New to the Forum

[PSThinEdge]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first time on this forum and in fact on any forum.

I have recently developed health anxiety after a scare late in Nov that landed me in the ER for an overnight stay. Since then i have had more tests, and seen so many more specialists than I ever have.

The underlying health issue was identified as asthma triggered by an infection, and high blood pressure. The asthma eventually went away after the infection cleared though it took 3 months. I tried 4 different meds for the high BP and they all gave me really bad side effects, so I went off them to try and deal with it naturally. My BP is under control and in the normal, to slightly elevated range, and I am probably relatively healthy now, i have been unable to return to a normal lifestyle of work, friends etc. because of anxiety around random symptoms.

I was symptomatic after the ER visit and I attributed a lot of that to the High BP (thank you google, even though its supposed to be largely without symptoms for most). Now every symptom i have that reminds me of that time, or that's new or unusual sends me into a panic about my BP going up again. I was checking my BP 3-4 times/day and obsessing about all kinds of foods and herbs to help control it. I have managed to get past all of that but this most recent one is exhausting and i don't seem to have the strength to deal with all of this.

The most recent development is a bout of sleeplessness that has me in a panic. I am anxious about getting enough sleep which causes me to get less sleep, which I'm afraid will resurface my High BP issues. Its a vicious cycle that i can't seem to break out of. I panic when i walk into my bedroom during the day, or as the day progresses towards evening, in anticipation of another sleepless night.

I have read about every mindfulness tip i can and keep trying them obsessively, but that clearly isn't going to help.

Please help me break out of this cycle if you can

[doglover1967]

Since you are in such early stages, if you can possibly start therapy now you can easily quash this before it really sinks it’s hooks in. That’s my best recommendation. If you’re insured check to see if it will at least pay for some sessions, mine pays for 30 sessions a year, but I know some don’t.

[bulan]

Welcome! And I'm sorry about what you've gone through. Sounds like it was frightening and unpleasant. ...You don't need to answer this question if you're not comfortable, but have you gone through something traumatic in your past? My health anxiety seemed to hit out of the blue after a health scare, but I learned later on that a previous traumatic experienced had helped trigger my anxiety. Now, whenever HA resurfaces, I immediately know I still need to keep working through my old trauma.

I agree with doglover, absolutely cut it off at the root. I let my HA go on for an entire year, and it was hell. We all have to deal with it sometime, and we all want our old confident selves back, so going after it sooner is much better than later.

[swajj]

Why did your doctor prescribe BP meds in the first place?

If your BP is being affected by the anxiety to the point that it is up and down like a yo-yo then you are better off with meds. Uncontrolled BP is dangerous and can lead to stroke. I take Atacand and it has no side effects at all that I have noticed.

---------- Post added at 19:37 ---------- Previous post was at 19:30 ----------


Since you are in such early stages, if you can possibly start therapy now you can easily quash this before it really sinks it’s hooks in. That’s my best recommendation. If you’re insured check to see if it will at least pay for some sessions, mine pays for 30 sessions a year, but I know some don’t.

That isn’t actually true. I started therapy soon after my HA started. It still took nearly three years to recover. We need to be honest because it is more often the case that therapy takes quite some time to work and it requires a lot of hard word.

[doglover1967]

That isn’t actually true. I started therapy soon after my HA started. It still took nearly three years to recover. We need to be honest because it is more often the case that therapy takes quite some time to work and it requires a lot of hard word.

I’d take three years over the thirty I’ve suffered. I never said it would be a quick fix, repairing our psyche takes time and effort. My point was simply get started recovering now, don’t wait like I did! :)

[mindyanajones]

To reiterate what others have said, I'd definitely start therapy sooner rather than later. I've only been dealing with HA for a couples months after it hit randomly. My mother had a big health scare that went on for about seven months, and a month after everything resolved and she was doing okay, my HA cropped up and went from 0-60 within a day. I started therapy about three weeks later, and it has been a struggle every single day. HA has currently consumed about 80% of my life.

Mindfulness might still work for you. It's not going to be a quick fix overnight. It takes practice. Mindfulness hasn't worked for me yet so far, but it's about developing it into a habit. I bought a journal, actually, called the Sweet Ass Journal to Develop Your Happiness Muscle in 100 Days in hopes that having a written guide can help me with being mindful and in the present. Having something like that might work for you, too.