I'm constantly worried about my health. How do you relax from the worrying?

[Dynamito]

I currently have various issues/symptoms at the moment and all of them could be explained easily, but I keep thinking I have serious illness.

The last week or so i have been experiencing aching in my belly area. I think its lack of bowel movements due to IBS, but I also worry it's bowel/colon/intestinal cancer.

Since yesterday I have had a very small amount of nausea, gas, heartburn and lightheadedness. This could be explained by general anxiety levels higher than usual. However, my health anxiety makes me think it's something more sinister in my stomach or gallbladder.

The last week I have also had shoulder and neck aching/pains. This could be explained by anxiety and also having overextended/lifted too heavy at the gym when doing a variety of exercises for my back/shoulders.

See what I mean? I have these issues which can be explained away by mostly being anxiety/stress related. However, I am constantly thinking the worse wih my symptoms.

I am going to the doctor early next week, but does it seem silly to explain all those symptoms to the doctor?

Anyway, I also wanted to ask, how do you get on with daily life when you have health anxiety? Unfortunately I am unemployed at the moment, so my mind can't be fully distracted from HA, which is frustrating.

[ankietyjoe]

How many times a day do you Google symptoms?

[Dynamito]

How many times a day do you Google symptoms?

Honestly I try not to these days, but still doesn't stop me thinking about what every specific symptom could be rather than believing it's more anxiety related. It is frustrating tbh.

[ankietyjoe]

Well if that means that you don't do it often, stop completely. If that means you don't do it at all, keep doing that and work on the habitual thinking.

Every time you think of an imaginary possibility, say out loud 'I don't need to do this'. Keep doing that for weeks, or months if necessary.

All it really is, is un-training something you've spent a long time practising doing. You can't switch the 'what if' brain off overnight.

[Nathan39]

Im doing a similar thing with HA at the moment.
I have been off work for the last week with a cold and i keep focusing on different symptoms and worrying about them, thinking the worst.
I got into such a panic last night thinking there was something wrong with my chest, lungs breathing that i went to a&e. When i got to having the initial check the practitioner said i was fine and to see my gp / a pharmacist on monday to ask about treatments to relieve my cold symptoms. I got home and managed to get about 4 hrs sleep.
My anxiety level has been building again today.
I dont know why this has come back over a simple cold. My daily life seems really difficult at the moment and i would love to know how i can get through this so i can get back to work.

[JennaMehl5]

Just wanted to chime in and let you know I can really relate. I've always had health anxiety like if I got sick or felt something weird but it would pass as I got better quickly or a check at the dr if I had something weird and my mind would be eased. This winter I got sick for many weeks with lots of weird symptoms the worst being a persistent throat pain that wouldn't go away for many weeks. I went to 2 urgent cares and had 2 emergency room visits where at one I did test positive for strep throat but had minimal relief from antibiotics. I was tired and run down and knew I didnt feel right and my panic was just building. I went to another urgent care early this month and explained my story and was given a rapid test for mononucleosis (glandular fever or epstein barr virus it's also known as) and finally found out that's what I had but at this point my anxiety had taken over and I was stuck in such a high state of anxiety I almost felt like I was on the verge of multiple panic attacks all day long or just in the state of panic non stop. I was checking my body for lumps and bumps and actually caused awful sore spots and bruises. My stomach has been upset for weeks, I tend to get an irritable bowel flare up when anxious, and on top of being sick for 2 months the anxiety has added to a big amount of weight loss bc I cant eat when I'm highly anxious I feel like this sick feeling in my stomach and nausea. For 3 weeks now every single night as soon as I'd actually fall asleep, I wouldnt be asleep very long before I'd wake up having an anxiety hot flash and feeling on the verge of panic. This has gone on every night, multiple times so I've been getting little sleep which adds to the anxiety. I started to develop this dread of my bedroom and bed time. I would walk past my bedroom and just look at my bed and feel dread and anxiety. Just an awful feeling. I had full blood work done the day I was diagnosed with mono and the dr reassures me my blood work is great absolutely nothing elevated and that other than having mono I am very healthy. You'd think this would have eased my mind but the anxiety from being unwell for so long had already taken hold too strong. On the advice of a friend I ordered a hemp/CBD oil which arrived on Friday. Friday and last night I still woke up a lot but the hot flushing and panicky racing thoughts were not happening. I'm not 100% better bc mono takes a while to recover and all the little aches or pains I get still freak me out a little but I am doing better than I was for most of the last 3 weeks. I hate how being sick just sets off health anxiety and this was one of the worst and longest episodes I've ever had. I went thru like 4 severe illnesses in my head convincing myself I had them. Hoping you feel better!!

[ErinKC]

You sound a lot like me. You know in your rational mind that your symptoms are benign and easily explained by anxiety or other innocent causes, but you still can't quite shake yourself out of the anxiety loop.

Not working absolutely makes it harder. I'm a stay at home mom and if I don't keep myself busy I fall right back into my anxiety habits because my idle mind leaves the door right open for invasive thoughts to flood in.

I see a therapist regularly, which helps a lot. But, I realize that may be difficult if you're not working now. For the moment I would just find as many ways to keep busy as possible. First and foremost, get our of your house whenever you can. Go to the library, the gym, just walk around at at store, go for a drive or a walk, etc... If you have to be at home find things to do - read a book, watch a show you like, organize a closet.

And, I don't necessarily think it's silly to explain your symptoms to a doctor as long as you also mention your anxiety. If you make an appt with your doctor use it as an opportunity to discuss your anxiety symptoms and possible treatments. You can still go over your symptoms to get input from you doctor as long as you're prepared to accept their guidance/advice.

[jray23]

Yes, keeping yourself busy (your mind especially) in some way is key until you can get these thought patterns under control. It's good that you're recognizing them - it's a start.

Perhaps if at first you're not able to "win the battle" with the simple, benign rationalization over the worst-case rationalization, you can commit to kicking the can down the road? Essentially deciding to procrastinate your worries. i e. "X is bothering me now, but I will worry about it later today.". Or next week, or whatever. You can even pre-schedule a time to worry - but it has to be contained to only that time. This way you'll be getting on with life most of the time...and you'll often find when that scheduled time rolls around you won't want to bother anyways!

Idk works for me but I am a master procrastinator so it's right in my wheelhouse. :)

As for the doctor, if you're already going, sure, tell him/her the exact same thing you told us. No reason to actively hide symptoms. But also not reasonable to schedule appointments willy nilly.

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[ErinKC]

Perhaps if at first you're not able to "win the battle" with the simple, benign rationalization over the worst-case rationalization, you can commit to kicking the can down the road? Essentially deciding to procrastinate your worries. i e. "X is bothering me now, but I will worry about it later today.". Or next week, or whatever. You can even pre-schedule a time to worry - but it has to be contained to only that time. This way you'll be getting on with life most of the time...and you'll often find when that scheduled time rolls around you won't want to bother anyways!

This works for me as well. If I have a troubling symptom I'll put a reminder in my phone to check in on it in a week or two weeks or something. I tell myself, if it's still there in that time then a reasonable person would go have it checked out and if it's not, it's not something to worry about. Then I give myself permission to stop thinking about it until then. Just about every time I've completely forgotten about it by the time the reminder goes off!

[NicolasDoplin]

For me, this topic is quite personal, and there is no scheme here, everything is completely individual.

Usually, to get away from the excitement, I watch movies or TV shows, listen to music or read books. If this does not help, then I go for a walk in the park. In the fresh air, I try not to think about my problems, but just to enjoy nature. Hope somehow helped you.

[Liddy1993]

I don’t think there’s a quick fix for it. For me googling is definitely a huge no no I could easily sit down and google for hours about whatever current worry I have to the point where I know too much about things I shouldn’t know about at all. Too much knowledge is dangerous I truly believe that. I’m trying to stop googling too so I’d definitely recommend you do it too, we aren’t doctors we haven’t gone to school for years to study medicine and health too much info at our fingertips. Keep yourself busy whether that be with work or hang out with friends or simply read a book or go for a walk anything to keep your mind slightly distracted. Wish there was a button we could switch off but you need to help yourself and take baby steps. Best of luck x

[jray23]

If this does not help, then I go for a walk in the park. In the fresh air, I try not to think about my problems, but just to enjoy nature.

You know, I think there's something to this. I've seen studies with loose correlation between trees and improved depression, things along those lines. And personally, I am by far not an outdoorsy type of guy, but I have found that simple walks in nature areas, a bit away from the city, seem to refresh me mentally. And then there's the rise in depression in the winter people get, some severely...I always thought it was the lack of sun and warmth but I wonder if lack of exposure to nature (as most of it is hibernating!) contributes too...


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[unsure_about_this]

I been struggling with this for the last 8 years, talking about it, not google as much, going to therapy