Symptom/pain/sensation appearing, disappearing, shifting focus

[Ditapage]

This is driving me crazy.

I admit I focus on my symptoms. For 6 months I was distressed about a pressure in the temple that felt like something at that spot would blow. I couldn't leave the house because I would think about the pressure and it would get really strong and I felt faint everywhere I went. I only ever wanted to be in my "safe place"

That pressure doesn't exist once I obsess about something else. In other words I know it soon goes away and something else replaces it. It's either jaw pain, numbness in my face (that is not actually numb) tiredness, a tightness in my upper stomach that makes me want to burp, a dry cough, cheek pain, ear pressure or a tightness that moves all over one side of my head and rarely the other side.

None of these things occur together. It's either one or the other. Last night I had a temple headache then woke up panicking a few hours later with ear pressure and nausea relieved by eating something and the temple complaint was completely gone.

I feel this is a big indicator of my health anxiety/obsession/OCD/hypochondria. There is never a moment I am not anticipating one of these sensations to start and they all produce some degree of anxiety. It's like I am always checking what hurts, or feels numb or weird or whatever. Then I obsess about connecting them all together as one illness and I get even more anxious because I can't explain the feelings. They are all just weird sensations. I am so obsessed with "feeling better" and I cope with the anxious thoughts about the symptoms by googling - I can't read, watch TV, leave the house. My conversations with others involves me bringing up my sensations because I get really panicky-anxious if I don't. Does anyone have a similar experience with their symptoms - particularly how focusing on one pain/sensation takes away another pain/sensation?

[Davit]

Hypothalamus is very closely attached to semantic memory. (associated memory) When an answer it uses isn't the right one it finds another from memory and drops the one it was using, very seldom will it carry more than one. The interesting thing is you can add "there is nothing wrong with me" and with a positive key (thought) it will use that also.

[Ditapage]

I'm Good advice, but could you explain how that relates to symptom swapping?

Is it a case of:

Symptom: temple pressure
Thought: it's an aneurysm.
Response: panic then calmness
Thought: ok it wasn't an aneurysm.

But to keep the panic going it comes up with a new symptom?

I just don't understand why every sensation feels urgent and why they don't exist together at the same time (although I'm grateful they don't!)

This cycle of feeling an awful sensation and attaching an illness fear to it, but knowing it will soon manifest into a different feeling to obsess about is exhausting and driving me mad. I feel like it's hypochondria.

I was at a friends house yesterday dealing with all those symptoms one after the other, feeling the panic trying to kick in with every one of them. If I had a period of feeling ok, some ache or pain or sensation to feel anxious about would soon come. It's just bizarre. Headaches and aches and pains are uncomfortable for anybody, but people lay down and rest whereas I start pacing around like that's going to help! A migraine combined with adrenaline feels like a 911 situation!

[56degree]

Yep I have exactly the same problems. I had bad IBS for months and was so concerned it was cancer. After I had all the checks done and around the same time accepted that it was driven by anxiety, the IBS subsided. Then the headaches, then went they went it was the joint pain, then it was the frequent urination, now the IBS is back, but not as bad.

All anxiety related. My symptoms have been a lot less severe since I have accepted this, and I hope that one day in the not too distant future they will completely subside. I had probably six months straight with one symptom or another, ranging in intensity from severe to vague. Now things aren't so bad and I can go for hours without problems. Just hope it gets better for both of us soon. Take care.

[Davit]

Close. The first part is right but after it subside subconscious says is it gone lets check. That accesses Amygdala gain only this time Amygdala tell hypothalamus last time they were wrong, it must be something else. after they go through the whole bag they start with maybe. Maybe it was that. It boils down to input. It doesn't matter what Amygdala has in relation to a trigger or what Symptoms hypothalamus is going to use, keeping negative thoughts out of amygdala's reach stops this. It has to have a negative thought, even one unintended or subconscious to cause anxiety or panic. Positive won't do it.

56degree. IBS could just be pituitary telling kidneys not to remove water. Have you had IBS tested for a bacteria cause. It would be nice if positive thought could stop it.

[sleepingbeauty23]

Hi guys,

I'm new to the site and just wanted to say what a relief it was to find your posts and realize that I'm not the only one who feels like this!

I have the same issue, I get a symptom and then I worry about it for ages and then it goes away only to be replaced not long after by something else. I get shoulder tension/pain, pain in my lower right stomach, sore ears, sore feeling in chest to name just a few off the top of my head. I get these pains at different times, they last for a period of days to weeks before disappearing or being replaced by something else, only to reappear a few months later!

Because these pains have been occurring for a long time and I've had the appropriate tests (eg. Ultrasounds and blood tests for my stomach pain etc), I know they are just a part of life and I've learnt to accept them somewhat, though it doesn't make it any easier when the pains are there to not focus on it and concentrate on it and wonder if this time it really is something serious!

Will be following his thread with interest and if anyone wants to talk, feel free to message me! :)

[Davit]

Would some one be willing to try feed back. It just means saying fairly regular that this doesn't belong. It is conditioning Amygdala to give a different reaction to a trigger by slowly upgrading it's memory to drop the symptoms as not needed. This is also known as auto suggestion. Making your own symptom to a trigger by putting it into memory to be used instead of what is normally used.

[Ditapage]

Currently trying to teach my amygdala that the symptom is anxiety by reinforcing that thought every time I feel something. My reasoning is "I've had this before" and nothing happened. Medical emergencies don't threaten to happen, nobody walks around going "any minute now..." But anxiety can have you doing that all day. My psychologist has done all she can do. I know my task now is to challenge these thoughts and I'm trying to do that by thinking "what evidence is there of my fear happening?" One of my safety behaviours when I am anxious is to eat as if I have low blood sugar so that's why I am anxious instead of just saying "it's anxiety." But my sugars have been tested so I know that's a false thought. I also have a safety behaviour of holding an ice pack against my head when I am anxious and I can't do that in public or carry the ice around, but logically I know that no serious symptom is relieved by an ice pack, so it will pass when I am outside without an ice pack.

It hasn't stopped the feeling but it has controlled the panic. I'm still a mess though - still scared to drive anywhere by myself, still think this weird pressure shifting all over the side of my head is something bad. One uncomfortable feeling goes away and another one starts up and I use them all to justify not going out that day. And "that day" is becoming weeks and months.


I am constantly checking first what feels weird in my body because I think it will create a panic attack when I leave my house. I'm trying to challenge the thoughts and not let anxious thinking take over. All my fear is based on what is ABOUT to happen, not what is happening and rather than just sit with the feeling I want it to go away straight away so I panic when it doesn't and i know that's unreasonable and I also know that people still shop, go to work, etc while they have headaches etc. I know that staying home because I am worried one of my aches or pains is a serious illness waiting to happen, isn't rational thinking. Neither is getting Anxious every time I feel something weird in my body because I don't have the power to get rid of it straight away. It's possible I've developed unrealistic expectations of "feeling well."

I just don't UNDERSTAND how i can have a feeling in my temple, then it goes away from that spot and moves to my ear, goes away from my ear to the back of head or behind my ear, my jaw... The thought I am ignoring something serious sends my anxiety out of control.

It's reassuring that others admit symptom obsessing is what made their symptoms stronger because I don't believe I can do that, but it must be because how can it be moving around...

It's like I won't go out until I feel perfectly healthy but maybe it's that thought that is making me notice all my symptoms. I don't know if it's really just anxiety stopping me from doing anything because I keep making excuses based on whatever niggling pressure or vague feeling I have at the time, to not go out.

Is this anyone else's situation?