Please read this if you are struggling with your health anxiety...

[snowflake293]

Hi everyone

I just wanted to give some hope to everyone who uses this forum who is suffering with health anxiety...

I think I am finally coming out of a really awful 'flare up' of my health anxiety. It was triggered at the start of December by my boyfriend having a skin infection and it got so bad I was having panic attacks in the drs surgery and ended up needing diazepam to calm me down.

The last couple of weeks have been strange, very up and down... however - the last few days have been great! I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch but I really do feel a lot more like 'my old self' if that makes any sense? I feel the obsession I have is sort of smaller!

Don't get me wrong, I still have my 'old faithful' worries in the back of my head... mainly over a rough, bumpy patch of skin/mole thing on my scalp. It's under my hair and crusts over sometimes but only bleeds if I pick it. The hair grows out of funny too! Darker than my normal hair and wiry with a few odd white hairs too that stick up lol. I have had it for about 10 years and I last had a Dr look at it about 3 years ago and she said its fine so whenever I worry about it I just think of that.

Apart from that thing on my head though there is very little concerning me! Even though I am waiting to see a rheumatologist at the moment and I know the chances are I might need more scans and blood tests, I am just gonna be calm about it.

A friend of mine who recovered from health anxiety once told me that she came to the realisation one day that she just felt NOTHING could be as bad as living in fear, even suffering with the c word itself! and when she came to that realisation her anxiety started to get better. It is not the same for everyone and certainly I don't feel exactly this way, but it kind of makes sense.

I just wanted to say that it is possible to get over this. My top tips are:

* Persist with your dr about getting help for your health anxiety. Explain how you feel and be honest. Ask for help, counselling or even better CBT if your dr feels that is right for you.

* Don't be afraid of taking medication if your dr recommends you too. Yes there is stigma attached to it and yes there can be some side effects, but often the good effects of it outweigh all this.

* Look after your body. Drink less booze, eat well, try and get enough sleep if you can and try some light exercise to even if its only a walk to the shops and back. Moving if you can really does help.

* Write down your feelings - keep a diary!

* Relaxation videos on YouTube are fantastic.

Hope this helps people and I hope others can contribute to this thread with tips and some positive encouragement for those who are suffering.

Sometimes it feels like it is never ending, but there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel now. You can and will get over this, all of you.

xxx

[Craze200]

Thankyou for this post. Very inspiring.

[snowflake293]

You are welcome. I just want to help people see there is a way through. Seriously, a few weeks ago I was not functioning at all. Constantly Googling symptoms, bursting into tears thinking I was dying, asking my boyfriend to check me, checking my body all the time (and his poor sod!) the tiniest thing would set me off.

Definitely not out the woods yet but I feel so much better.

Would be really interested to hear of any others who have either recovered or are recovering and what tips they have. Think it would be really useful for a lot of people who are struggling at the mo.

[popejoan]

Hi Snowflake, I'm sooo glad that you're feeling better. It gave me hope as I always think you and I are very similar. Even if you feel you're starting to feel anxious about it, don't punish yourself. I think you've entered the path of recovery now and don't let few relapses to make you feel bad.

I'm having a horrible fear at the moment. Things I've done / decided to do so far are;

-Phoned nhs talking change and booked a telephone interview.
-Finally decided to take some anti-anxiety meds, natural pills/teas are not working anymore.
-About to sign up a gym and will go at least once a week.

I do have some tips for others;

-First of all as I wrote above, don't let relapses ruin your recovery.
-Accept the idea that you might have control issues. Not knowing what's going on in your body can make you feel not fully in control and lead to panic. YOU CAN NOT CONTROL EVERYTHING.
-Related to control issues and 'must know everything' behaviour: I know googling and knowing about illnesses might make you feel in control but googling never ever works. It always makes you feel worse, lead to panic. If you're too worried, see a real doctor not dr. google.
-Eating good will make you feel good. Avoid red meat, processed food, too much salt and sugar. Try to poach, grill, steam your food. Avoid deep fry food and use only olive oil.
-Drink herbal teas and you can take some vitamins/supplements. Lemon balm, magnesium, vitamin b will help you to overcome anxiety.
-Turmeric (curcumin) supplements are anti-inflammatory, they do wonders on your body, better than antibiotics.
-Taking antioxidants will make you feel better as they can help preventing cancer.
-Let the sunshine in. Sunshine will make you feel better, don't shut your curtains.

Hope these help for those who want to recover so badly x

[snowflake293]

Thanks for the tips Popejoan :)

You are right we are quite similar with our fears. If it helps, I am sort of learning how to 'switch off now' and it helps me to try and remember how I used to feel before my health anxiety was bad... the only way I can really describe it is to try and visualise what life was like before I was worrying all the time. It works for me.

Those are all great tips, healthy eating is a big one and very important to me recovering from my eating disorder (bulimia) I eat lots of vegetables and fish but probably not enough fruit.

I am drinking less now although having a vodka lime and soda tonight as its Saturday :)

I am worried about this scab thing on my head, I am scared it is skin cancer but I keep thinking to myself even if it is - I have had it over 10 years and I am still here! I know that sounds a bit weird, but it is how I am rationalising things and I hope someone else reading this is comforted knowing that it IS possible to get over HA.

Taking good care of myself today, ate well and got lots of chores done round the home. Had a lovely warm bath and cooking some nice salmon for my dinner.

Learning how to take good care of yourself can be tough when you have anxiety. When mine was at its worse I couldn't eat or sleep and I just felt terrible.

xx

---------- Post added at 18:08 ---------- Previous post was at 18:06 ----------




I'm having a horrible fear at the moment. Things I've done / decided to do so far are;

-Phoned nhs talking change and booked a telephone interview.
-Finally decided to take some anti-anxiety meds, natural pills/teas are not working anymore.
-About to sign up a gym and will go at least once a week.



This is fantastic news that you are taking positive steps hun, well done :bighug1: I am sorry you are having horrible fear though :weep: you know I understand and I am here if you need someone to talk to xx

[popejoan]

I will definitely try it because I was fine before last September. I always had GAD and OCD but I never had HA before. I can try to remember how I felt, how I reacted before my HA started.
Healthy eating helped me recover as well, I had bulimia too and had it for 14 years. Now I'm eating healthy and thinking that all these will help me to prevent illnesses. Don't even think about going back to bulimia anymore.
I used to drink a lot, used to drink lots of cider, now I don't even wanna drink and when I do I try to stick with wine or rose.
It's definitely difficult but doable. I have sleeping problems too but trying not to focus on them now, when I find a job my sleep patterns will be better.

Thank you, after my last fear I thought I have to do something because although I convinced myself I have that nasty disease, I decided not to hide in the corner and do something about this. Don't want to live like this anymore.

Thank you, I know you're there, you're very nice and helpful. I'm here for you whenever you need someone to talk to too xx