'what if this is it this time thoughts'

[sadie]

Hi all,

I have had anxiety for 5 years almost and I can honestly say it has got a lot better over the last few years. During this time I have worried myself sick about thoughts of dying everyday either of -

1. Heart attack
2. Brain Haemorage
3. Stroke
4. Seizure/epilepsy


I have never experienced any of these illnesses but this does not stop me worrying about them continoulsy everyday. I have had numerous ECG's, 24 hr ECG, a MRI scan of brain which all came back normal.

I think fear of having a heart attack is the most dominant fear out of them all. What I cant seem to get my head around is although I have not yet taken a heart attack despite having chest pains. palpitations. etopic beats in the past, how do I know the next one isnt going to be the time it will happen?? I worry that all this stress has given me heart disease or heart problems now. Does anyone else get these thoughts?

I have had a lot of chest discomfort over the last few days which was a result of a very stressful week at work... So far I have managed to not get too worried about it but deep down I know i have been thinking. should I call NHS 24 or go to my GP??? I havent but how do I know whether I am just ignoring serious symptoms?

Does anyone else feel like this?

How can I deal with these thoughts?


sadie

[elrpigeon]

Hey, dont you worry about it too much, obviously there is those statistics that whatever in whatever gets any of the diseases you say, but its probably not going to be you, i would love to say you wont ever but then i wouldnt want it to happen and you to feel bad about me saying it.
I have constant headaches as i worry all the time, so theyre stress headaches, a couple of migrains (which i need to consult the doctor about when i get round to it to see if its the pill). I think these headaches are brain tumours and no one can say they aren't 100% unless i have a scan but its unlikely they are so i just muddle on, also cos i am scared if i have a scan it will come back saying i do have something.. but thats another worry story.
Sometimes when i get very uptight my throat and chest constricts, sometimes quite nastily in my throat (although thankfully not so often to its most extreme) and i feel i have a pebble stuck, which is horrible.. i try to ignore this best i can, and if i am with my boyfriend he is great and has once when it happened sat me down by pompey footie stadium and sat there in silence letting me calm down.
I have weird flutterings in my heart which i also forget to mention every time i go to the doctors about something or to get more pill.. i have noticed them being more frequent when i get really angry or upset and it sometimes catches my breath so i have my mouth open and gasp like i have been under water too long.. I dont have them too often but they are a bit worrying when they happen.
I hope this long (which i apologise for, i just dont know how to be concise with my thoughts), answer has helped somehow at least maybe helping you realise you aren't alone. Chin up chuck, ignore the minor ones as best you can, and try to remain as calm as possible during the major ones, as stress only makes physical symptons worse, therefore increasig anxiety, and then we have the evil viscous circle..

Emily X

Power of the mind is incredible, we got thinking negative by it, we can get out thinking positive too!

[elrpigeon]

I forgot to add, that one time a GP i went to see before going to uni, gave me a small asthma pump, a reliever or something i think theyre called, my dad has asthma, my brother used to have it badly but not so much now etc so yeah it runs in the family but i dont have it, never have done, but unfortunately due to anxiety and panic attacks etc, i have had very bad wheezeyness on occasion and a little wheezey a bit more frequent, and so when i am going out places i generally like to have it with me for security and peace of mind.

My mum has also noticed i have become self absorbed since my anxiety has gotten as far as it has, not as in vanity, but as in im constantly aware of how i feel, i feel sick, i have this i have that etc etc i dont feel well, especially without my boyfriend i feel weaker which is weird, but thats how it goes with me. Just try to focus on when you feel well, or when you do feel ill, push yourself to do things as most the time you will be able to push through it and when you do you will feel like you have broken through a barrier in your mind.

Emily X

Power of the mind is incredible, we got thinking negative by it, we can get out thinking positive too!

[NANAX10]

Sadie!

I'm a lot like you! I've had severe anxiety for about 3 months now and I worry too about how this is reacting on my body. My counselor claims no one has ever died from anxiety.....it's got to affect your body somehow though. When I was at my worse, I spiked my blood pressure up, way up. I've had bouts of bad palpitations too that lasted a day and another time a day and a half. Turned out it was ALL anxiety. Do you exercise? It's the FEAR that creates the ANXIETY which in turn can lead to DEPRESSION. You need to turn all those negative thoughts into POSITIVE thoughts. Easier said then done, I know too well. That's all what it's about................your fear and obsessing. Try to stay calm and keep involved with other things. I've also had a sore chest.....it goes with the anxiety territory, I'm afraid![Sigh...]

Hope I've been some help.



KATHY LYNCH

[mama23girls]

I do the same thing. I am always worried about everything and I am afraid the one time I relax and don't worry will be the time when something is really wrong.
One thing that does help me is belly breathing.
If I am getting really freaked out I try to lie down and breathe really deeply into my belly expanding it to the count of six and then exhaling to the count of six.
It will usually help it is hard to lie down in the middle of the day though.

Jessica
Mama to
Rain
Celeste
Riley Mei

[Meg]

I've been meaning to write a piece on risk and probablility for a while and this is probably a good post to respond to with it.

Health anxiety is a constant inner worry about the state of our health. As children we always feel fine unless we really don't, at which point we either cry or tell someone who helps make it better and day to day most averagely healthy people are not aware of what is going on within our bodies at all - they just work and we feel fine !

But the body is a living thing made up of 10000000's of bits , from individual cells each doing their own thing, to the most elaborate chain of events that make your arm move etc and just like any complex structure we creak occassionally and things are different from day to day responding to our needs and in response to what we're asking it to do.
Mostly these are ok sensations and feelings and ones that we would not even have noticed pre anxiety and they would have just passed us by and disappeared but when we focus on things it brings them to life and they stay liking the attention.

Animals they respond by instinct as do we , we touch the bit that hurts, a mum always rubs things better, we know when we need fuel , we know when we're tired BUT we also know how to think logically and rationally and problem solve just as we do everyday as we go about our everyday business.

Humans have far more resources and options to use should we think we need them which is where we differ from animals who may know they feel unwell but apart from lying quietly or going to seek out a special grass do no have many options open to them to improve their situation so they have to accept what what is going on. My cats have never meowed to get in their baskets with a 'to the vet please' look.

With human health anxiety, somewhere along the line something happens or you read, see, hear about someone whom something tragically/ dramatically has happened to and you make that first connection- what if that was me ? That could have been me ? I get that !

This train of thought then gets transferred onto certain things that you feel within your body and you teach yourself to question everything unusual and immediately jump to the worst extreme conclusion that you know about. What used to be a headache is now a brain tumour, what used to be a cold is now pneumonia.

It is clear to me as a health care professional that all these extreme ailments everyone jumps to conclusions about are all fuelled by the power of suggestion, hear say and media as there are many much more dangerous illnesses out there that I never see mentioned on here and don't ever seem to come up even with all the googling that goes on which will always bring you up something dramatic and critical that fits one or two random symptoms. Google is not a doctor and just matches random symptoms and cannot begin to assess you for a full clinical picture which involves several body systems, a medical history and how you clinically present.

Anxiety and panic does bring with it a whole host of symptoms that can seem completely unconnected, which add to the worry that first brought on the anxiety so a roundabout situation can be reached very quickly and from there every single body symptom is analysed and a conclusion reached within minutes- usually a negative one at that.

I want to ask you to think about keeping logical and rational each time a symptom hits. Before jumping to any conclusion try to ask yourself -

What is the probability of this being imminantly life threatening for me ?

If you are a young adult, in good health generally, low risk factors, no previously known related illness and reasonably fit :

- the odds and probability of a chest pain being a life threatening
cardiac event is extremely low indeed.

- the odds of being a bit breathless turning into a respiratory distress incident are also extremely low.

Adding onto that the knowledge that you have anxiety which can cause chest pain, breathlessness makes the probabilty and odds eve

[Piglet]

Meg

What a superb post - as usual!!!!

Is that on the health anxiety page too!!!

Made me smile in quite a few places as I'm sure it will with many others.

I must read it again and again when perspective is needed so I hope it is on the health anxiety page.

Love Pig

[sadie]

Thanks Meg, that was very informative as usual.

What my husband has pointed out to me today as becaue I have been suffering chest pains, missed beats etc etc I have totally taken my attention of worrying about having a seizure... just goes to show its all in the mind.

The thoughts are just the worse for me but I have to keep believing that I can get over this or I never actually will.

Thanks all to have replied.

sadie

[Meg]

Remember the 50,000 thoughts Sadie. Whe they're gone , they're gone !!


Love

Meg

[jollywalrus]

Hi Sadie,

One way through this problem is to use the power of suggestion. I have an 11 year old daughter who sleepwalks. She worries that one day she will go right out on to the street in the night and not one of us will hear her. I have stopped this worry for her by suggesting that each night she taps the pillow three times and says " I will not sleepwalk tonight". Since she has done this she stays safely in her bed. She truly believes this ritual stops her from sleepwalking. And it does.

Most people live to a ripe old age and are never seriously ill and there is no reason why we shouldn't be one of them.

Best wishes,
Christine