Can someone please she's some light on this whole thing?

[Alex9797]

Ok so where to start, firstly I am new to this forum so please excuse me as I don't really know what I am doing haha. Ever since I was relatively young I have always worried to some extent about my personal health (I'm 16 now and the whole thing started probably when I was around 5 or 6) bizzare as that may sound but it's true. When I was around this age I would worry about my health but not obsessively and I could usually get on with it most of the time. However this has changed massively over the last six months to the point where I can not live a single day of my life without worrying about one thing or another. What I mean by this is that I am always worrying obsessively about one health problem or another. Most recently I have been absolutely terrified by the thought that I may have some form if cancer (particularly lung cancer but I do experience worry about other types as well). The problem that I have is that every single tiny symptom that I have I feel the need to google sometimes for hours on end until I find an answer which most often turns out to be the actual illness that I was concerned about in the first place. In this instance I may get some pain in my shoulder for a few minutes or have a bit of a cough for a couple of days. Deep down I know there is likely nothing seriously wrong but I cannot stop myself from using google and other search engines to look these things up which in my case seem to make the actual symptom worse. I may find out about a new symptom which I will dwell on for a whole and then, for some bizzare reason I may start suddenly experiencing that symptom. Not only have I had this fear of cancer like I stated, there has recently been another fear this time of a brain tumour. Again it has gone the same way as before like I said such as googling symptoms etc.

It scares me to death when I find these symptoms as I actually manage to convince myself that I have actually been experiencing them. For example I found that smelling smoke signals a brain tumour. In reality I have actually had this symptom a few times before over the past few years but it hasn't been Constant just every once in a while. I don't have any other brain tumour symptoms such as headaches and I have never had a seizure to my knowledge unless I haven't known about it. I have had some memory loss while I have been suffering from this but I have put it down to the way I have been.

I am sorry about wittering on like this but I am at the point where I just can't continue as I feel like I am being constantly being held back by this feeling in my mind all of the time. It's getting to the point where I just sit at home lazing around eating more and more unhealthily and checking myself over and over again for any unusual things, I sometimes just pace up and down the room aimlessly just to pass time. Although I try and do the things I enjoy as often as possible as they make the symptoms disappear for a short while and I can actually feel normal again.

Deep down I know I am probably too young for things like lung cancer but I just can stop obsessing and it's ruining my life as I don't feel normal anymore. I do think my past has a lot to do with it as I lost one close family member to lung cancer (coincidence heh?) before I started worrying about lung cancer myself. I also lost another family member who I was very close to quite recently. Both of these people I watched suffer through diseases including cancer and other things before death. Part of me thinks this is what has brought it on but who knows? I have wanted to go to the doctor for ages but I am scared as to what I may find, and I also find it difficult to open up to people face to face about this issue.

There have been one or two episodes recently where I will be thinking about something and I will get a sudden sense of extreme fear and helplessness that just won't go away. Some of these times I have also started sweating and trembling profusely and have had a rapid heart beat sometimes accompanied by palpitations. This has been by far the most scary part of it all.

I am just such a different person than I was 12 months ago. Before I would be strong minded and wouldn't get easily upset. But now I am the opposite and find myself shouting at people unnecessarily these days when they have done nothing wrong. I really want to stop doing this but I just can't. I am also going on holiday soon and would like to enjoy it without worrying like this and ruining it.

Again sorry for the stupidly long post but this is basically my whole problem that I have wanted to open up about for months/years, I just want someone to shed some light on it and help me out a bit.

Thanks

[MM]

Hi there and welcome to the forum! :)

You basically sound like me when I was 16 (I'm 21 now), when both my grandmas died. Lung cancer. I didn't think I had lung cancer though, but this is when my health anxiety began to hit hard. This is when a lot of my symptoms started, such as palpitations, headaches, etc, and the stress from school definitely made it worse. (I admittedly thought I had brain cancer before, but my health anxiety revolved around my heart).

I've come a long way since then, almost eliminating my palpitations and limiting my googling (which I also did for hours at a time). I went to doctors to rule out anything just to be sure, and I think you need to do that too. I don't think theres anything physically wrong, but for your ease of mind and for confirmation, it's good to do that. It won't be easy going to a doctor, it was really difficult for me. I was absolutely terrified my fears were going to come true. But I think going to a doctor is the second step to recovery (the first step being realizing you have anxiety over your health, which you've done! so you're already on your way).

After getting an all-clear from your doctor, you'll probably feel reassured but then after days or weeks or months it could come back. If it does, that's okay, and it is still something you can fix and manage, but this is why I suggest going to get help specifically for your health anxiety so you can avoid/manage that. You can start doing that before, during, or after your doctor's visit. But I highly recommend you do that. At that point you can decide, with someones help, if you want to do therapy, medication, both, etc. There's a lot of great options!

But like I said, welcome to the forum! There's a ton of great people on here who helped me a couple years ago and continue to help me now. Deep breaths, and take that next step! Feel free to pm me if you ever want.

-Melissa

[swanick15]

Ok so where to start, firstly I am new to this forum so please excuse me as I don't really know what I am doing haha. Ever since I was relatively young I have always worried to some extent about my personal health (I'm 16 now and the whole thing started probably when I was around 5 or 6) bizzare as that may sound but it's true. When I was around this age I would worry about my health but not obsessively and I could usually get on with it most of the time. However this has changed massively over the last six months to the point where I can not live a single day of my life without worrying about one thing or another. What I mean by this is that I am always worrying obsessively about one health problem or another. Most recently I have been absolutely terrified by the thought that I may have some form if cancer (particularly lung cancer but I do experience worry about other types as well). The problem that I have is that every single tiny symptom that I have I feel the need to google sometimes for hours on end until I find an answer which most often turns out to be the actual illness that I was concerned about in the first place. In this instance I may get some pain in my shoulder for a few minutes or have a bit of a cough for a couple of days. Deep down I know there is likely nothing seriously wrong but I cannot stop myself from using google and other search engines to look these things up which in my case seem to make the actual symptom worse. I may find out about a new symptom which I will dwell on for a whole and then, for some bizzare reason I may start suddenly experiencing that symptom. Not only have I had this fear of cancer like I stated, there has recently been another fear this time of a brain tumour. Again it has gone the same way as before like I said such as googling symptoms etc.

It scares me to death when I find these symptoms as I actually manage to convince myself that I have actually been experiencing them. For example I found that smelling smoke signals a brain tumour. In reality I have actually had this symptom a few times before over the past few years but it hasn't been Constant just every once in a while. I don't have any other brain tumour symptoms such as headaches and I have never had a seizure to my knowledge unless I haven't known about it. I have had some memory loss while I have been suffering from this but I have put it down to the way I have been.

I am sorry about wittering on like this but I am at the point where I just can't continue as I feel like I am being constantly being held back by this feeling in my mind all of the time. It's getting to the point where I just sit at home lazing around eating more and more unhealthily and checking myself over and over again for any unusual things, I sometimes just pace up and down the room aimlessly just to pass time. Although I try and do the things I enjoy as often as possible as they make the symptoms disappear for a short while and I can actually feel normal again.

Deep down I know I am probably too young for things like lung cancer but I just can stop obsessing and it's ruining my life as I don't feel normal anymore. I do think my past has a lot to do with it as I lost one close family member to lung cancer (coincidence heh?) before I started worrying about lung cancer myself. I also lost another family member who I was very close to quite recently. Both of these people I watched suffer through diseases including cancer and other things before death. Part of me thinks this is what has brought it on but who knows? I have wanted to go to the doctor for ages but I am scared as to what I may find, and I also find it difficult to open up to people face to face about this issue.

There have been one or two episodes recently where I will be thinking about something and I will get a sudden sense of extreme fear and helplessness that just won't go away. Some of these times I have also started sweating and trembling profusely and have had a rapid heart beat sometimes accompanied by palpitations. This has been by far the most scary part of it all.

I am just such a different person than I was 12 months ago. Before I would be strong minded and wouldn't get easily upset. But now I am the opposite and find myself shouting at people unnecessarily these days when they have done nothing wrong. I really want to stop doing this but I just can't. I am also going on holiday soon and would like to enjoy it without worrying like this and ruining it.

Again sorry for the stupidly long post but this is basically my whole problem that I have wanted to open up about for months/years, I just want someone to shed some light on it and help me out a bit.

Thanks
I'm 17 and almost everything you have said rings true when my HA every little pain or sensation was cancer. Nowadays i question how a pain that last seconds can be tumour!