How to accept health anxiety?

[Ribbit]

Okay, so help me out people. How can I start to accept my health anxiety? How do we come to terms with it all?

Do we really, truly accept or just push it to one side under the pretence of accepting until it surfaces at a later time?

So fed up of this and I don't know what to do. I know my health troubles are caused by anxiety but how do I truly convince my mind of this?!?!

:(

[AceOfSpades]

I know my health troubles are caused by anxiety

Your nearly there mate once you realize that it is anxiety causing all the issues then you are well and truly on the way to accepting it.

I have over the years had so many life threatening illnesses that I have lost count of all the days/weeks/month and years I have lost from my life that I will never get back.

But now I have started to make a stand against HA and it is working you just need to have faith in what the doctors and also what you body is really telling you NOT what you want your body to tell you.

I think with HA we tend to transfix on an illness as it is something real and that can be explained and maybe treatable, But because we can't see HA we don't accept it for what it is.

[Ribbit]

Cheers lovely,

I am just so pissed off at the moment. Been taking steps to combat HA including seeing a psychotherapist but I've totally relapsed despite thinking I was making progress. I was sure I was on the mend but now I am more symptomatic than ever. Totally fatigued, feel awful, headaches, jaw aches and now pins and needles in hands and feet.

I've. Had. Enough.

I've been to the doctors and they're sending me for an mri on my neck as I have disc problems there but that wouldn't explain all my symptoms.

I just want to feel well again. Like you, I feel I am losing huge chunks of my life. God, this is so depressing.

[AceOfSpades]

Rabbit,

As anyone on here would say HA does take it toll on use and we can never get back what we have lost but we can look forward to the new dawn and it will come.

You sound a lot like me fatigued, headaches, Jaw aches (have been give meds for this) and yes pins and needles.

But I will say one thing that could cause most of the symptoms and that is my old enemy poor posture (not saying that you have poor posture) But I have found that if I seat in a certain way I can induce pins and needles and also arm and chest pain and then as if by magic if I adjust my posture they go.

When we sit down we don't know that our posture is poor as we don't know anything different, So what I suggest to some people is to film themselves sitting down (sounds strange but it can show you the bad habits that you have got into).

If you are anything like me you sit in your own spot on the sofa on just sink into it as for me it is my safety zone, but because I just curl up and relax it puts my posture out of sink and then it cause's aches and pains all over my body.

You will get over all this as my mentor says you are not ILL you just have to retrain your mind.

[Ribbit]

Ha! Well yes, my posture is pretty poor so you're spot on. I have a herniated disc in my lower neck which now means I hold myself badly in order to manage pain. I'm having physio at the moment in order to strengthen and correct. I do sink into my favourite spot on the sofa too ;)

Sorry to hear you suffer with the same as me as I know how shitty it is. I just hope our minds are open to being retrained sooner rather than later! Thanks Ace x

[Boxerharvey]

I keep asking myself the same question.
Ive suffered for about 7 years on and off with various symptoms mostly related to my head, I get bad headaches, pressure, tingling head, sharp pains and get bouts of feeling really spaced out and not with it.Ive been to the doctors so many times and they alway say it is stress and anxiety and I have been put on so many different anti depressants which do not help.
I have alway pushed through symptoms which seem to come and go but im going though a bad patch which has lasted for months and I am at the point where I am doubting that is anxiety again and has to be something worse because I feel so bad.

Its so hard to believe that anxiety can cause such physical symptoms, I do not feel stressed or panicky until the symptoms hit me.

[MangoMadness]

They keep saying that you should accept your own mortality, but in my head there's always a voice telling me if I do that, I will die for some reason. It is almost like a superstition! But I am trying, it's just hard when you have both HA towards your own body, but at the same towards people close to you too. That is at least my take on it, I do think that accepting your own mortality is the key, but I'm not sure how.

[Ribbit]

Boxer, I know what you mean - its easy to accept symptoms are anxiety related when they're not there, but as soon as they resurface then so do the doubts and dread! It sucks, it really does!

And Mango, I know what you mean about accepting our own mortality and its such a hard thing to do. We all know we will die but few grasp the reality of that.

Just wish we had a magic switch to flick whereby all the symptoms and worries would disappear. It's so hard to remain focused and logical when the symptoms hit.

[MangoMadness]

I wish we had that switch too! I am worrying about my own symptoms and my girlfriend's symptoms, and I am going bonkers here haha. Hopefully you're doing better Ribbit!

[missfishlash]

Those bloody pins and needles!!! Even tho Ive accepted its anxiety, they are still there bugging the crap out of me and saying stroke,cancer,ms.....arghhhhh!!!!! Ive had more joy with hypnotherapy than anything to be honest, better than when I was on medication and I dont have panic attacks now. I can laugh at myself and my HA (most of the time)