Health anxiety and brain tumours

[CharlotteS0123]

Hi, I am new to this site and wondered if it was possible for a bit of support? I am 18 years old and started university back in september 2016. I have had the worst 8 months of my life. Back in April/May i started getting awful sinus pressure and sinus headaches I was bedridden. I did not know at this point what was wrong so I immediately thought I had a brain tumour or something. My mum just thought it was due to hay fever and bought me a decongestant which i made the mistake of using up to 9 times a day !!! This made my symptoms so much worse as i became reliant on them. The pressure was awful and my social life was non existent. This was during my Alevel exam period so I was so stressed as well. I had a weekend job and i just cried on my breaks thinking i had a few months to live. I was too scared to go to the doctors until one morning when i finally decided i would pluck up the courage to go. She told me to stop using the decongestants immediately and gave me a steroid spay. I broke down in tears to her and she diagnosed me with health anxiety and gave me 50g zoloft just to calm me down. I was honestly at my lowest at this point. I felt like i couldn't tell any of my friends because they'd think I was stupid so i just felt really alone? I am a lot better now and very slowly starting to get to where i was last March. But moving away to university just having started anti depressants is hard. I am seeing the university counseller and reading books (hope and help for your nerves by claire weekes is very helpful). I am constantly worried I am going to get a headache and shake my head (sounds funny i know) to see if i have a headache (??) does anyone else do this? i don't do it in public though lol! but if i have even a small headache I break down in tears. I still feel very alone though as I haven't really told many of my university friends that i feel this way so just someone to talk to would be very nice. Xx

[Fishmanpa]

I have a daughter not much older than you. She suffers from depression and anxiety. She came to me at about your age and told me what was going on. I, along with her mother, made sure she got the help she needed.

You're doing the right thing with therapy and meds. It's not easy but continue to work hard at what you're learning in therapy. There will be blips and bumps in the road but keep on going. My daughter did just that, graduated last month and is doing great. You can do it too!

Positive thoughts

[GlassPinata]

Hi, I am new to this site and wondered if it was possible for a bit of support? I am 18 years old and started university back in september 2016. I have had the worst 8 months of my life. Back in April/May i started getting awful sinus pressure and sinus headaches I was bedridden. I did not know at this point what was wrong so I immediately thought I had a brain tumour or something. My mum just thought it was due to hay fever and bought me a decongestant which i made the mistake of using up to 9 times a day !!! This made my symptoms so much worse as i became reliant on them. The pressure was awful and my social life was non existent. This was during my Alevel exam period so I was so stressed as well. I had a weekend job and i just cried on my breaks thinking i had a few months to live. I was too scared to go to the doctors until one morning when i finally decided i would pluck up the courage to go. She told me to stop using the decongestants immediately and gave me a steroid spay. I broke down in tears to her and she diagnosed me with health anxiety and gave me 50g zoloft just to calm me down. I was honestly at my lowest at this point. I felt like i couldn't tell any of my friends because they'd think I was stupid so i just felt really alone? I am a lot better now and very slowly starting to get to where i was last March. But moving away to university just having started anti depressants is hard. I am seeing the university counseller and reading books (hope and help for your nerves by claire weekes is very helpful). I am constantly worried I am going to get a headache and shake my head (sounds funny i know) to see if i have a headache (??) does anyone else do this? i don't do it in public though lol! but if i have even a small headache I break down in tears. I still feel very alone though as I haven't really told many of my university friends that i feel this way so just someone to talk to would be very nice. Xx


I understand your fear. Headaches- terrible ones, migraines even- are very common. I'm afraid of them too, but only because they hurt so much.
I do not believe a headache would be the only symptom of a brain tumor. It probably wouldn't even be the first symptom. But I suggest you not google brain tumor symptoms, or you might start to believe you have them.
This is the way health anxiety works.
Best of luck to you.

[CharlotteS0123]

I have a daughter not much older than you. She suffers from depression and anxiety. She came to me at about your age and told me what was going on. I, along with her mother, made sure she got the help she needed.

You're doing the right thing with therapy and meds. It's not easy but continue to work hard at what you're learning in therapy. There will be blips and bumps in the road but keep on going. My daughter did just that, graduated last month and is doing great. You can do it too!

Positive thoughts

Hi, I am sorry to hear that your daughter was going through the same and it reassures me to read that she is now doing great! I feel like at this age especially a lot of people like my friends would not understand what I am going through or just think i was weird! So it reassures me that someone near the same age as me felt the same way. Thank you for your reply :)

---------- Post added at 23:32 ---------- Previous post was at 23:30 ----------


I understand your fear. Headaches- terrible ones, migraines even- are very common. I'm afraid of them too, but only because they hurt so much.
I do not believe a headache would be the only symptom of a brain tumor. It probably wouldn't even be the first symptom. But I suggest you not google brain tumor symptoms, or you might start to believe you have them.
This is the way health anxiety works.
Best of luck to you.

Hi, thanks for your reply! yes I am guilty for googling symptoms which i've now learnt not to do!

[conan]

not to diminish your experiences but i've seen this exact route on here many times, in particular thinking sinus pain is a brain tumour. sinuses can really be a lot more brutal than people realise.

unlike a lot of people, it sounds like you've really been quite proactive in seeking the right kind of help, and that you're progressing well. :)

re: the head shaking, i've seen many variants of that on here too. when i was sure i had a brain tumour i would go into public toilet cubicles and do balance exercises to ensure i could still stand on one leg, touch my nose with my eyes closed etc. trust me, there's no shame in sharing those kind of experiences on here, loooadds of people can relate.

[CharlotteS0123]

not to diminish your experiences but i've seen this exact route on here many times, in particular thinking sinus pain is a brain tumour. sinuses can really be a lot more brutal than people realise.

unlike a lot of people, it sounds like you've really been quite proactive in seeking the right kind of help, and that you're progressing well. :)

re: the head shaking, i've seen many variants of that on here too. when i was sure i had a brain tumour i would go into public toilet cubicles and do balance exercises to ensure i could still stand on one leg, touch my nose with my eyes closed etc. trust me, there's no shame in sharing those kind of experiences on here, loooadds of people can relate.

Hello, thank you for your reply. Yes, I did not realise how painful a sinus infection can be ! and it reassures me greatly to know that many others have those experiences as well. :)