Betsyboo9034
10-12-11, 22:35
Hi everyone,
I posted this in the 'introduce yourself' section, but I figure I might as well put it here too...considering I suffer from pretty bad Health Anxiety, and it has been really difficult coping the last few months.
I had a really long period of time when my anxiety was under control, but my mother was just diagnosed with dementia in the last year. She lived on her own so we had to put her into an assisted living facility. This seems to have made my anxiety 1000000 times worse.
First, at the beginning of the academic year I convinced myself that I had HIV, and of course the tests came back negative. Now I have convinced myself I have breast cancer, because I have a sore swollen lymph node underneath my arm, and I had a rash on my nipple. I even went to the doctor and she said that the lymph node was normal, and gave me some cream for the rash, but of course I still freak out about it. The rash has gone, but it still itches a bit, and the lymph node is still sore.
I just don't know where to go from here. I feel like I do everything I can, I go to counselling every week, and I take my meds everyday, but I feel so alone now. I don't even have a mom to talk to about my 'women's health scares'. I just feel like I am destined to be anxious forever. Why can't I just trust my doctor??? I feel crazy.
Thanks :)
Elizabeth
I posted this in the 'introduce yourself' section, but I figure I might as well put it here too...considering I suffer from pretty bad Health Anxiety, and it has been really difficult coping the last few months.
I had a really long period of time when my anxiety was under control, but my mother was just diagnosed with dementia in the last year. She lived on her own so we had to put her into an assisted living facility. This seems to have made my anxiety 1000000 times worse.
First, at the beginning of the academic year I convinced myself that I had HIV, and of course the tests came back negative. Now I have convinced myself I have breast cancer, because I have a sore swollen lymph node underneath my arm, and I had a rash on my nipple. I even went to the doctor and she said that the lymph node was normal, and gave me some cream for the rash, but of course I still freak out about it. The rash has gone, but it still itches a bit, and the lymph node is still sore.
I just don't know where to go from here. I feel like I do everything I can, I go to counselling every week, and I take my meds everyday, but I feel so alone now. I don't even have a mom to talk to about my 'women's health scares'. I just feel like I am destined to be anxious forever. Why can't I just trust my doctor??? I feel crazy.
Thanks :)
Elizabeth