Incessant fear of cancer

[ledzepp94]

Hi All,

hope everyone is in good spirits. I have health anxiety and when I get a flare up I GET A FLARE UP! I spent the last 7 hours researching lymphomas and leukemias online because for the past 3 years i've had a chronically slightly high white blood cell count (usually around 10-12 normal is 4-10). I also just had an event that threw me into a deep spiral of hypochondria. I noticed a quarter sized bald spot on the top of my head and it was a bit reddish. The dermatologist said it was alopecia areata and gave me a steroid shot but the next day I insisted she do a biopsy of it. I guess because I have hashimotos thyroiditis that it can go hand in hand but I still wanted to know because of my incessant fear of cancer. I don't get the results of that until monday or tuesday unfortunately :/. As soon as this event happened I immediately revisited my chronic slightly high WBC count and my tests and so forth. It immediately led me to Dr. Google and well the rest is history.

How do we overcome this? How do we calm down? I find myself constantly thinking about it I can't do anything else.

[googler192]

When my HA flares up I can never seem to calm myself down but what sometimes works for me is really focusing on my breathing. I sit quietly and think of nothing else but making sure I'm breathing nice and deeply and the feeling of anxiousness usually ease very slightly. Hope this helps. I'm sorry you're going through this. You're not alone though.

Best wishes!

[Serenity1990]

CBT and staying off google seems to be the best route to success. Don't worry you're not on the stairway to heaven! (Sorry couldn't resist given your username!)

[ledzepp94]

got the biopsy results back which showed it was alopecia areata, which is good. ugh I need a vacation from myself.