headinthecloud
06-09-12, 16:22
I was diagnosed with Health Anxiety Disorder back in April this year, triggered by a very bad bacterial infection.
Now the initial trigger is gone (I'm cured of the infection) but I have a whole new set of health related issue to deal with: medication, side effects, sleep disturbances. Was also diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea recently so there's a bit of a lifestyle change.
On some days, even five months after my initial diagnosis, I get that 'butterflies in the stomach' fear-gone-rampant feeling all day long. I can be at work, producing work, AND having this feeling running concurrently.
It's my subconscious gone into panic mode because of all the uncertainties in my life: will the sleep disturbances go? Will I be able to come off sleeping tablets? I know all this questioning feeds back into the anxiety. But I just can't help it. It's like the mind is constantly trying to find new things to worry (the medication is not working then).
Does anyone find that they're stuck in this same vicious cycle? How do you gain control and deal with things? Will this fear-gone-haywire sensation be my new reality? How do you direct your attention to the outside world again?
Now the initial trigger is gone (I'm cured of the infection) but I have a whole new set of health related issue to deal with: medication, side effects, sleep disturbances. Was also diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea recently so there's a bit of a lifestyle change.
On some days, even five months after my initial diagnosis, I get that 'butterflies in the stomach' fear-gone-rampant feeling all day long. I can be at work, producing work, AND having this feeling running concurrently.
It's my subconscious gone into panic mode because of all the uncertainties in my life: will the sleep disturbances go? Will I be able to come off sleeping tablets? I know all this questioning feeds back into the anxiety. But I just can't help it. It's like the mind is constantly trying to find new things to worry (the medication is not working then).
Does anyone find that they're stuck in this same vicious cycle? How do you gain control and deal with things? Will this fear-gone-haywire sensation be my new reality? How do you direct your attention to the outside world again?