Does this sound like health anxiety?

[p0ttz]

Hi all

I am 15 years old and 3 months ago during the summer holidays I was on the computer and my eyes wouldn't focus on the screen, so I thought maybe I was using it too long and i shut the screen. Then I felt like I was going to pass out so I jumped up and ran outside and started kicking the football across the garden panicking thinking what is wrong with me. I then ran to the kitchen and made a drink of squash and I drank it and I needed more. I then vomited in the garden whilst I was still panicking. I went to sleep thinking I what if I don't wake up. I thought I was going to collapse and die that day. I then woke up 2 hours later and had a shower, thinking I would be 100% ok, but I still felt the same. Then I went to bed.

Since then, different symptoms have happened to me, such as sharp shooting pains in the head and different places of my body; tingling, numbness on my hands 24/7 , derealization/depersonalisation, muscle twitching, headaches (occasionally), Indigestion. (I haven't vomited since that day by the way) Sometimes I cry and say whats wrong with me? Do I have cancer? leukemia? MS? Brain tumor? Lyme disease? Underactive thyroid? Dementia?

I went to the doctor 2 months ago after finally having the confidence to tell my mother that I want a blood test. I went to the doctor, they examined me, by checking my eye lids and stomach and they thought I might have anemia. They ordered a blood test, I had the test 2 days later and got the results. The results showed that it was borderline (I didn't get the overall evaluation) and the doctor examined my stomach again and issued a liver function test and a abdomen scan. This is when all my symptoms started.
I was scared. My mother was nearly in tears because she didn't know what was wrong with me and didn't want to lose me. I had the test, it came back a month later ( I don't know why ) and the doctor said the results were good, and didn't know why the first blood test showed like that. He still wanted me to go to the ultrasound for my abdomen for a "routine checkup"

The ultrasound is on tuesday by the way.

I have no family history of cancer, diabetes, or any disease apart from asthma from my father which I have also. Nobody smokes in my family, I don't drink do drugs etc. So I am wondering what caused all this? Is it really anxiety or a disease?

[H2theHOzee]

Hi Pottz,

I am not an expert but it does sound like health anxiety.

I would suggest doing your favourite thing in the world to try and get your mind off of things for a little bit, doesn't mater what it is just do something especially for you.

I suffer with the same kind of thing but not as badly as yourself, mine tends to locate itself in my chest. I hear your problem load and clear and think that talking about it is the very best first step!

[potato11]

Hiya Pottz

:hugs: big hugs!! know exactly how you feel. even though you may feel very alone and scared with how you are, I and many others have felt exactly the same.

Your "episode" you had with the computer, then subsequent symptoms, sound very much like classic panic and anxiety.

The fight or flight reaction can happen EXTREMELY quickly - think of a time you accidentally walked out infront of traffic, nearly fell backwards off a chair or something - how fast did your body respond?! and panic attacks are caused by misinterpretation of those fight or flight responses.

Or, panic can cause fight or flight response in the body - remember, the brain simply acts upon what you tell it is dangerous -if you tell it your "glazy eyes" were something to fear or worry about, it reacted accordingly - like it would react if you told it the noise downstairs might be something sinister - and how you'd tell it everything is ok once you figured out it was the cat or something! basically, the gist of what i'm saying is, the day you had your 'episode' can be easily explained through the fight or flight reaction and panic about a harmless bodily sensation.

You probably felt like you were going to pass out as you started to hyperventilate (might not have noticed you were doing it, but its part and parcel of the fight/flight response to prepare the body for action) and just felt odd in general because you thought something was wrong with you. And throwing up may have been a mix of drinking too quickly and the fight/flight reaction again - the body can sometimes get rid of stomach contents to 'lighten the load' in preparation - i have felt very sick sometimes when panicking.

Afterwards, you were most likely experiencing 'anticipatory anxiety' - constantly scanning your body for any symptoms, or simply expecting to feel 'strange' - so you did. I know you really might feel that you weren't doing the above, but its surprising how much you probably were without noticing. Anyway, this feeds the adrenaline of fight/flight which can lead to more symptoms that you zoom in on, panic about, which cause more symptoms, make you feel terrible..etc!

Being borderline anaemic may contribute to some of your symptoms, however it won't stop you leading a normal life - anaemia is fairly common. It will be the panic and anxiety that is causing you to feel so bad. I'm a student midwife and I've seen women walk around with extreme anaemia after losing a lot of blood after birth - they don't feel their best obviously but they are able to live normally, so in comparison to them you're full of beans! tip - how is your diet? plenty of fruit and veg? do you drink a lot of tea? if you do, make sure you drink tea 2 hours away from meals, as the tannin affects the absorption of iron from food.

I'm panic attack free now - CBT worked really well for me. I'm still anxious at times, but it doesn't prevent me living daily life and I'm improving all the time. I had panic attacks for a year, then I found an online CBT programme through this site last month - and now here I am :)

Here is the link if you want to check it out - I can't recommend it enough, cause I know exactly how you feel, and I also know the way out to recovery

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=91696

All the best and let us know how you get on!!

[Johncheese]

It sounds like health anxiety.