Ignoring real problems

[ryangreen]

I have all the sudden started worrying about ignoring real problems because I have health anxiety.

I don't know why this came on but all the sudden I started thinking if I might be or in the future could ignore real emergency type situations because in going to say "oh this is just anxiety" like I'm having breathing issues this morning how do I know it's just anxiety? What about chest pain how will I know it's not anxiety chest pain?

[Button1]

I asked my therapist the same question as because of my HA I feel the need to get checked immediately, everything seems like an emergency. She said that what I should do is make a plan of how long I will wait before calling the GP or hospital, so if I feel really bad and I am struggling, I'll focus on trying to stay calm, write my symptoms down and then check myself 15mins later to see if anything has progressed. If my symptoms are worse then maybe I make a call. If they're the same, I wait another 15mins. If they are better, I wait 30mins. The act of having a plan and goalposts can keep you quite focused and calm if it is anxiety as once you start down the spiral you can feel all at sea and out of control. You tend to come back from that a bit when you have something to aim for.

Obviously if you are feeling very unwell, it is better to be safe than sorry, every time. But maybe try the above as an experiment?

[anthrokid]

I think all anxiety sufferers experience this same worry at some point. Button1 has a good response. If you have a regular GP or therapist, it'd be great to make a plan with them. As an alternate answer, I'll tell you about one of my experiences. My panic attacks were based around something that was actually a very real possibility for me. I was informed that I would 'know' when it was something serious - I wouldn't even be questioning whether or not it was anxiety. Sure enough, when I actually did suffer from what I feared, it was completely different. There wasn't an overwhelming sense of doom, I didn't think I was dying, I didn't panic about whether it was anxiety or something serious. I just knew that it wasn't anxiety.

[Button1]

Anthrokid has a good response too. I think, no matter the severity of your anxiety, that you do just KNOW when something is a true emergency.

To back that up, I had a baby 18 months ago and in the first 5 days after his birth he lost ALOT of weight, more than expected. I was fobbed off by alot of the midwives and told to go away and keep breastfeeding, but I knew something was wrong. Sure enough, when he was 9 days old he started coughing up blood. I called the hospital and they said that this was normal for breastfed babies and they weren't concerned- stay at home was the message. Er NO was my reply! I went to the hospital anyway, the midwives told me I'd have to sit there for hours to wait for a doctor but a passing paediatrician saw me, took pity and looked at my son. She WAS concerned at the weightloss and eventually it was identified that I was producing no milk, my son was starving and that the blood was coming from me. He was essentially only getting blood when I fed him as he was sucking so hard trying to get anything. He was then placed on a very strict feeding regime which helped alot but I was told that he would have been very ill if he'd been left much longer and I did the right thing taking him in.

The same happened again when he was 9 weeks old. He had been diagnosed with reflux but again, it didn't feel right that he was vomiting in the way that he was and the volume that he was. I was told time and again by midwives and the GP that it was just reflux and to go away essentially but I took him to A&E and he was diagnosed with a stomach condition called pyloric stenosis which needed an immediate op at Great Ormond Street.

There have been so many times that I've been hysterical when he's had infections or colds or temperatures but I haven't taken him to hospital as deep down, I've just known that really, despite my fears, he's going to be OK. And believe me I have very severe HA and this does transfer to the way I feel about my son so I'm a good case study!

I hope this reassures somewhat.

[Havefaithx]

I've been there too, and i'm afraid i don't have the answer to ur question, i think the technique Button 1 gave is really good, but I also believe if something is truly wrong you will no, we tend to no deep down that it's anxiety when we have 'symptoms' as we will say i have chest pain but actually it could be muscle because i'm tense etc, we do try to reassure ourselves but just need someone to tell us too, so i do believe that we will x