How To Survive Health Anxiety!

[Ellarose36]

Google is evil..
Your words are inspiring...thank you for the great read..

[cerridwen]

How To Survive Health Anxiety.

I suffered with terrible Health Anxiety which led to agoraphobia for the best part of two years. I know two years will sound like hardly anything to some of you on this site but we all know how bad and long an hour can feel with any form of anxiety let alone years.

I used to visit this site a lot, spending a large majority of the time I had on the Health Anxiety boards. This site was one of the largest contributors to my recovery so I decided to write something that might help other people in the grips of Health Anxiety because it is a terrible feeling.

Tackling the Panic Attacks

Panic attacks can be text book for some people and feel like the end of the world for others. Your panic attacks may even feel different every time. You may get dizzy, have the fast beating heart or you may start to feel your chest tense up and feel like you can't breathe. You could feel the panic rising for hours or it could literally come out of nowhere. The important thing is to learn to trust yourself and your body. I know panic attacks feel like you're dying at the time but you ALWAYS come out the other side of a panic attack alive.

Rather than focusing on it and questiong everything about it try to take it as a learning exeperience. Use every panic attack to practise techniques on how to calm yourself so you can end up preventing them escalating in the future. I havn't had a bad panic attack for over a year because of this! I know all of this is easier said than done when in the throws of a panic attack but it's better to try then to have your life consumed by them for any second longer.

As I said, everybody experiences panic attacks in different ways so don't panic if yours is different to other peoples on here. It does not mean something is seriously wrong, it's just your body reacts differently.

It's hard to differentiate between a real physical problem and anxeity when it's rising through you like that, even I have trouble sometimes still. I always know deep down that in 2 days when I'm still walking around alive and well I'll look back and see it for what it was though, that's what get's me through it

Trusting Your Doctor

Wether you're worried about a heart attack, cancer or any other of the countless afflictions and diseases I've read about in the Health Anxiety forums, everybody is as equally scared as you. Your first step is to go to your doctor. Don't be scared of what he/she might find because they really are there to help. Say you really do have something wrong (I'm not saying you do), it's better to get it diagnoised and fixed by a real doctor than to create posts asking people what they think it might be. I'm not preaching to you because you only have to click on my profile to realise I created post after post about my heart (+ various other subjects) for a long time, every post made me feel better for a while but it was not a long term fix.

People on No More Panic are not qualified Doctors, just other people with experience with panic and anxiety so we can only speculate on your symptoms and fears. We cannot diagnose you, only your GP can.

Don't be scared your doctor won't take you seriously, they HAVE to. If they diagnose you with Health Anxiety, ask if you can have help to tackle it. There's no shame in medication or counselling, it can turn your life around. If your doctor has diagnosed you with anxiety, don't be afraid to go back if you come across a new symptom incase he/she just dismisses it because they won't. Doctors cannot afford to not take people seriously. They know what they are doing!

Dr. Google Is Not Your Friend

I know I shouldn't, you all know you shouldn't, but somehow we end up doing it anyway and feeling worse for it, right? Well it's completely in your power to stop this. Anybody can write whatever they like on the internet and every symptom you type in, Dr. Google will end up diagnosing you with some terrible incureable disease that will make you panic like mad for weeks/months/years.

I watched a show months ago where 3 people went to a person infront of a computer and a real doctor. The person infront of the computer incorrectly diagnosed the people who had told him his symptoms with stuff like cancer, asthma, diabetes, while the real doctor diagnoised them correctly with mild allergies, indigestion and something else I can't quite remember but it was very common and non life threatening.

It's easy to go to your computer in the desperation you might find something reasurring, but you hardly ever do. So why do this to ourselves? It gets us nowhere and only makes us worse.

Accept Your Anxiety

You can't get better unless you accept it for what it is. You have an anxiety disorder than makes you continuously worry about your health.

Panic is the body and minds reaction to danger. You see danger everywhere because it's your own body. You can't step out of it and keep it safe no matter how much you wish you could. You might even have the extreme feelings of feeling trapped in your own body, at a total loss, scared and unhappy. It can change, with the right attitude and help you can overcome this and get yourself back.

Change Your Lifestyle

Eat healthier, go out more, exercise! Exercise is a wonderful way to help anxiety in most forms. It releases endorphins which make you feel good and happy. I know it's hard to do it, especially if you have heart worries (something I'm far too familiar with). If exercise feels like too much for you, start gently. Go for walks, it's exercise and it gets you out the house so you're not sat infront of your PC desperatley trying to find peace of mind.

Learn how to relax yourself. Buy yourself something you enjoy or makes you happy, take an hour out every night to soak in a bath with lavender bubbles, anything that relaxes you, do it. Just empty your mind and enjoy.

Family And Friends Don't Understand You

We've all been there. They get mad at us, tell us to get over it and in extreme cases they just want to stop talking to us altogether. It's upsetting and lonely but this is what No More Panic is truly for. To help you overcome your anxiety and to be there for you when people in your life just don't understand.

Nine times out of ten, people who have never experienced anxiety just won't get it. It frustrates them which frustrates us which can make us even worse. Try not to let it get you down, make a thread, vent your problems, go in the chatroom and make friends. There's always someone here who understands and will have a chat with you.

The road to recovery can be a lonely one, so use all the help you can on here. You are NEVER alone.

So! Sorry for the long read if you took the time to read it. Feel free to add your own two cents in here whenever you want. Your own personal little gems that get you through a bad time, or your own tips to overcoming this. No one deserves to live a life full of anxiety and unhappiness. I wish you ALL a speedy and full recovery. It's not easy, it's not quick and it's not a straight road to recovery. No More Panic will be here to help you on your way if you ever feel like giving up or it's too much. I know you ALL can do this. You're strong willed and intelligent people so take back your life! Today is a good a day as any, don't waste one more second on the monster that's anxiety. x

Health anxiety is my dirty little secret. Friends and family don't understand so I don't tell them and it's very isolating. HA is bad at present for a number of reasons. Feel very isolated and scared and I'm tired of being scared.
Cerridwen

[Frenchi]

I love this thread. I have been suffering with panic and specifically HA for several years now. It seems to wax and wane. I can go months without an attack, then out of no where, it's back. I have Hashimoto thyroiditis (autoimmune disease) and it's hard to know if that is causing some of my panic symptoms or not. Most recently, I have been having attacks in the middle of the night. I will awaken, sometimes on my own, sometimes by a noise, and immediately I notice my heart racing. I feel hot... Like my entire body is on fire, but I don't sweat. I feel the urge to use the bathroom and I go and splash cold water on my face and arms. Then comes the palpitations and feeling my heart beating out of my chest. That's when I freak out. I woke up my husband and told him I was going to drive to the hospital. He of course doesn't understand. He thinks I should be able to tell myself I'm fine. I try to. I say "I know I fine, but I'm having these very real symptoms. I feel like if I ignore the symptoms, I might really have something wrong and I'll die.

I've tried blaming my symptoms on my thyroid condition, my thyroid medicine (Levothyroxine,) coffee... Anything that means I don't have a psych condition. I do not want to be on "crazy" medicine. No disrespect for people on it, but there's a stigma out there created by "normal" people. But I know I'm
Not normal. If I know someone or hear of someone having cancer ;my BIGGEST FEAR is cancer, then I'm convinced I'll have it too. Especially if that person is my age (35.) I've had right sided mid to lower back pain, off and on, in the area right under my rib cage, for a little over a year. I've had an X-ray and gallbladder ultrasound. Nothing. But I'm
Convinced I have some sort of kidney cancer or ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is my latest obsession. Dr Google informed me that my back pain, bowel changes, bloating and occasional pain with intercourse is ovarian cancer. It's like, I'm not satisfied until I find something that just has to be wrong with me. Yes, there are many other reasons for my symptoms: I played basketball and baseball with my kids at the park the other day and my back pain started two days later. Bowel changes: gas, constipation has been common for me for years. Pain with intercourse: I think it's a dryness issue sometimes, because it's not always there. But I obsess every time I feel the pain of have another symptom. Please!! Someone tell me I'm not alone!! It's all I can think about. I have two children (10 and 7) and I'm convinced I won't see them grow up. I feel helpless!!!

[mommasmith74]

I love this thread. I have been suffering with panic and specifically HA for several years now. It seems to wax and wane. I can go months without an attack, then out of no where, it's back. I have Hashimoto thyroiditis (autoimmune disease) and it's hard to know if that is causing some of my panic symptoms or not. Most recently, I have been having attacks in the middle of the night. I will awaken, sometimes on my own, sometimes by a noise, and immediately I notice my heart racing. I feel hot... Like my entire body is on fire, but I don't sweat. I feel the urge to use the bathroom and I go and splash cold water on my face and arms. Then comes the palpitations and feeling my heart beating out of my chest. That's when I freak out. I woke up my husband and told him I was going to drive to the hospital. He of course doesn't understand. He thinks I should be able to tell myself I'm fine. I try to. I say "I know I fine, but I'm having these very real symptoms. I feel like if I ignore the symptoms, I might really have something wrong and I'll die.

I've tried blaming my symptoms on my thyroid condition, my thyroid medicine (Levothyroxine,) coffee... Anything that means I don't have a psych condition. I do not want to be on "crazy" medicine. No disrespect for people on it, but there's a stigma out there created by "normal" people. But I know I'm
Not normal. If I know someone or hear of someone having cancer ;my BIGGEST FEAR is cancer, then I'm convinced I'll have it too. Especially if that person is my age (35.) I've had right sided mid to lower back pain, off and on, in the area right under my rib cage, for a little over a year. I've had an X-ray and gallbladder ultrasound. Nothing. But I'm
Convinced I have some sort of kidney cancer or ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is my latest obsession. Dr Google informed me that my back pain, bowel changes, bloating and occasional pain with intercourse is ovarian cancer. It's like, I'm not satisfied until I find something that just has to be wrong with me. Yes, there are many other reasons for my symptoms: I played basketball and baseball with my kids at the park the other day and my back pain started two days later. Bowel changes: gas, constipation has been common for me for years. Pain with intercourse: I think it's a dryness issue sometimes, because it's not always there. But I obsess every time I feel the pain of have another symptom. Please!! Someone tell me I'm not alone!! It's all I can think about. I have two children (10 and 7) and I'm convinced I won't see them grow up. I feel helpless!!!

Hi Frenchi you are MOST CERTAINLY NOT ALONE! I too have HA as well as GAD & Panic Disorder with agoraphobia. I have resisted meds for so long that my life has become consumed by anxiety, panic attacks & every deadly disease/condition imaginable. My quality of life is a shadow of what it was 2 yrs ago. For those reasons I have decided to go all in... Just started the med my GP prescribed but 1st thing Monday morning I will be visiting the local walk in Mental Health clinic to see a professional in mental health... When having horrible GI problems I went to a GI specialist... He was the one to convince me I did not in fact have any variety of GI cancer & prescribed the necessary med for my problem, therefore it only makes sense that a mental health professional is the one to turn to for stabilizing said mental health! Not all meds have to be permanent... Therapy of various sorts can help too! I for one am moving my mental health to the top of my priority list.... Above all the other health concerns I stress over that I don't have.... I KNOW I have this one & I deserve relief, my family deserves relief & YOU DO TOO!!! Feel free to message me anytime & we will walk this road together.

---------- Post added at 21:46 ---------- Previous post was at 21:34 ----------

Thank you all for openly sharing.... I feel so much less alone since I found this site mere days ago. When my panic attacks strike, the 1st thing I do is log in & just read read read until I calm down!

[ClarckMichel]

Thanx for sharing your post

[kathyrin]

Hi Everyone.. Actually it is my first time here in your forum.. I was diagnosed with GERD ( gastroesophageal reflux disease... I don't know what happening to me.. So, I went to my GI doctor and give me medicine.. Unfortunately, he doesn't told me that it can cause anxiety.. My stomach aches and I can't sleep.. I feel I'm alone in this world. One time my mind want me to do suicide and I'm very scared. I end up crying that I can't handle it. Here in Philippines if you leaky gut ( kabuhi ) they will massage and your will feel calm and relaxed.

But there is a time that I thought I have heart attach because my heart palpitate. So, I go to hospital and they check me and they said there is no wrong with my heart. They said that I have panic attack. From that day I always google my symptoms but sad to say my anxiety became worst.

When I go to CR or anywhere where I can see myself in the mirror, I always check my body if there is something wrong, like my skin, color of my eyes, breast any body parts that I see in the mirror.

I also hear my heartbeat which always makes me conscious on it. But I try to think that I am alive because I heard my heart beat.

So, I try to do meditation, yoga and exercise, course it really help me a lot when i have panic. I just inhale and exhale.

I afraid also of death, that's why when I sleep I'm scared that I might not open my eyes. So, to overcome my fear on death I read bible verses about fear of death and it will make me calm and have faith in God. And I realised that I can't control death and other things in this world. Death is the beginning of true life.

But somehow I can now control little by little my symptoms. Hope my comments help you with your anxiety.


kathyrin

[qsoverks]

This helps IMMENSELY! Health anxiety is extra frustrating, speaking as someone who has GAD, PTSD and panic disorder. Out of those four disorders, hypochondria is the most debilitating for me. These tips really are really helpful!

[Solus]

The part about Family and Friends not understanding you is something I can relate with

---------- Post added at 17:49 ---------- Previous post was at 17:47 ----------

This has been very interesting thank you

[Nervousnellie001]

Brilliant thread. I am suffering so badly at the moment whilst waiting for CBT/Counselling.

[Sjs31]

Brilliant post going through health anxiety my self and getting help
Like reading posts like this makes you think I'm not alone in this
Xx