Dan1984
09-02-14, 19:55
I am new here, but have been a long time reader and have often visited to seek support.
I have been dealing with anxiety/health anxiety for around 12 years, when the death of one of my best friends from cancer affected me in a deeper way than I ever would have imagined. I was 18 at the time, and he sadly passed away at the age of 17.
Since this time, I have had many periods - ups and downs - of varying degrees. Symptoms have come and gone, then come back again. Symptoms have left me worried and stressed, and have led to several different tests over the years, all of which have come back negative, which is naturally good news at the time.
I have had 2 separate courses of treatment: one run in 2004 was a relaxation course which had some effect but didn't alter my mental attitude, and the other more recently through Autumn 2013, was a course of psychological therapy to get me to look at my thoughts in a different way. Again, it had some success - for example, I have really cut back on visits to the doctor and searching for symptoms online.
However, symptoms continue in a variety of ways. For example, I suffer the following at the moment:
- Frequent all over body spasms/twitches
- Headache/tension in head/face
- Nausea (in varying degrees, sometimes only very slight, other times actually feel I am moments from being sick)
- Palpitations
- General tense feeling
- Aches/pains in different places around the body
- Dry mouth, stinging eyes
- Mild IBS symptoms
I have made myself believe I have had about 8 different cancers and other serious medical conditions over the past year or two, of course I don't have these - but I often make myself feel like I do.
Medical tests I have had over the years have involved:
- 3 ECG's (most recently 2013)
- 4 or 5 different rounds of blood tests (different years)
- Chest X Ray (2013)
- Ultrasound on heart/chest (2006)
- Dozens of visits to the doctor
I do suffer from mild asthma, allergies and nasal problems which exacerbate my problems.
Has anybody else suffered in this way for many, many years?
Do people have any other good coping strategies that they can share?
How do people rationalise when the mind continues to play games?
:)
I have been dealing with anxiety/health anxiety for around 12 years, when the death of one of my best friends from cancer affected me in a deeper way than I ever would have imagined. I was 18 at the time, and he sadly passed away at the age of 17.
Since this time, I have had many periods - ups and downs - of varying degrees. Symptoms have come and gone, then come back again. Symptoms have left me worried and stressed, and have led to several different tests over the years, all of which have come back negative, which is naturally good news at the time.
I have had 2 separate courses of treatment: one run in 2004 was a relaxation course which had some effect but didn't alter my mental attitude, and the other more recently through Autumn 2013, was a course of psychological therapy to get me to look at my thoughts in a different way. Again, it had some success - for example, I have really cut back on visits to the doctor and searching for symptoms online.
However, symptoms continue in a variety of ways. For example, I suffer the following at the moment:
- Frequent all over body spasms/twitches
- Headache/tension in head/face
- Nausea (in varying degrees, sometimes only very slight, other times actually feel I am moments from being sick)
- Palpitations
- General tense feeling
- Aches/pains in different places around the body
- Dry mouth, stinging eyes
- Mild IBS symptoms
I have made myself believe I have had about 8 different cancers and other serious medical conditions over the past year or two, of course I don't have these - but I often make myself feel like I do.
Medical tests I have had over the years have involved:
- 3 ECG's (most recently 2013)
- 4 or 5 different rounds of blood tests (different years)
- Chest X Ray (2013)
- Ultrasound on heart/chest (2006)
- Dozens of visits to the doctor
I do suffer from mild asthma, allergies and nasal problems which exacerbate my problems.
Has anybody else suffered in this way for many, many years?
Do people have any other good coping strategies that they can share?
How do people rationalise when the mind continues to play games?
:)