How my mind controls my health

[Beckybecks]

I have HA. Took me many years to accept that. I have done loads of research and read hundreds of posts on this forum and together with my own experiences I finally understand what's wrong with me.
Normally with knowledge and understanding comes control and hopefully recovery. (As with panic attacks). However, this condition is proving to be a huge challenge to me.

This year alone I have had umpteen conditions and the symptoms have been so REAL. Am I going mad? Am I imagining the pain? No, I really do experience the symptoms.

Six weeks of IBS discomfort apparently due to gluten intolerance was followed shortly afterwards by pins and needles in my hands and feet. At times I could hardly walk, my legs were like jelly, my hands were tingling.
Without even giving myself space to breath, a new symptom arrived.
I looked in the mirror one morning to discover my eye was half filled with blood, a burst blood vessel. (Emergency bells began to ring in my head!).
That very same day the headaches arrived. Day after day I awoke with a headache that lasted the full day accompanied by nausea.

The numbness and tingling in my hands and feet? Completely forgotten and overshadowed by the headaches! When I remembered I realised the tingling had stopped......!

The gluten intolerance and IBS symptoms? I could eat a whole loaf of bread now without a twinge.....why?

If I told a normal person my symptoms they would advise a visit to the doctor. Part of me agrees. And part of me knows that very soon there'll be a new symptom that will overshadow this current one. And that if only my mind could relax I wouldn't have this symtom either.

My coping strategies: distraction, exercise, CBT.
I just wish there was a button I could press to switch off my mind.

But I do realise that this is a habit my mind has learnt over time and it'll take time to unlearn it.

So good to have this forum to chat with like minded people. Everyone else thinks I'm nuts!

[countrygirl]

Perfect description of health anxiety:yesyes: There are quite a few books about the placebo and nocebo effect which is basically how our brains control out bodies to the point of physical change. I am reading one at the moment called Cure - A Journey into the Science of Mind over Body by Jo Marchant and its fascinating and explains very well exactly what is happening to us!
Psychosomatic description could apply to us in that our emotions are coming out in physical symptoms, genuine pain and symptoms rather than the hypochondriac definition of worrying about normal bodily sensations.

I def don't worry about normal bodily sensations. I have diagnosed medical conditions that could and might be causing most of my pain and symptoms, what I find hard to do is not attach excess worry of what else might be causing my pain and symptoms and this is the health anxiety brain.

Example is I had/have a bad shoulder. This is common in people with damaged neck. Dr/physio and chiroptractor were all convinced I had bursitis of the shoulder which is def not life threatening although painful BUT my mother died of breast cancer that went to her bones and her first bone symptom was painful shoulder and no matter how hard I tried I could not accept the diagnosis until I had had mri scan. Guess what they were all correct and what I have is bursitis of shoulder. Someone without ha would not have made the connection but I have a phenomanol memory for anything medical in myself or anyone else:wacko:

[Beckybecks]

I too, store up any (useful?) information about medical conditions and in particular, from those people close to me who have been seriously ill or died.
All these symptoms are stored on my personal hard drive in my memory, ready to be recalled at the slightest sensation.

[Fishmanpa]

Good Post... very insightful... especially this line:

"But I do realise that this is a habit my mind has learnt over time and it'll take time to unlearn it."

That's where CBT comes in and works so well for many with HA. It helped me "learn" to modify my thought patterns that were causing me distress.

What you said rings true and I equate it to dieting. If you're trying to lose XX amount of pounds, remember it took a while to gain them and one shouldn't expect to lose it in a month or so. It's the continued small steps that get you to your goal and in doing so it reinforces the positive behaviors and mindset.

Positive thoughts

[MyNameIsTerry]

All these symptoms are stored on my personal hard drive in my memory, ready to be recalled at the slightest sensation.

You need a recycle bin :winks:

[Beckybecks]

�� MyNameIsTerry if only it were that easy.....press a button and everything gets deleted.

Fishmanpa, I have just completed a six week CBT course. I understand how it works, but my goodness at times it's so hard to make the effort to do those exercises.

I suppose much like what you said about losing weight. Sometimes it's too hard to resist that second helping or go for a run.

My anxiety is at a very high level right now so I'm opting for the CBT suggestion to be kind to myself. Not sure if it'll help but I feel like I need some TLC.

[Fishmanpa]

I have just completed a six week CBT course. I understand how it works, but my goodness at times it's so hard to make the effort to do those exercises.

I suppose much like what you said about losing weight. Sometimes it's too hard to resist that second helping or go for a run.... I'm opting for the CBT suggestion to be kind to myself. Not sure if it'll help but I feel like I need some TLC.

Exactly! We all falter and take a step back now and again. We're human and it happens. The key is to not beat yourself up, get up and continue to forge ahead. I remember going on a fitness mission and getting into body building. Part of the plan was to have a "free day" where I could eat and drink anything I wanted. The other 6 days I stuck to the plan. Those first few "fee days" were filled eating and drinking stuff I craved. Boy, did I pay for it the next day and it made it hard to get back on the wagon. Eventually my free days turned into a few free meals and then a free snack etc. It got to the point that the consequence for indulging felt worse than the satisfaction of doing so. To this day, some of the habits I changed have never reverted.

I believe, and from my experience, the same applies for challenging our mental health. Keep on forging ahead. You're moving in the right direction and it's really great to see someone making the efforts to tame the dragon :)

Positive thoughts