Appendicitis fear is ruining my life

[BlueEyesShining]

The last few days my anxiety has been under control but now one of my fears is slowly coming back!

I can`t get this particular thing out of my head. I know that if you get in hospital in time it is a fairly easy surgery but i just find is to scary and distressing. Maybe bacause one has just little time before it bursts and it is such an emergency.

I know that some people here said that the pain is unbearable and it cannot be mistaken but i have a friend who has his appendix out and he told me that his pain was only slight and he went three (!) days without going to the emergency room because the pain was just on and off.

This scared me because my anxiety gives me an upset stomach and every slight pain i feel i think it`s my appendix. This has become a real phobia. I thought that the pain is so strong that you cannot stand straight! Now this thing with the attypical symptoms gives me chills. Can someone relate?

[GingerFish]

I am in the exact same boat as you. Any abdominal pain I get, even if its high up in my actual stomach and I can tell its caused by eating a lot of food, I still assume its appendicitis even though I know I just ate a ten course meal and that if it were appendicitis, it would be lower down in my belly and at the right side and I would be doubled up in pain - I still can't shake the fear off. I am bothered with a dodgy gut and diarrhea a lot and I know that can be an early symptom before the main moves to the right side so whenever I have that, I sit in a panic for a few hours until all the dodgy symptoms have passed and not progressed.

The one time I was seriously ill was with pneumonia a few years ago and I was so ill with the pain and discomfort that I had no energy to panic, all I could think of was getting to the doctor/hospital so now I try and tell myself when I have an appendicitis worry that if I can worry about having it, I don't have it because if I did, I wouldn't have the energy to panic, I would just call myself an ambulance and my mind would be clear - get this bloody appendix out of me!

[sammie13s]

How long have you had the fear of appendicitis? Xx

[BlueEyesShining]

GingerFish, i feel exactly the same as you. Every stomach pain in my opinion is ccaused by appendicitis. I can`t take it. My friend scared me cause he had brief pains all over his abdomen and never in the lower right side. :doh: He didin`t throw up, no diarrhea, nothing! Only brief pain and no appetite for 3 days. But some doctor diagnosed him when he pushed with the hand, then released it! Then very strong pain started and he stayed in hospital for a surgery.
So whenever i panic i press with my hand and when it`s ok i move on with my activities. But it`s so hard to distract myself!

sammie13s, i have this fear as long as i can remember. Even when i was a child i constantly worried about getting an inflamed appendix. It sucks

[ricardo]

Check this out.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Appendicitis/Pages/Symptoms.aspx


Despite of this it is not 100% identifiable and a good doctor must weigh up all the symptoms and then act accordingly.

[sammie13s]

Try and see it this way then. You said you have had this worry for years. Do if you did have appendicitis it would have popped years ago. So therefore it's just a fear. And YOU haven't appendicitis trust me. Don't let this fear plague you. Try and think positive instead of negative otherwise your feeding the thought. Big hugs xx

[BlueEyesShining]

It has gone so far that i convince myself that period pains are appendicitis! I`m panicking cause sometimes painkillers don`t work and i ask myself if it`s really from my period or the dreaded appendix! Ugh. i need a way to calm myself

[GoWhiteSox]

not sure if this helps but i have 2 friends who actually had their appendixes rupture and they are fine now..

[BlueEyesShining]

I hate this fear... really... it`s been my main concern over the past few years! I started touching and searching for rebound pain and i`ve been pressing so much on the side that sometimes i really feel pain when i touch. I also have bruises. My mind is convincing me that i have appendicitis even if i know that i don`t.

How much time does one have before it ruptures? I know it`s different for everyone but can it happen after a few hours after the symptoms start?

[sial72]

I had ruptured appendix and had to have the operation just over 2 years ago aged 40, it wasn't a big deal really. I was in hospital 3 days and ok in about 5 days xx

[GingerFish]

Hi OP, just thought I would let you know that I share your pain and worry today. Last night I got a niggly stitch like pain near my belly button that came and went. People without health anxiety probably wouldn't have even noticed it but I did and boom, on came the appendicitis fears as I know the pain often starts there before heading to the right side. That happened at 8pm last night and ever since, I have been in a constant state of checking to see if the pain has moved, doing the jumping and heel test for appendicitis, checking to see if my belly is tender to touch etc. I know that by now if it were that, I would be doubled up in pain by now and have been sick but grrrr! The fear wont leave!

The pain hasn't moved to the right side though occassionally I feel a twinge in my right side or a little stitch like pain if I do the jumps though I know deep down that is porbably caused by me obsessing and touching the area constantly. I've watched and read peoples experiences with it and they all say that the pain is constant and you can't think or move for the pain and I don't have that whatsoever but I still can't shake the fear off. Its been a few months since I've had the fear this strong. I get the fear often but this is feels like I am completely engrossed by it this time.

[BlueEyesShining]

Hi GingerFish,

I`m getting those "pains" in my right side some days in the month but i know that my mind is convincing me that i`s appendicitis, cause they are not strong and they come and go. I think it has someting to do with my period so i try to calm myself that way

I don`t know why i fear appendicitis so much, but as you say, i also touch that area and check everything possible, but this fear won`t leave. I fear this since i was a child

[mothdustt]

You are not alone. I freak out about this a lot. My mom, dad, sister, and countless other relatives have had theirs removed but I have not... Yet... I feel like due to my family history I know it's going to happen, it's just a matter of when and where, so every small pain sends me into a panic. It also doesn't help knowing my dad went days after his burst, no symptoms at all until the day he finally went in, and he was like in his 30s when it happened (I'm only 21), so it probably most definitely just hasn't yet happened to me, but will. And the worst part is I could die before I even know anything is wrong.

I've spent so many thousands of dollars I don't have seeing the doctor over pains and having them find nothing. Also last time I went to the doctor they said the pain would start high up in my stomach and then work its way to my right side, so now any stomach ache I have I immediately attribute to that. I'm mostly worried that I won't be able to afford the procedure when it happens (putting me in even more massive debt on top of other hospital/school debt). I also have an extreme fear that when it happens I'll be in public and I dread the thought of making a scene. I'm also even more worried about becoming sick from it in public or somewhere not a bathroom. It doesn't help that the idea of surgery and hospitals is an anxiety, too. :/ Also I can't even afford to miss a day of classes, let alone many days for surgery. It doesn't matter if my teachers are understanding or not, I still have no way of making up labs and lectures that one simply has to be present for to pass the tests.

I just feel like I'm waiting around for it to happen, and I almost wish it would so I didn't have to worry about it anymore... Any pain I get leads to heart palpitations, tunnel vision, shaking, being unable to catch my breath, countless checking for rebound pain, and it just sorta spirals out of control. I wish there were a way to better deal with what seems to be the inevitable.

[BlueEyesShining]

Hi mothdustt, i don`t know if family history really determines that you will get appendicitis. I think rather not. My friend is the only one in his family with his appendix removed. So no, it`s not inevitable. Easier said than done, but worrying really doesn`t help. It can make you feel symptoms that really aren`t there. For example when i`m worried i get stomach cramps and guess what, the next thing i check for is rebound pain and so starts the panic attack. I have this fear for many years. And it still doesn`t seem to go away. You are not alone

I also worry that if i get appendicitis i won`t be able to go to lectures at university and i will miss out a lot, and as you said i cannot afford that. I really hate being out of control

[Lifelonganxiety!]

I wouldn't worry about this. You'd know if something was up and can get treatment for it very easily.

I had my appendix out years ago, felt like a really dull ache in lower right side and that I really needed to go to the bathroom but going didn't help.

It's a very straight forward operation IF anything does happen, but like I say you'd know it if it did. Concentrating on a pain in that area is fooling your brain into thinking something's wrong. Try to ignore it and it'll go away.