Spiraling Health Anxiety

[Anxious Smurfette]

Hi all,

I wanted to share some discomfort that I have been feeling recently to see if anyone else has experienced similar issues with anxiety.

Over the past four days, I have been having a searing, burning sensation in my upper abdomen, both sides and my upper and lower back. Sometimes it is accompanied by a ‘spasm’ like feeling or tingling like feeling in my shoulders or arms.

I have a doctor’s appointment on May 8th which I was hoping to cancel because I don’t want to waste the doctor’s time or risk not being taken seriously because of the health anxiety. I have been to the doctors three times already this year and that is more times than I ever visited my doctor in all my years living in Ireland!

I do not experience the pain 24/7, it comes and goes and stays for no longer than 5 minutes at a time. I had a very bad morning this morning because I literally woke up in pain, managed to get back asleep and woke up anxious. After days wasted on Dr. Google, which as a software programmer and graphic designer, I know is designed to show a worst case scenario, I freaked myself out.

My doctor prescribed me 40mg of Pantoprazole in March and I took it for about two days. I was a member of a support group on Facebook when an admin warned me that Pantoprazole can lead to heart attacks and kidney failure and was being recalled so I was petrified to continue taking it and switched back to Zantac. I know that is stupid because I do trust the doctor, but my health anxiety made me petrified to continue taking my prescription.

I spent the past two days convinced that I have a stomach ulcer or symptoms of a heart attack. I keep worrying about imminent death, namely because I love my life and have so much to look forward to I am petrified of it being ripped from me (if an ulcer bleeds or an organ fails) which I know is a huge stretch for symptoms that come and go, but when they come they can be severe and then the panic kicks in and the vicious cycle repeats itself.
Health anxiety is extremely exhausting and debilitating at times. I won’t let it beat me but boy this week it is really kicking my ass! Thanks for reading!

[greendecker]

Hi all,

I wanted to share some discomfort that I have been feeling recently to see if anyone else has experienced similar issues with anxiety.

Four the past four days, I have been having a searing, burning sensation in my upper abdomen, both sides and my upper and lower back. Sometimes it is accompanied by a ‘spasm’ like feeling or tingling like feeling in my shoulders or arms.

I have a doctor’s appointment on April 8th which I was hoping to cancel because I don’t want to waste the doctor’s time or risk not being taken seriously because of the health anxiety. I have been to the doctors three times already this year and that is more times than I ever visited my doctor in all my years living in Ireland!

I do not experience the pain 24/7, it comes and goes and stays for no longer than 5 minutes at a time. I had a very bad morning this morning because I literally woke up in pain, managed to get back asleep and woke up anxious. After days wasted on Dr. Google, which as a software programmer and graphic designer, I know is designed to show a worst case scenario, I freaked myself out.

My doctor prescribed me 40mg of Pantoprazole in March and I took it for about two days. I was a member of a support group on Facebook when an admin warned me that Pantoprazole can lead to heart attacks and kidney failure and was being recalled so I was petrified to continue taking it and switched back to Zantac. I know that is stupid because I do trust the doctor, but my health anxiety made me petrified to continue taking my prescription.

I spent the past two days convinced that I have a stomach ulcer or symptoms of a heart attack. I keep worrying about imminent death, namely because I love my life and have so much to look forward to I am petrified of it being ripped from me (if an ulcer bleeds or an organ fails) which I know is a huge stretch for symptoms that come and go, but when they come they can be severe and then the panic kicks in and the vicious cycle repeats itself.
Health anxiety is extremely exhausting and debilitating at times. I won’t let it beat me but boy this week it is really kicking my ass! Thanks for reading!


It does suck! I definitely get how you love life and don't want anything to go wrong with your health. In theory, it would help to be more mindful of exactly how anxious you are about your health in comparison to the actual feelings you have. Try to isolate those two feelings and compare them. I definitely get if this hasn't/isn't working though, sometimes I just feel like it is just a natural worry that relates to some greater concern I might have. But maybe try to prove to yourself that you are capable of doing great things in life despite any health issues! I try to remember that we live and we die, it's better to be taking on life and just have something happen randomly out of our control than spend so much time worrying. In my opinion worrying makes me feel much more mortal and like I might die sooner and it kind of snowballs on itself in different ways. I'd say just go to the doctor and think about it with such hesitation, just be straightforward and if he says it might be in your head just go with it and say to yourself you did what you could. Just do what you can and be true to yourself!