry so it gives us this crap to worry about.

[b4eve]

Lately the worry has tended to be that there's something wrong with my children rather than with me and I think that's even worse! It isn't fun either way round. This has been a repeating theme for nearly two years now and I almost went to my GP this time last year but because I've not (yet) become so near to non-functioning as I had with earlier bouts of anxiety, I cried off, thinking that I could manage. It's only getting worse though and it's suddenly struck me that as I'm more isolated than I've ever been before it'd be a ridiculous disaster if I left things until I couldn't function so I'll be seeing my GP next week (if I don't freak out and get an emergency appt sooner)