View Full Version : Wheel of Fortune Health Anxiety
Can anybody relate, number of worries at once or nothing or everything? I'm in therapy but we've yet to properly discuss distraction techniques in the two sessions so far. I seem to be incredibly jumpy at any body twinge and ache and currently worrying about cervical cancer and 'what if' I have pain when I have sex even though its not an issue. I had abnormal cells zapped off last Jan and clear check up in July but my anxiety is now trying to get me to worry about an issue that isn't even here.
I think you should wait until the therapist gets to the part that is going to help....cos we've been through all of this here for years with you. You know, if you read on here, that many people will relate. So, what about telling us some more about the therapist ?
We've discussed SMART goals and I've mentioned two I'd like to achieve. I said I'd like to not analyse every body twinge and establish when something is a genuine concern and when it's my anxiety. She said its OCD and Health Anxiety and to focus on one at a time so I chose the HA as that's the most concerning and consuming. I was honest with her about how it affects my work and personal life, often not focusing because my mind wants to go and check and prod one thing or another.
Well, that sounds like a good positive start - how do you feel about it ?
I feel good and I feel maybe that's why my anxiety is fighting back harder. She's asked why I worry about my health, I said maybe it's control?
ankietyjoe
16-01-20, 11:41
my anxiety is now trying to get me to worry about an issue that isn't even here.
Try and look at this differently in the short term. Anxiety doesn't DO anything, it's a normal bodily process that feeds off stimulus. It reacts to danger and is autonomous, it can't make you worry about anything. It's your reaction and your thoughts that are the problem, and this is a good thing. It's good because it means there is something you can do about it (this is what the therapy should help you with).
Try and move away from the idea that anxiety is a malevolent and uncontrollable entity that has a will of it's own, it's not. It's like saying that your own sweat is causing you to feel hot, which is the wrong way around. The sweat is there because you're hot, it's not causing it. Similarly the anxiety is there because of your own habitual thought patterns, your anxiety is not causing the thought patterns.
That's a good point. So I'm so used to feeling anxious, my body is on autopilot?
NotDeadYet
16-01-20, 15:24
I feel good and I feel maybe that's why my anxiety is fighting back harder.
This post actually brought a huge smile to my face this morning. This is real progress. You should be incredibly proud of yourself.
Best Wishes
I am so happy to hear about your therapy starting and you sound like you're already doing great! I agree with ankietyjoe. Your body has been producing so much adrenaline for so long that it will take time for it to settle down. Anxiety is a chemical reaction to a stimulus. People like us just react to smaller and smaller things over time as we become more and more hyper aware. You are EXCEPTIONALLY hyper aware of every sensation you feel. This is SO normal for someone with anxiety, especially health anxiety. As you work through things with your therapist your adrenaline levels will go down and you'll stop noticing every single sensation.
Also, therapy can help you figure out more of the basis for your anxiety. I think control is definitely a huge one. I also talked a lot with my therapist about a fear that if I didn't worry something bad would happen. I think that's a major trigger in health anxiety. So, as you start to let your guard down that instinct you've developed to attack every small thing will probably linger for a long time.
The biggest thing is to turn the "what ifs" into "so whats" ... instead of - what if this feeling means this terrible thing you can start to say - so what if such and such hurts? It takes time but it's so so possible!
Good luck moving forward with therapy!
Edit to add: Yes also to what you said - often in the beginning you'll have big waves of "normal" and then sudden set backs. This can be frustrating, but over time you will start to level off and have longer and more stable periods of feeling good until that becomes your norm!
I feel good and I feel maybe that's why my anxiety is fighting back harder.
Good, then stick on with it and really engage with the ideas you are given. Maybe - its become a habit for you, that way of thinking. Now its time to learn new ways to think, and new habits.
It was my deliberate intention of course to not reply to your original statement - that is the old way you would have come on here, asking about your worries about physical niggles. We've been there for years with you Rebecca, its been done so many times and got nowhere. You know the way your HA is, you know the way it is for others. Lets carry on talking about what things you are learning in this therapy process, the difficulties, the breaking of the habits. This won't be easy, don't expect it to be.
ankietyjoe
16-01-20, 18:42
That's a good point. So I'm so used to feeling anxious, my body is on autopilot?
Pretty much, and it's ok to recognise this.
Your panic response is complete autopilot, there's nothing you can do to prevent that happening. What you can do it control the 5-10 seconds of immediate reaction that happens after a trigger, and re-learn how to not overreact. You're currently still in the stages where your automatic learned response to any perceived negative sensation is to catastrophise. Therapy, and practice will help you deal with that reaction to sensation and eventually you will either give it a mental 'so what' or even further down the line you won't even consciously acknowledge the sensation any more.
I appreciate your replies, thank you.
What to do I do about the urges to check? I just had urge to feel my leg and see I could find bumps and noticed a difference. Why am I like this?
ankietyjoe
16-01-20, 22:28
It's not really that complicated, when you get an urge...just don't do it. Yes it's hard, but you have to keep not doing it. You have to practice not following the checking urge for months on end.
The reason you're like this (and anybody with HA) is because you spent so long doing the wrong things. We all did. But as I said before, the good news is that it's really just a habit, and habits can be broken, you just need to be determined to break the habit.
Wow. I almost shit a brick when I saw this post, Becca. I think this is the most rational I've ever heard you. Keep it up.
What did you ever decide about medication?
Think of the urges as any other addiction or habit. When you're on a diet there are so many times you want to break it and eat cookies or drink soda. When you're trying to quit smoking there are so many times you feel the urge to have a cigarette. It's all about making a commitment and accepting that there will be a lot of times you feel uncomfortable. You need to accept that feeling with the understanding that it will pass and you will be better off in the end and that giving in to the urge right now will be only a temporary relief.
MyNameIsTerry
17-01-20, 03:53
When you feel the urge to check you go and do something else. You insert waiting time so that you are exposed to the feelings waiting creates. You keep doing this. Often 15 mins of an activity is advised but it's not always possible so do the best you can. You get up and get on with something so your mind isn't sitting dragging your vision to the spot to check on.
Learning to sit with it takes time so it's often best to use techniques that fill your mind initially so you are too busy. Then you start learning to just sit and say no.
There are other ways such as taking control of a check and doing it in a more mindful way and telling yourself you are doing it because you want to and not because you have too. My advice would be to try the filling your time first so you are getting used to steering your mind away from obsession. Try a method like taking control if you can't get another method to work.
Read about breaking compulsions. There are various methods and I found I needed several to deal with mine. Mine are long gone and it took me a good 12-18 months of hard work.
And you may not feel any relief from performing a compulsion any way. There is this simplistic view of OCD that compulsion = a big sigh of relief. Many OCDers don't get this at all and checking forms like Googling/testing are more aimed at cycle start/re-starting anyway so don't fit the classic model often perpetuated on OCD sites.
Plan. Don't try to everything at once in a Cold Turkey fashion. It's not as effective as a graduated approach as seen in ERP. List your compulsions. Now pick some to work on. You may find some are too hard to eliminate so try others. Sometimes I found easier ones could be resolved to give me the extra resilience to work on harder ones.
And underlying levels of anxiety prop up obsessive-compulsion cycle disorders. Put someone under stress and they struggle more with OCD themes. Therefore look to indirect treatment in the form of healthier living, calming techniques, nurturing activities and cut out more negative aspects of life where you can.
Wow. I almost shit a brick when I saw this post, Becca. I think this is the most rational I've ever heard you. Keep it up.
What did you ever decide about medication?
I mentioned it to my GP who suggested the CBT High Intense course first. I did say I'd be struggling for five years but she said to do the course then discuss after I still feel I need it. My therapist said the stats are similar, assuming she can't say meds are better.
Okay, I was just wondering, as meds help me to put into effect all the things I learned in therapy. But you do need the CBT High Intense course. The meds DO NOT replace therapy; they only help some of us put it to use. Sounds like you have a good GP.
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