How do you all move on?

[laura1988]

Hi,

So as you can properly see from my posts this last week I am losing my mind over my stomach problems (sharp pains, nausea), having now just diagnosed myself with pancreatic cancer ( vaguely remember a very pale stool a little while ago)

I am in a point in my life where I should be enjoying life, I have an amazing job as a travel agent, we are 10weeks away from a holiday to orlando.

I'm only 28!!

Just want to feel normal again :(

What helps you move on from this?

Thanks

Laura

[Fishmanpa]

What helps you move on from this?

I can tell you what doesn't.... Creating threads and dwelling on your symptoms as you wait for reassurance that doesn't work while Googling and just feeding the dragon.

What can help? Therapy and meds along with a concerted effort on your part to change your mindset and thinking patterns.

Positive thoughts

[TattooArtist]

I tend to think of it like this... If something I perceive to be real symptom-wise for three days or more with no explanation (cold, stomach virus, pulled muscle etc) persists, I go to the doctor. Say I have a tummy pain, headache, urinary urgency, bathroom discomfort. It's here today and gone tomorrow... Well, that's where the 3 day rule comes in for me. During the time I have a vague symptom I try to actively distract myself. Googling, having dark fantasies about worst-case scenarios, concentrating on feeling dread... These things make vague symptoms worse. Surely, you think, if I'm "watching" this, I can plan for "the big one" that will be a serious or long-term illness. That thinking intensifies symptoms, and causes the brain to create new ones born of anxiety. This is why it's so very important to distract yourself. My doctor told me that generally speaking, pain that you cannot ignore signals something serious. Everything else you just have to follow medical advice and start thinking about other things.

[Dubmom]

It's an effort. A conscious, deliberate, exhausting effort that makes me "move on". I go through spells with my HA. I will be perfectly fine for a month or two and then something happens and I fall into a spiral. I haven't been able to specifically identify what my HA trigger is, but I have a few good ideas. I make an effort to recognize those triggers and "beef up" my consciousness when exposed. If any of that mumbo-jumbo makes sense!!

Basically, I have to make an effort, every single day, multiple times a day, to fight the thoughts. Fight to keep the rational side of my brain more in control than the irrational.

I've gotten to the point now that when I'm in a spiral, I find my self just waiting for it to pass. I don't panic as much as I used to. I have recognized that it's just a state of mind. But, we all know that when caught up in a spiral, its SOOO hard to see rationality and reality. Keep working at it. Day by day, little progresses turn into big progress!!

[lofwyr]

Time, and getting out of your own head.

When I was in my 20s I was at my worst with regard to HA. I never felt like I was invulnerable like so many young people did. I felt--for no explicable reason--that I was going to be the one to die young. That I was the exception to the law of averages, and I wasted a good part of my youth drowned in that worry.

Now I am 46, have a real health crisis, and HA is definitely taking a back seat. But before the crisis came along, I was in a pretty good place. It would rear its head every once in a while, but for the most part my HA, and my anxiety on the whole, has been pretty much kept to a dull roar.

Stay away from google. Seriously. The second you google ANYTHING health related, it is a downward spiral. You feel like googling, go for a walk. Even if you aren't feeling less anxious, go through the motions. Watch a movie, even if you can't really calm yourself enough to truly enjoy it.

Until you break the spiral, it will only come back around again. I had to finally fake it until I made it. Eventually, you realize that anxiety is just anxiety. Nothing more!