End of my tether with HA

[Mrs Anxious]

Hi all I have posted in general anxiety thread as I have been getting suicidal thoughts and thinking I am going to die any minute I know I shouldn't of there I should of posted here I have been diagnosed with health anxiety.

Does anyone find life absolutely draining with worrying all the time? At present I I have low iron, low blood pressure, under active thyroid and fibromyalgia... Every ache pain twitch palpitation or other symptom in My mind is something serious wrong with me... I cannot enjoy life my mind just works overtime ALL the time... I can be talking with someone but not really listening because. Am thinking about my symptoms... Since having the horrible intrusive thoughts it has bought on panic attacks again which as lots of u will know being a health anxiety sufferer and having a full blown panic attack is not the best combination :(

Also does anyone know what causes low bp and iron? I am really worrying like mad right now to the point my hair has starts falling out :'(

Are there any ex sufferers out here or people who are managing it easily and if so what treatment do you have? I know there is CBT etc out there but I am talking specifically about treatment to help HA, big hugs to all fellow sufferers xx

[saab]

Sorry to hear you are having such a bad time. There is a great book by Dr Claire Weekes called Self Help for Your Nerves which helped me a lot when I was at my worst with HA. She teaches a method of accepting your physical symptoms and 'floating' through the anxiety. Don't fight the anxiety, instead let it wash over you.... float through it.

I have also found meditation helpful. There is great free app called the Insight timer which has lots of free guided meditations to listen to. The Tara Brach website has lots of free meditations too - her voice is very calming and soothing.

Other good cbt books are:

Stop Thinking Start Living, Richard Carlson

The Worry Cure, Robert Leahy

Feeling Good New Mood Therapy, David Burns

I have had spells where I was so paralysed by anxiety I could barely move, didn't leave the house unless I had to, and fully expected to die in the night because my palpitations were so bad. I understand how you feel.

All your illnesses are treatable and managable. You should let your doctors deal with the physical illnesses and put your own efforts into dealing with the anxiety. The Anxiety Network site has useful advice about coping with anxiety and panic.

There are lots of cognitive therapy exercises you can do, like writing down how you feel in one column, then writing a rational response alongside. It helps you see that usually ha comes because you don't see things as they really are.

Hope this helps. Def try the Claire Weekes book and Tara Brachs site, both godsends for me,

[iainm]

I can totally relate to this I keep getting bad chest pain , constant wind like im full even without eating I keep getting weird jaw and teeth sensations and having ha every day I get these symptoms I think im dying I feel so tired and sick of feeling scared I want to enjoy life but instead im scared of it which makes no sense cos I don't want to die just yet , I seen an interesting sticker along the the side of a landrover it said ONE LIFE LIVE IT! I thought I would have the sticker one life scared of it lol our minds are playing tricks I know we have to remember that

[Althea]

Also does anyone know what causes low bp and iron? I am really worrying like mad right now to the point my hair has starts falling out :'(


Women often get low iron occasionally, especially pre-menopause. I always used to have a big old burger the day before I gave blood to make sure my iron levels were high enough. What has your doctor said about your low iron, and what are you supposed to be doing about it? And has the doctor said your low blood pressure is a problem or is this Dr. Google weighing in? Generally there is no problematically low blood pressure as long as you're able to be up and doing--I had a friend who ran extremely low, and it was perfectly healthy for her.

In general, it's helpful to drink plenty of liquid, eat good fresh leafy greens, and eat a little more meat and eggs.

[Mrs Anxious]

Sorry to hear you are having such a bad time. There is a great book by Dr Claire Weekes called Self Help for Your Nerves which helped me a lot when I was at my worst with HA. She teaches a method of accepting your physical symptoms and 'floating' through the anxiety. Don't fight the anxiety, instead let it wash over you.... float through it.

I have also found meditation helpful. There is great free app called the Insight timer which has lots of free guided meditations to listen to. The Tara Brach website has lots of free meditations too - her voice is very calming and soothing.

Other good cbt books are:

Stop Thinking Start Living, Richard Carlson

The Worry Cure, Robert Leahy

Feeling Good New Mood Therapy, David Burns

I have had spells where I was so paralysed by anxiety I could barely move, didn't leave the house unless I had to, and fully expected to die in the night because my palpitations were so bad. I understand how you feel.

All your illnesses are treatable and managable. You should let your doctors deal with the physical illnesses and put your own efforts into dealing with the anxiety. The Anxiety Network site has useful advice about coping with anxiety and panic.

There are lots of cognitive therapy exercises you can do, like writing down how you feel in one column, then writing a rational response alongside. It helps you see that usually ha comes because you don't see things as they really are.

Hope this helps. Def try the Claire Weekes book and Tara Brachs site, both godsends for me,

Thankyou so much for an extremely helpful post, I will look into the books and sites u have suggested, thanks again

---------- Post added at 08:11 ---------- Previous post was at 08:05 ----------


Women often get low iron occasionally, especially pre-menopause. I always used to have a big old burger the day before I gave blood to make sure my iron levels were high enough. What has your doctor said about your low iron, and what are you supposed to be doing about it? And has the doctor said your low blood pressure is a problem or is this Dr. Google weighing in? Generally there is no problematically low blood pressure as long as you're able to be up and doing--I had a friend who ran extremely low, and it was perfectly healthy for her.

In general, it's helpful to drink plenty of liquid, eat good fresh leafy greens, and eat a little more meat and eggs.

Hiya my ferritin is 17 and doctor said it should be 100 for my age (37) "normal" is between 16-120 my bo was 122/55 that's what's bothering me most... Not sure what average is for bp but doctor said was a bit low... I have no idea how to raise my blood pressure and worry my iron is low because of internal bleeding or something.... I am on prescribed iron tablets to try and raise it... You see! This is
What I'm like! It's 8:10 and my mind is racing already..... I have only been awake 20 mins and I have come straight on here :(

---------- Post added at 08:11 ---------- Previous post was at 08:11 ----------

Thankyou to everyone else that took the time to respond too x

[Althea]

Mrs. Anxious, if the doctor didn't tell you that you need to raise your blood pressure and how to do it, you don't need to try to raise it.