Could someone please talk some sense into me?

[bulan]

Could someone please talk some sense into me? I have no diagnosis, just a constant barrage of strange, new symptoms that fan the flame of my health anxiety. From constant pain on one side of my throat, to constant pain in my shoulder, to skin that's itchier than I ever remember it being, to my annual stomach cramps lasting 6-8 hours... It's bizarre what my body is going through, and I can't seem to cope with the symptoms without getting caught up in intense anxiety. Besides the unpleasantness of fear and anxiety symptoms, I'm also upset by how much time my anxiety takes from things that are worthwhile in life. But no matter how much I *know* this, I can't seem to quit being anxious. It's terrifying at times.

[Josh1234]

Been to an MD?

[Beckybecks]

I go through times like this. I feel like I'm constantly ill and in pain which causes more anxiety and more symptoms.
But I've come to realize that people with HA probably feel these symptoms more intensely than normal people do.
Everyone has little niggles and aches and pains, but they don't exagerate them by concentrating on them. Or googling them....
We make ourselves ill with our anxiety and then we make the symptoms a hundred times worse by analyzing them .
We spend hours on this site reading other people's problems which only plant more seeds in our minds.
I challenge myself now by making myself wait at least a week before I give my new symptom any space in my head. Usually it's been replaced by a new one by then!
It's not fun is it? ����

[Holds1325]

Anyone suffering from HA should really make an initial visit to their GP. If you already have several times and had several negative tests (like we all have) then its most likely your anxiety.

How about ignore these symptoms if its the latter and you've undergone all tests? I never thought that would work but it actually did, my headaches, nausea, cramps and general fatigued feelings just left once I made the decision that even if its something horrible I'm not going to let it keep me from enjoying my life. One by one, the symptoms disappeared.

I'm not saying its just anxiety though, thats why its a good idea to see a GP first to rule anything out.

Good luck

[bulan]

Thank you, yes, I've been to my doctor and various specialists... The throat pain has been examined over and over by my ENT over the last two years, with no findings and no progression of the symptoms. He's finally sending me for an MRI. The itching has subsided for the most part. The stomach cramps have been going on for about a decade, and numerous abdominal ultrasounds, blood tests, x-rays, and other tests have come up negative. And the pain in my left shoulder is a repeat of the same prolonged pain I had in my right shoulder two years ago, which ended up being a posture problem. Even with these reassurances, as everyone here has probably experienced themselves, a fear lingers that the doctors have possibly missed the 'real' problem. Thank you all for bringing me a little closer down to earth again... It helps SO much when people rally around us during our weaker moments.

[Holds1325]

A majority of anxiety sufferers are very hyper sensitive to any physical sensations. I'm not saying nothing is wrong but these sensations get magnified at a higher level than others.

I'm not sure if you read other posts but there are those that think they're going nuts hearing things, those tasting weird tastes, or having trouble distinguishing different touches and perhaps even having blurry vision, all the senses just heightened

A non-anxious person might get a stomach cramp and think ooo must've been that junk I consumed earlier and take an antacid and move on. People like us tend to chain sensations onto that like ooo my stomach hurts, and i feel warm must be a fever, my jaw aches, could be some type of pain caused by a tumor, probably cancer? Then begins the visit with Dr. Google and the subsequent testing with your GP because of the fear of illness. Its not really an illness its the FEAR thats bothering you that bothers HA sufferers like me.

Its best to not deal with the illness as thats not the problem, its the HA and the effort should be put forth to get rid of that. There are those that even have illness but do not suffer from HA so either way its treatable.

[bulan]

Holds1325, thank you so, so much for taking the time to explain this. I haven't been able to read many other threads because I'm busy trying to keep daily life going smoothly, and I'm running after my 3-year-old a lot. Although I do try to find the most helpful/relevant threads here, when I do have a little time. Anyway, in the two years that I've dealt with health anxiety, I hadn't focused on this angle of it yet. The heightened senses are something I wasn't consciously aware of before now, and it helps a lot to consider the HA puzzle with this piece in the picture! It makes a lot of sense. Thank you!!

[georgewing]

I experience conditions such as this. I have an inclination that I'm always sick and in torment which causes more nervousness and more side effects.

However, I've come to understand that individuals with HA likely feel these side effects more strongly than ordinary individuals do.

Everybody has little niggles and a throbbing painfulness, yet they don't exagerate them by focusing on them. Alternately googling them....

We make ourselves sick with our uneasiness and afterward we make the side effects a hundred times more awful by dissecting them .

[bulan]

Yes, I was just talking about this with my husband last night. It seems that symptoms often exist in the background for people without HA, to the point that they may never be consciously aware of them. But for HA sufferers, these symptoms demand our attention. They seem to yell at us, making our minds obsessively analyze them under a microscope, and that's where we get stuck.

[Beckybecks]

I've battled with HA for a number of years now. I had GAD before that, it just seemed to turn into HA. I suppose health is always a good thing to worry about...... Plenty of diseases to stress over ....
I've tried CBT which definitely helps with normal anxiety but it just didn't seem to help the HA.
I've tried SO hard to overcome it, tried to reason with myself, practice the CBT exercises, but somehow it doesn't help.
There's ALWAYS another symptom that arrives as soon as I've overcome one, or even to replace that one.
I'm not stupid, I've done lots of research and I know the power of the mind. But somehow my mind has decided that as soon as I feel anything different in my body, it needs to panic.
If anyone has any ideas at all how to deal with this condition, I would be so happy to listen.