View Full Version : Has anyone else 'just known' they have that particular disease, and then not had it?
Long story short I'm feeling that ridiculous mixture between certainty, panic, and acceptance that I've got ovarian cancer. I feel like I just KNOW I have it, and this feeling isn't helped by all those articles saying things like 'you know your body best, you know when there's something wrong with it' because I clearly don't, lol. Do you guys know what I mean?
AMomentofClarity
25-10-18, 13:59
Long story short I'm feeling that ridiculous mixture between certainty, panic, and acceptance that I've got ovarian cancer. I feel like I just KNOW I have it, and this feeling isn't helped by all those articles saying things like 'you know your body best, you know when there's something wrong with it' because I clearly don't, lol. Do you guys know what I mean?
Everybody on here every day.
Every post on here is a testament to that!
The problem with we that are health anxious is we're actively looking for things to be scared of and our "senses" that something's wrong aren't reliable, and shouldn't be trusted because we always feel like that! And the idea "you know your body best, you know when there's something wrong with it" is only that you can have a feeling when something's not right based on how you usually feel, not that you can psychically diagnose yourself with specific diseases.
Ha! Yeah you both are right! It's that knowledge that people w/ health anxiety also sometimes get sick that bothers me too :< Such a frustrating anxiety disorder
Oh yes, I was 100% sure I had colon cancer after reading about it and studying my stool (yep..). So when I went to get colonoscopy (which I paid full price for, because fully covered one was one month later and I was sure I would die waiting for it) I was convinced I am walking to get my death sentence.
Well what do you know, colonoscopy was clear, not even smallest polyp, let alone cancer. Made me feel like an idiot and cost me 300 euros.
Ha! Yeah you both are right! It's that knowledge that people w/ health anxiety also sometimes get sick that bothers me too :< Such a frustrating anxiety disorder
It's horrible isn't it? But we're no more or less likely to get anything nasty than all the other people wandering around without thinking about their health every minute. Health anxiety is largely about our inability to accept uncertainty. We're always saying "what if..."? But we have to learn to deal with the fact the things we're fearing aren't impossible but worrying about them does us no good. There's a faulty thinking that worrying helps us in some way. It makes us prepared. It makes us extra vigiliant. But... well is that working for us? Really?
I don't know if you've ever explored CBT? It can be very effective in helping health anxiety. Since I had it I'm not cured but I can deal with it much better.
It's horrible isn't it? But we're no more or less likely to get anything nasty than all the other people wandering around without thinking about their health every minute. Health anxiety is largely about our inability to accept uncertainty. We're always saying "what if..."? But we have to learn to deal with the fact the things we're fearing aren't impossible but worrying about them does us no good. There's a faulty thinking that worrying helps us in some way. It makes us prepared. It makes us extra vigiliant. But... well is that working for us? Really?
I don't know if you've ever explored CBT? It can be very effective in helping health anxiety. Since I had it I'm not cured but I can deal with it much better.
I've had a lot of CBT, but my mental health picture is complicated, not just anxiety, and there's never enough time on the NHS to go through all the issues - the last round I had we focused on my germ phobia / OCD type issues rather than HA which actually wasn't an issue as little as six months ago, so... I guess the answer is I've never had CBT for this specific thing but I've had it for other stuff :/ I should get out the old paperwork and see if there's anything relevant
I've had a lot of CBT, but my mental health picture is complicated, not just anxiety, and there's never enough time on the NHS to go through all the issues - the last round I had we focused on my germ phobia / OCD type issues rather than HA which actually wasn't an issue as little as six months ago, so... I guess the answer is I've never had CBT for this specific thing but I've had it for other stuff :/ I should get out the old paperwork and see if there's anything relevant
Yeah I think I was a bit more straightforward because HA is just one way GAD pokes its head out and there's similar patterns in most things for me. But there's probably a lot of similar things to take away.
paranoid-viking
25-10-18, 17:48
Many times. That is what health anxiety is all about.
Everybody on here every day.
:emot-nod:
Positive thoughts
All the time. I've realized that maybe I don't know my body better than anyone else! [emoji1787]
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All the time. I've realized that maybe I don't know my body better than anyone else! [emoji1787]
Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
Yep! :x
yes, I'm experiencing this again in relation to pancreatic cancer. About every 2 years the symptoms pop up again and again I go through the same thing. Interestingly in the last 8 years of experiencing health anxiety, I have only had 1 year that I did not 'know' I had something or other wrong with me - the year that I was on anti-anxiety medication!
Something like two or three people on this entire site in the history of this site have been correct, and had the thing they thought. And that is hearsay on my part, so I might even be wrong.
So out of the tens of thousands of posts, 2 or 3.
Anxiousamyj
26-10-18, 16:16
Many, Many times. I'm definitely not qualified to diagnose myself and neither is Google. I have just come off a terrible HA spiral, which is good in a way, because it led to me seeking treatment for HA. I currently have no diseases that I am aware of, except an anxiety disorder. At some point, I think most of us get really tired of the anxiety, and all medical tests have been fine. It's a decision I make every day to not let it get the best of me. I succeed most days, but some I don't. The difference is, now that I've had treatment, the HA blips are shorter and less severe. I now have tools to handle it.
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