wanna.be.happy
04-08-15, 17:03
So, I don't know where to begin exactly, it's taking me a great deal of courage to write in here. I've suffered from health anxiety and OCD when I was a child but thank God it went away on its own like 10 years ago.
About ten months ago, I travelled abroad for work, and long story short, I was scammed. I was alone, in a foreign country, running out of money, with strangers trying to take advantage of me, it was terrible.
One day while I was laying in bed, I started having chest pain, I was breathing heavily, and I felt like something just wasn't right. I ignored it for a few days, but then decided to see a doctor as I was terrified it might be a heart attack. My father died suddenly of what has probably been a heart attack so I thought I should be cautious. Doctor said it was anxiety and probably acid reflux, and that I shouldn't be worried.
Ever since that day, symptoms came pouring in, stomach pain, constipation, chest pain persisted, etc. I came back home about six months ago, and the health anxiety got even worse. During these past 8 months or so, I have seen about 10 different doctors, had multiple blood and stool work, an ultrasound, and a CT scan. Almost all was completely normal.
During the past couple of months, my HA got worse by a mile, first it was lumps under my abdomen, and although I was recently checked by many doctors, and recently had an ultrasound, I went for a CT scan, which wasn't easy. It came back normal, thank God. The happiness was short lived, as I later discovered multiple other symptoms and things in my body. Whenever I would discover anything, I would have a panic attack, start googling and crying.
The most recent thing that has worried me was discovering a small lump in my armpit that I have had for over a year and got checked by three doctors and who all said it wasn't to worry about. But (and Im not sure if its all in my head or not) I think it might have disappeared and then came back during this week, but I dont know.
I do have health anxiety, and a major one. I have to admit it. And even though I know that (and Im sure many of you will agree with me on this one) I can't help but thinking that "maybe this time it is real, maybe this time it is not my anxiety." So how do I prevent myself from thinking that way?
I went and saw a psychiatrist few days ago, who wrote me tablets for anxiety, depression and OCD. It's called "Hermpro" and contains/ is (Im not sure) Escitalopram and/or SSRI. I freaked out upon reading the side effects of course, given the health anxiety I have. Has anybody here been on a similar medication? And does it work for health anxiety? And are the side effects worth it? And how common is it?
Also, I don't wanna rely on only the medication, and Im not sure if I can find therapy where I live. I would appreciate if anyone here can share their success stories beating HA, or methods they are currently using and are working. I recently also started going to the gym, but I am unemployed and have a lot of free time.
I am a 26 year old female, with no other major problems other than HA. No negative comments please, I would only love to hear from people going or have gone through some of what I have talked about.
Thanks for reading! :)
About ten months ago, I travelled abroad for work, and long story short, I was scammed. I was alone, in a foreign country, running out of money, with strangers trying to take advantage of me, it was terrible.
One day while I was laying in bed, I started having chest pain, I was breathing heavily, and I felt like something just wasn't right. I ignored it for a few days, but then decided to see a doctor as I was terrified it might be a heart attack. My father died suddenly of what has probably been a heart attack so I thought I should be cautious. Doctor said it was anxiety and probably acid reflux, and that I shouldn't be worried.
Ever since that day, symptoms came pouring in, stomach pain, constipation, chest pain persisted, etc. I came back home about six months ago, and the health anxiety got even worse. During these past 8 months or so, I have seen about 10 different doctors, had multiple blood and stool work, an ultrasound, and a CT scan. Almost all was completely normal.
During the past couple of months, my HA got worse by a mile, first it was lumps under my abdomen, and although I was recently checked by many doctors, and recently had an ultrasound, I went for a CT scan, which wasn't easy. It came back normal, thank God. The happiness was short lived, as I later discovered multiple other symptoms and things in my body. Whenever I would discover anything, I would have a panic attack, start googling and crying.
The most recent thing that has worried me was discovering a small lump in my armpit that I have had for over a year and got checked by three doctors and who all said it wasn't to worry about. But (and Im not sure if its all in my head or not) I think it might have disappeared and then came back during this week, but I dont know.
I do have health anxiety, and a major one. I have to admit it. And even though I know that (and Im sure many of you will agree with me on this one) I can't help but thinking that "maybe this time it is real, maybe this time it is not my anxiety." So how do I prevent myself from thinking that way?
I went and saw a psychiatrist few days ago, who wrote me tablets for anxiety, depression and OCD. It's called "Hermpro" and contains/ is (Im not sure) Escitalopram and/or SSRI. I freaked out upon reading the side effects of course, given the health anxiety I have. Has anybody here been on a similar medication? And does it work for health anxiety? And are the side effects worth it? And how common is it?
Also, I don't wanna rely on only the medication, and Im not sure if I can find therapy where I live. I would appreciate if anyone here can share their success stories beating HA, or methods they are currently using and are working. I recently also started going to the gym, but I am unemployed and have a lot of free time.
I am a 26 year old female, with no other major problems other than HA. No negative comments please, I would only love to hear from people going or have gone through some of what I have talked about.
Thanks for reading! :)