Obsessing with Various Symptoms

[fduop]

I've suffered with Panic/Anxiety/Health Anxiety for years and I have a comment and question. Over the years I would obsess with one health issue or another. For a while I would worry about my heart, the slightest thought would send my heart aching or racing. After having a number of dr's tell me my heart was okay, then something new would worry me. This week it's been my stomach and digestive system.

It seems that every time I overcoming an obsession, at some point a new one takes over. Like when I worked through full-blown panic attacks. The anxiety looks around for some new way to disrupt my life. So my question is, does anyone here have this problem and what are you doing about it?

[UKmamainUS]

I have that exact problem - I went from brain tumor, to heart problems, to pancreatic cancer, to ovarian cancer, and am currently convinced I have cancer in my neck, probably as a result of my biggest, most continual fear - metasized melanoma. In my defense, the latter was bought on by a trip to a surgeon about a swollen lymph node but my family doctor told me that it was clearly a reactive node and the surgeon must have been going crazy that day. However, when someone lists your biggest fear s a possible cause of a symptom, and you have HA, it's not so easy to just out it out of your mind.

[HoneyLove]

This happens because you get reassurance about your symptoms, but you haven't deal with the root cause of your problem: the anxiety itself. Until you deal with it you'll just continue to jump from one worry to the next, it's a pattern that's very common with anxiety and with HA we tend to jump from one illness to the next.

You need to stop thinking of the anxiety as outside of yourself, and learn that it's something you're creating within yourself with unhealthy thought patterns and cycles of fear. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy would be a good place to start to learn about the way you think and how you can learn to observe and control your thoughts.

I'd also suggest reading up about anxiety and how it works, how exactly those cycles of fear are created by our thoughts and the release of stress hormones in our bodies. Flagging Stress by Dr Harry Barry is a good book to start with, I found it really opened my eyes to my own stress problems.

[fduop]

Thank-you HoneyL, for we minding me of that. You would think after all the years I've dealt with this I would remember my therapy. But as with many things, once you practice mindfulness and get a grip on your thoughts. I slick up and anxiety comes crawling back through another door.

---------- Post added at 16:57 ---------- Previous post was at 16:55 ----------

Thanks, glad to see I'm not alone.

[darren1441]

I think we all manage with health anxiety differently for me I always want to ring the ambulance but when I here an ambulance it sends me West best thing to do in my case is try put everything to the back of your mind and not think about it try and distract your self if anyone wants to chat I'm here as we all need to talk
07580292825

[Carnation]

I Think HoneyLove has got it spot on.

Another Tip my Therapist told me was to do this.
Say you have chest pain. We think of the extreme and think heart attack. Now think about it logically. I eat my food too quickly? Its Indigestion. I eat or drank too much acid? Its Heartburn. I did not eat much today. I have created trapped wind. And so on. This theory puts the Mind at ease and in return helps the Body to relax more and not cause further symptoms of anxiety. Well, its worth a try?:yesyes: