ferzackerlack
25-07-17, 20:52
A little bit of background - hope it's not too much.
I am suffering a lot from health anxiety at the moment. It started last Christmas, when I had a lump on my leg. I convinced myself it was cancer, and I even felt my leg aching. On Christmas Eve I remember just feeling really sad and worried. One night I was even lying awake just feeling as though my anxious thoughts were spiralling out of control.
I went to the doctor after Christmas and she said it was a lipoma. I forgot all about it. Then I started to worry about my permanently swollen lymph nodes (in my neck and groin) instead. They have been swollen for about 20 years and I've been to various doctors about it. Eventually I had an ultrasound, and that was fine.
After that, my health anxiety focused on possible asbestos in my house and the lung cancers you could get as a result. I was obsessed with this for ages. I had an asbestos survey done - all clear - but had dreams about asbestos for months afterwards.
Then, I worried that my mum had a brain tumour. She didn't - she suffers from migraines. After that I worried about a mole that was bleeding - another GP visit - but it turned out to be a skin tag and it was bleeding because it had been knocked.
For a little while I worried that I had dementia because I kept forgetting things, but I've since put that down to stress.
A couple of weeks ago I started getting palpitations more often than usual so this caused a lot of worry about my heart. I went to the GP, who said they are normal, and within a couple of days I noticed them far, far less.
I also worried about chest pains, which have been diagnosed as costochondritis.
Now I am worried about an intermittent stitch that I have on my left side, as well as feeling bloated after meals sometimes. Last night I was very bloated and felt sick and scared about stomach cancer. So today, every time I have eaten a meal, I have worried about whether or not I will feel bloated afterwards. Tonight I had a slightly smaller dinner and I do feel bloated so of course I have convinced myself there is something badly wrong. I have noticed that I burp quite a lot as well.
My GP said that sometimes anxiety causes excess acid, which can cause these symptoms, and she has prescribed omeprazole. I am also having an abdominal ultrasound tomorrow but it's got to the stage now where I am afraid of eating my evening meal in case I feel bloated afterwards and this causes more worry.
I am also emetophobic and have got into a bit of a fear of going to bed in case I wake up in the night to be sick. I had the emetophobia pushed to the back of my mind until my daughter was born 4.5 years ago and now it is back at the forefront. I did actually have a tummy bug about a year and a half ago, and I keep getting flashbacks. Then a few weeks ago just felt randomly very nauseous and have felt scared of that happening again ever since.
Anyway, thank you for reading this incredibly massive mind-dump and I hope it is in the right forum. I suppose what I would really like to know is - is there anyone else out there who is like me? I'm 41, and female, by the way.
I am suffering a lot from health anxiety at the moment. It started last Christmas, when I had a lump on my leg. I convinced myself it was cancer, and I even felt my leg aching. On Christmas Eve I remember just feeling really sad and worried. One night I was even lying awake just feeling as though my anxious thoughts were spiralling out of control.
I went to the doctor after Christmas and she said it was a lipoma. I forgot all about it. Then I started to worry about my permanently swollen lymph nodes (in my neck and groin) instead. They have been swollen for about 20 years and I've been to various doctors about it. Eventually I had an ultrasound, and that was fine.
After that, my health anxiety focused on possible asbestos in my house and the lung cancers you could get as a result. I was obsessed with this for ages. I had an asbestos survey done - all clear - but had dreams about asbestos for months afterwards.
Then, I worried that my mum had a brain tumour. She didn't - she suffers from migraines. After that I worried about a mole that was bleeding - another GP visit - but it turned out to be a skin tag and it was bleeding because it had been knocked.
For a little while I worried that I had dementia because I kept forgetting things, but I've since put that down to stress.
A couple of weeks ago I started getting palpitations more often than usual so this caused a lot of worry about my heart. I went to the GP, who said they are normal, and within a couple of days I noticed them far, far less.
I also worried about chest pains, which have been diagnosed as costochondritis.
Now I am worried about an intermittent stitch that I have on my left side, as well as feeling bloated after meals sometimes. Last night I was very bloated and felt sick and scared about stomach cancer. So today, every time I have eaten a meal, I have worried about whether or not I will feel bloated afterwards. Tonight I had a slightly smaller dinner and I do feel bloated so of course I have convinced myself there is something badly wrong. I have noticed that I burp quite a lot as well.
My GP said that sometimes anxiety causes excess acid, which can cause these symptoms, and she has prescribed omeprazole. I am also having an abdominal ultrasound tomorrow but it's got to the stage now where I am afraid of eating my evening meal in case I feel bloated afterwards and this causes more worry.
I am also emetophobic and have got into a bit of a fear of going to bed in case I wake up in the night to be sick. I had the emetophobia pushed to the back of my mind until my daughter was born 4.5 years ago and now it is back at the forefront. I did actually have a tummy bug about a year and a half ago, and I keep getting flashbacks. Then a few weeks ago just felt randomly very nauseous and have felt scared of that happening again ever since.
Anyway, thank you for reading this incredibly massive mind-dump and I hope it is in the right forum. I suppose what I would really like to know is - is there anyone else out there who is like me? I'm 41, and female, by the way.