Health anxiety returned after doing so well!

[snowflake293]

It has been a while since I posted and in general things are going much better for me with my HA

I have recently moved into a new house and I think that has been a huge ‘distraction’ from my fears. However, now things are more settled with the house I am finding my mind and worries are back on my body/health L

I have been getting a lot of non-specific niggles recently, specifically a faint stabbing pain around my kidney area on my right hand side. I have also been having diarrhea on and off. I am trying so hard not to fall back into my old way of thinking and I am trying to use all the techniques I have used over the years but I can feeling it all creeping back and now I am anxious about getting anxious if that makes sense? My biggest fear is the c-word and there are triggers everywhere L

It had gotten so much better, I was actually at the point where I felt ‘normal’ and not like I am obsessed with it, but I can feel my fears growing especially over the c-word.

I am not asking for reassurance on my symptoms cause all that is doing is feeding my HA. What I wanted to know, if how do you deal with it when these fears come back? Has anyone else experience a long period of relative ‘normality’ then slipped back into old habits?

[tracieann]

i have and it come back with a vengeance i have done not too bad for a fair bit of time now its back and its terrible i try to keep myself amused so i dont think too much but a friend is ill with the c word and im obsessed again its scary and frustrating im checking things all the time

[snowflake293]

i have and it come back with a vengeance i have done not too bad for a fair bit of time now its back and its terrible i try to keep myself amused so i dont think too much but a friend is ill with the c word and im obsessed again its scary and frustrating im checking things all the time

Sorry to hear about your friend :( I find it really tough whenever I hear about someone getting ill. I worry I will be next, and then I feel guilty for having those thoughts!

I don't even like typing the word or saying it, so I usually call it c word all the time. I used to avoid everything to do with it (like if it came on the news, I'd turn the channel over)

One thing that actually helps me in a strange way though is knowing how many people I know personally who have had c word and are better now <3 sadly not everyone, but lots of people I know got through it.

I guess I am just hyper-aware of my bodily sensations. if you focus on anything too much it seems worse than it is x

[claire92]

It sounds like you're able to think rationally, so try not to freak out too much. Easier said than done I know! But if there's anything that's really noticeable, see the doctor. I recommend checking out The Anxiety Guy on YT he talks a lot about health anxiety - and he has a really powerful video about the fear of getting cancer. That helped me a lot.

My reasoning is, there are almost always clear cut signs when someone does have cancer. Whether that be a really ugly mole, blood in pee, or a very obvious lump somewhere, our bodies want to warn us about these alien cells. That's a way I rationalise it.

[Cab9792]

I feel your pain. I was/kinda still am going through a lymphoma scare. I had a benign biopsy in April so that's great but I have a follow up in two days to check on my lymph nodes so my anxiety is creeping back up. I didn't have health anxiety at all before this now I constantly think of cancer. I read about it all the time. I literally just took a bubble bath and read all about melanoma. Ugh. Usually when I stay off the internet I do okay. I work in a doctors office which really doesn't help. I constantly see sick people. Anyway, diarrhea every so often is fine. I get it like every couple of days or so. Some days I feel 100% fine and some days, like today, I start freaking out thinking about all the things that could go wrong with me. When I have it, I try to tell myself, even if I did get cancer...there are so many wonderful treatments now. I'm young too. I have to tell myself it's definitely not a death sentence. I freak out over every single symptoms too. Like I have a few red dots on the palate of my mouth...I get scared over that... when my poop is very skinny...lol..i get scared over that. I literally stand up and look at every bowel movement now. Never did that before. Ugh. I try to ask myself ...If I didn't have anxiety, would I even be worried about this right now? If I say no...I try to let it go.