Health anxiety, what to Do?

[DottyWood94]

Hello, just wondering if I could possibly get some advice from here,

I've suffered health anxiety for 11 years, constantly worried about my heart, appendix, sepsis etc.

Recently I've been having problems breathing and had an ambulance out to me, who did an ecg and everything was normal.. went to the walk in centre and I've been diagnosed with costochondritis, which has been causing the shortness of breath, she listened to my chest and it was fine but I'm still thinking that it's something more sinister, just feels like I'm not getting enough air, even when I'm not panicking.
Are walk in centres trusting?
I'm scared to get an infection in case it leads to Sepsis.

I'm constantly tired, my face is always flushed. When I sleep, I wake in a panic and unable to fall asleep due to panic attacks and palpitations. Could somebody give me some advice please?

Thanks.

[42Falcon]

Hi Dotty!

Let me answer your question with another question: If you rand a walk-in clinic/center, would you hire someone without the proper credentials? Not if you don't want to be sued, clearly. If they say it's costochondritis, I'd trust them for the time being.

The other main thing you seem to be worried about is sepsis, better known as blood poisoning. Sepsis is caused when bacteria invade and replicate in the bloodstream faster than you can fight them off. The thing is, our bodies have a TON of natural defenses to prevent that.
First off, no bacteria I know of is going to start with sepsis. Sepsis occurs when there's so much bacteria in so many different places we can't send enough white blood cells to fight them. In the same way it would be foolish to start a war by spreading your army thin and attacking everywhere at once, bacteria must also dig in and take one part of the body at a time. This means that in most cases of bacterial infection, it is caught and antibiotics are applied long before it reaches the point that sepsis would be possible. Sepsis usually occurs as a complication of an invasive, rushed surgery on a prolonged hospital stay, and even then it occurs more often in people with weaker immune systems. A tiny cut or scrape is no cause to worry about sepsis.

That being said, I'd suggest seeking psychiatric help. Anti-anxiety medications and a friendly face you can talk to without feeling like they are going to laugh at you are a huge help.

[Mummybee]

I have the flushed face a lot when my anxiety is up.
I also wake in the night then can’t go back to sleep because of panic attacks. This means I’m always tired...

[axolotl]

Hello, just wondering if I could possibly get some advice from here,

I've suffered health anxiety for 11 years, constantly worried about my heart, appendix, sepsis etc.

Recently I've been having problems breathing and had an ambulance out to me, who did an ecg and everything was normal.. went to the walk in centre and I've been diagnosed with costochondritis, which has been causing the shortness of breath, she listened to my chest and it was fine but I'm still thinking that it's something more sinister, just feels like I'm not getting enough air, even when I'm not panicking.
Are walk in centres trusting?
I'm scared to get an infection in case it leads to Sepsis.

I'm constantly tired, my face is always flushed. When I sleep, I wake in a panic and unable to fall asleep due to panic attacks and palpitations. Could somebody give me some advice please?

Thanks.

What have you been doing to address your anxiety?

If you live in England you can self-refer via IAPT for therapy. I'll be honest the waiting list can be long, but help is there. Google IAPT and the name of your area and you should find contact details.

If you can't or don't want to do this, your GP will give advice, but you need to use your appointment to talk about anxiety, not use it for reassurance for your specific illness fears. Anti-anxiety medication may be suggested.

If you can afford it, there's also private options for therapy, but it's expensive.

There's self help out there, such as Mood Gym, but in my experience it's useful but doesn't even come close to professional help.

I'm afraid answering questions about the thoughts your anxiety's put in your head about sepsis and the cleanliness of walk-in centres isn't going to do your anxiety any good in the long term.

[Carys]

Hiyer Dotty,

I did send you a number of pm replies to your pm to me about your sepsis concern last week......I don't know if you've read them as you didn't reply.

(To save people googling 'costochondritis', it is inflammation of cartilage either side of the sternum)

I know you went to a walk-in centre and still feel short of breathe, but is your GP aware of your current 'physical' and mental health?