New and need some help and advice

[somabelael]

Hi i'm new to this site, But i'm hoping someone might be able to help me..I've been suffering with HA since august this year, It's slowly taking over my life, i do have good and bad days..but lately they have been bad days.
I saw my doctor and he put me on fluxoxatine. They do kind of help! In a fashion.
I've always been a bit of a worrier about things, but i had a abnormal smear in august and had to have lttez treatment, well that started it off.I was obessed i had cancer.And it took over my life.
I check my whole body daily, and when i mean whole body..I mean from my toes to the back of my ears! :( Bath time is a nightmare! Then all day im worrying about what is wrong with me.I have a few lump bits in my tummy, I've spoke to the doctor he said there were normal and just glands and things!and caused my loose skin as i've had 3 kids.. This still doesn't put my mind at rest, I check my throat 3-4 times an hour by checking for lumps..Then i use a torch to look down it, and i'm sure it doesn't look right
I worry about my next smear, I worry about Bowel cancer if my stools are any different,
Why has this happen to me, If i get stressed by anything my HA gets worse, I just want be normal!
If anyone has any sugguestions on how i can deal with this better i would love to hear from you :)
thank you :)

[PokerFace]

You made the right choice by going to see your GP! :) Don't be afraid to go back and ask for more help regarding your anxiety problem as it's really affecting your quality of life, ask what options are available to you such as CBT. (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)

Health Anxiety is a never ending loop of despair, panic and worry unless you break your behaviour patterns and learn to deal with your thoughts and feelings. You can buy self help books for anxiety, some even purely on the subject of Health Anxiety if you would feel it would suit you more to read one like that, I have one and it did me good!

It turns your world upside down when you get anxiety on such an extreme level, it's not a straight or short road to recovery but I can assure you, with the right help and attitude, there's hope. I got anxiety in March 2010 and now, nearly 2 years later, I can say my quality of life and the anxious thoughts, obsessive checking and Googling are NOTHING compared to the first year I got it. I was obsessed with my own heart, fingers constantly pushed against my neck checking my heart beat, counting every beat, if I got a chest pain I'd go into a massive panic attack... slowly but surely I got over it and came to terms with my problems.

You're not alone out there, this site is AMAZING for support. I learnt a lot about anxiety via this forum, how many people it actually affects, how it was a mental condition, NOT a physical one (although the physical symptoms would sure have you believe otherwise) and made some very close friends I'll hopefully have for the rest of my life.

Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it, be it your GP or on here. Good luck on your journey and I hope you feel better real soon x

[somabelael]

Thank you so much for replying :) I back off to the doctors tomorrow, but it's not my normal one i see, so I don't no quite what she will be like.
I'm feeling a bit better today, Haven't been quite so anxious, But then two minutes ago i lent over the sofa to grab something and it felt like some really sharp had dug into my ribs but there wasn't anything there, so now im like omg what the hell was that :(
I've been reading through some of the threads and it's amazing to see how many people do suffer from it.
Take care xxx