You have to stop looking for reassurance

[skippy66]

Believe me, if you want to cure your health anxiety you must stop looking for reassurance all the time. I used to do this all the time. The problem is that it helps in the short term, and this is addictive. Eg you've got shooting pains in the left side of your head fearing a brain tumour, and someone says 'oh I had that too, and it was just a migraine'. You feel better in the short term because you get the temporary reassurance that someone else has had what you have, and it turned out to be harmless. However, in the long term it doesn't really help you - you get another twinge of pain and think 'this is a brain tumour' again.

When I had health anxiety my biggest fear was my heart palpitations - that they signalled a serious heart problem and that I would drop dead from them any minute. I looked for reassurance on the internet (extensively) and from 3 different cardiologists. While the reassurance was good at first I forgot it in time, new symptoms would appear and the reassurance then seemed meaningless/wrong. I didn't believe my cardiologists - always believed they had missed something.

The path to curing your health anxiety is to get away from this reassurance-seeking behaviour as all it does in the long term is lock you in to obsessing about your symptoms. You're always thinking about them, they consume you. This is not how people without health anxiety operate. Dr Google will never provide you with any long lasting reassurance, so stop looking for it.

I have been health anxiety and panic attack free for nearly 3 years now so I feel I am in a good position to help people beat this. I was at a seriously low point in life back then. I cured myself without SSRIs or CBT, and if I can do it then you definitely can.

[Wolfie]

Good advice here, thumbs up! :)

[andrea15]

Great advice. Thanks. I have seen and rung my GPs about 8-9 times over my current bout, been to A and E for chest xray and bloods ( all fine), spoken to cancer research nurses about 8 times and NHS direct 3 times, all seeking reassurance for lower rib pain which I was sure is lung cancer (Im 42 and a smoker). I have examined my sons and partners hands and nails to check they are like mine and mine are not clubbing. Last night I spat up pink and scared myself it was blood then realised I had just taken a pinky' brown tablet. I took another one and spat to check that it came out pink. The lengths I will go to for reassurance are laughable really. Everyone says the xray and bloods were fine so I shouldn't worry but I still panic when the pains there ( about a dozen times a day only for a few seconds). If drs aren't worried, should I be?

Andrea

[Baggs]

Well said and well done xxxxxxxx

[Elen]

Great post and well done you.

[Worried_Male]

When you go online looking for reassurances, you seldom get it. If anything, it will probably make you worse.

Good post.

[spacebunnyx]

so true... when I google i panic afterwards because I never read what I want to read!! its always the worst case scenario which feeds my HA. Reassurance seeking from people, internet and and my own prodding poking makes me feel much worse in the long run - don't do it!!! :-)

[TheGroundhog]

Totally agree, it' the first thing we were taught in CBT.

The first rule of Health Anxiety
You do not talk about Health Anxiety
The second rule of Health Anxiety
YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT HEALTH ANXIETY

:D

That said, it can be fecking hard to do.....

[JaneS]

What a brilliant post. I just logged on to try and get some reassurance about the way I am feeling and up popped this post. My problem is, and I am sure I am not alone in this, that I am driving myself mad about a situation that never even actually happened, I am creating a scenario out of nothing!!!

Let me explain - started a new job in a pharmacy two weeks ago and a customer came in with some medication to return. I don't quite remember whether I took it off him or my colleague who was training me, I am almost certain I didn't do anything at all and that she dealt with it but I don't know. My memory cannot recall the situation at all, probably because I was stressed learning a new role and am very menopausal!! After this I had to watch a video on needlestick injuries (as part of my induction) and as a result am now convincing myself that there were sharps in the returned medication and that I may have caught a blood borne virus. To put this into perspective, the pharmacy doesn't accept sharps (but that doesn't mean they don't get brought them), I have not suffered a needle prick anyway and I am sure it was just tablets that were returned but my mind will not let it drop. It's constantly at the back of my mind and hits me like an adrenalin rush every now and again.

My husband has promised to send me to a psychiatrist if I carry on like this. He keeps telling me that if I had been stabbed with a needle, I would know about it.

Does anyone else ever feel like this. Its like a "what if" scenario and the video really freaked me out, I kind of wish I had watched it earlier and would have been in a position of knowledge rather than ignorance.

Why I am beating myself up over something that didn't happen (although at the back of my mind, I think it did!!). The worse thing is I can't remember the scenario and it didn't seem important at the time, only after watching the video has it become so.

[shellyruby40]

Believe me, if you want to cure your health anxiety you must stop looking for reassurance all the time. I used to do this all the time. The problem is that it helps in the short term, and this is addictive. Eg you've got shooting pains in the left side of your head fearing a brain tumour, and someone says 'oh I had that too, and it was just a migraine'. You feel better in the short term because you get the temporary reassurance that someone else has had what you have, and it turned out to be harmless. However, in the long term it doesn't really help you - you get another twinge of pain and think 'this is a brain tumour' again.

When I had health anxiety my biggest fear was my heart palpitations - that they signalled a serious heart problem and that I would drop dead from them any minute. I looked for reassurance on the internet (extensively) and from 3 different cardiologists. While the reassurance was good at first I forgot it in time, new symptoms would appear and the reassurance then seemed meaningless/wrong. I didn't believe my cardiologists - always believed they had missed something.

The path to curing your health anxiety is to get away from this reassurance-seeking behaviour as all it does in the long term is lock you in to obsessing about your symptoms. You're always thinking about them, they consume you. This is not how people without health anxiety operate. Dr Google will never provide you with any long lasting reassurance, so stop looking for it.

I have been health anxiety and panic attack free for nearly 3 years now so I feel I am in a good position to help people beat this. I was at a seriously low point in life back then. I cured myself without SSRIs or CBT, and if I can do it then you definitely can.

Skippy,firstly well done,that is wonderful..how did you do it..ive given up thinking i an beat this and that its here for good..i had hypnotherapy but the therapist talked more about anxiety than the health anxiety,he said anxiety is where health anxiety manifests from.it seemed to help in the short term for maybe 6 months..i went the last time this time last year but its back in full force now..im able to control it for long periods until i get ill such as a sinus infection[which ive got now]even a simple sore throat will do it..this episode im having now has lasted for almost 5 weeks..worst one ever.. ive read books on it and just plain anxiety books but nothing seems to stick..pills and cbt is my last resort..i want to do the cbt but scared of taking pills..mainly because im frightened of sick effects..im intrigued on how you managed to beat it.has given me hope that it can be beaten.

---------- Post added at 21:16 ---------- Previous post was at 21:11 ----------


What a brilliant post. I just logged on to try and get some reassurance about the way I am feeling and up popped this post. My problem is, and I am sure I am not alone in this, that I am driving myself mad about a situation that never even actually happened, I am creating a scenario out of nothing!!!

Let me explain - started a new job in a pharmacy two weeks ago and a customer came in with some medication to return. I don't quite remember whether I took it off him or my colleague who was training me, I am almost certain I didn't do anything at all and that she dealt with it but I don't know. My memory cannot recall the situation at all, probably because I was stressed learning a new role and am very menopausal!! After this I had to watch a video on needlestick injuries (as part of my induction) and as a result am now convincing myself that there were sharps in the returned medication and that I may have caught a blood borne virus. To put this into perspective, the pharmacy doesn't accept sharps (but that doesn't mean they don't get brought them), I have not suffered a needle prick anyway and I am sure it was just tablets that were returned but my mind will not let it drop. It's constantly at the back of my mind and hits me like an adrenalin rush every now and again.

My husband has promised to send me to a psychiatrist if I carry on like this. He keeps telling me that if I had been stabbed with a needle, I would know about it.

Does anyone else ever feel like this. Its like a "what if" scenario and the video really freaked me out, I kind of wish I had watched it earlier and would have been in a position of knowledge rather than ignorance.

Why I am beating myself up over something that didn't happen (although at the back of my mind, I think it did!!). The worse thing is I can't remember the scenario and it didn't seem important at the time, only after watching the video has it become so.

im such a what if person..the mind seems to trick us to believing things..when i had hypnotherapy the therapist told me that the subconsious [cant spell it]is like a small child or just like a blank piece of paper that he could retrain to think a different way..

[june]

I AM TERRIFIED OF MEDS!!!
I seek reasurance all the time I am sure my Doctor is fed up listening to me.
This makes me feel guilty for calling her - which then adds to my panic.
I have a couple of friends I talk to on the phone - and they are soooo good at giving advice; like take the meds - you must go out in the fresh air - you will never get better sitting in the house.
I had bad effects (maybe imagined ) from meds.
Had panic for many years always told to "pull myself together - You have nothing to worry about - you are just being stupid" etc etc the more they critisise tthe more stressed I become - the more inward i become.
So I cannot talk to anyone about how terrified i am when panic strikes.

[Kells81]

Hi skippy-I just want to say I love your posts and totally agree with what you say. I think reassuring anyone with health anxiety that their symptoms are harmless etc just enforces the anxiety and it is best to just remind them that contstant reassurance is not the answer.
It is a total breath of fresh air to read some of your replies to people.

[skippy66]

Hi skippy-I just want to say I love your posts and totally agree with what you say. I think reassuring anyone with health anxiety that their symptoms are harmless etc just enforces the anxiety and it is best to just remind them that contstant reassurance is not the answer.
It is a total breath of fresh air to read some of your replies to people.

thanks

[ItWillPass]

Just reading this now... I just posted about my heart palpitations. Logically, I KNOW you are so right. But, I just cannot accept that how I am feeling is normal. I have been dealing with health anxiety for a few years now, so I am convinced doctors just do not take me seriously. Like the old joke... What is written on the hypochondriac's grave stone?...... "I TOLD YOU SO!!!"