How do you decide whether to see a doctor?

[jaynespain3105]

Hi everyone

I was just wondering if anyone who has a good grip on their Health Anxiety has any tips or advice for how they go about deciding when to see a doctor?

The uncertainty of whether to go to a doctor or not is one of the things that really feeds in to me carrying on with negative patterns of behaviour - Googling, checking, seeking reassurance etc.

If you have a symptom, or something you're concerned about, do you go straight to the doctor and then, hopefully, take their reassurance it is nothing to worry about? At the moment I feel unable to do that as I'd be there every day.

I talked to a therapist about this and she suggested having a time frame in my head for visiting the doctor about something where I am unsure if it is anxiety or a true symptom that warrants concern/check up. Perhaps two weeks? In which time I should use my CBT techniques to ease the 'anxious' part of the problem.

Where I struggle with this is that the bigger part of me is thinking (using my current concern as an example) 'I HAVE A BLEEDING MOLE. EVERYONE IN MEDIA/ONLINE SAY YOU MUST SEE A DOCTOR ASAP WITH THIS SYMPTOM'. Even though I know I scratched and irritated the mole when I got covered in insect bites a few weeks ago. I sort of feel that I am failing to act on a real and imminent danger.

Does anyone relate to this? The inability to separate out what are, at least by your perception, 'red flag' symptoms, from anxiety and know when to focus on treating the anxiety and when you should get to the docs right away?

If I go to the doctor, and they do further tests, my anxiety ramps up 10 notches so that's another fear - that the doctor will say 'actually you were right to worry'. So all in all I pretty much spend every day worrying about whether to book a doctors appointment or not. I hate it.

Any tips for how anyone successfully navigates this would be gratefully received.

[TattooArtist]

3 days. If my symptoms worsen over a period if three days, I go in. Usually I find that the cough, ache, etc is gone by then and I'm onto some other worry. In the case of the mole... You have to objectively realize you caused the bleeding. If skin cancer is a frequent fear, have your dermatologist see you once or twice a year and check all things then. Ignore your skin until this visits, unless a mole rapidly increases in size and shape (like over a few weeks it gets noticeably larger). Non-skin symptoms, the 3 day rule works well.

[NervUs]

Yes, I am no stranger to exaggerating symptoms in my mind.
However, I do what your doctor suggests and wait to see a doctor. My time frame is more like a month. NOw of course, if there was something dire and clearly getting worse within that time frame, I would go sooner. IN readinf the previous post, I think 3 days is not enough time at all to really see if something is harmless.

[bin tenn]

Generally, two weeks for most things. If it's serious, very concerning, or worsening quite rapidly, I'll go sooner. If the body says it's time to seek medical attention, I'll go. The body is amazing at knowing, naturally, when it is in any real danger. The problem with anxiety, however, is that it clouds judgement, and it makes up scenarios and tricks the body into thinking something is seriously wrong.