I worry about worrying!!!!!

[judipat]

Hi everyone

I hav'nt been posting or in the chat room for quite a while so hi to all that remember me.
I have been ok (ish) for a while although this darn HA is always nearby!! Some days are better than others depending on my stress levels.
I am 50 years old, have a fairly demanding full time job, house, two grown up kids at home, plus hubby!! etc etc. I have suffered with HA for over 20+ years. I think I have had every symptom in the book, my main ones being breathing (I'm a mouth breather), lump in my throat and excessive swallowing.
A couple of months ago I started getting very bad heartburn/reflux and general stomach pain, GP put me on ranitadine which is very good. However, I sometimes feel very sick and have this stupid cough which is more like clearing my throat. GP says the cough is also caused by the reflux. I am to have an endoscopy next Wednesday and am worried to death. GP says they will offer me diazapan but I dont know whether that will be enough - I would rather be put out!!! anyone else had one???? i am so scared of the results. I think I also have IBS because I get severe bloating and urgency etc. As you can imagine - I feel pretty crap and have imagined all kinds of things - everything from ulcers to stomach cancer.
Just need to get all this down and get your reassurance.

Thanks

Judi xxxx

[joyce1980]

20 years? poor thing.

How about you try medication this time round....yes yes I know it's not for everyone but it helps me, cuts the anxiety by 70% i would say.

speak to your Dr.

And I have had every symptom in the book too, so funny how we can't show ourselves the pattern but everytime another symptom pops up i think this time for sure its real!

Such a shame this anxiety

[gpatrick]

I'm 26, been through a lot in my life, but have my head on my shoulder. Anxiety has impacted my life incredibly. But I have great friends, family, and I try always to be positive. Right now I take a very low dosage of venaflaxin.

[eljay]

ive had an endoscopy, for a real problem as well, for me thats good

I chose the throat spray to have mine done as you can go home straight after, you stay in longer for any other anaesthetic, it wasnt pleasant I wont lie to you but im glad I went for that option all the same, the staff were brilliant at making me calm, and soothed me throughout, you will feel like you want to be sick so gag, but the nurse keeps talking to you to relax you and it works, well in my case it did. If i had to do it again id be scared more than last time as I know whats coming but id still do it the same way.

its like having a baby, not so nice but worth it in the end..

[Cococj]

Hi Judi,

I'm sorry to hear you're going through this I hope some of us here can offer you the reassurance you need.

My own anxiety has caused (and been caused by) alot of stomach and bowel problems. This for me started of over 3 years ago with what I now know was IBS. This was exacerbated by my heavy drinking at the time (I no longer drink).

One of the other effects of this, by way of my anxiety and generally feeling unwell was alot of reflux, I had problems swallowing for over a year. Duing this time my doctor sent me to the hospital and I had the same endoscopic procedure you'll be having. I won't say I was looking forward to it but on the other hand I couldn't let it worry me; I viewed it as the oppurtunity to finally find out if there was something wrong down there, this to me at least spurred me on - it was the not knowing, the waiting that was unbearable.

As I've recently been having increasing problems with my stomach my consultant has referred me for another gastroscopy next month, again I'm not worried about the procedure, partly because I've done it before and unlike eljay I think I'm more relaxed about it this time around.

I'd like to share my experience of the first time though.

I arrived at the hospital where a nurse took my details and asked me if I wanted the sedative. If you have this you'll be spending an hour or two after the endoscopy in the hospital and usually you'll need someone else there to escort you home. I chose not to have this as I wanted to be fully aware of what was going on.

Once they'd called me in they had me on the gurney the doctor who was performing the preocedure spent 10 minutes going through what would be done and how and trying to make me feel comfortable.

Then they started. I was asked to lay on my left side and a nurse came and stood next to my head and told me to relax and talked to me throughout, told me to breathe if I was breathing too quickly. The back of my throat was sprayed and the endoscope threaded down my throat. I won't go into any more graphic detail than that, it wasn't the most comfortable experience of my life but it wasn't painful. The worst sensation I had was when they filled my stomach up with air so they can get a decent look around, I was more embarrassed about the constant belching this produced than anything else.

All I'll say to you on this is don't let this procedure worry you, the way you build it up in your mind is probably worse than anything they will do. There is a whole team of people there who will literally hold your hand and do their very best to make sure you feel comfortable. They know it isn't the nicest thing in the world and they're trained for every possible eventuality, please put your mind at rest and don't let it worry you.

Chris

[judipat]

Thanks all,
I'm sure it will be ok - its just the fear of the unknown is'nt it???
I dont think i'm as afraid of the procedure - its the results that really scare me. But, on the other hand, I really want to know - double edged sword or what??
I'll keep you posted - thanks again

Judi xxx