barnie64
17-10-07, 12:19
Hello Everyone!
What a great site. I now know I am not alone. I'm Barnie, 42 yr old mum of 5 kids, 4 boys and eventually a girl. My problem is health anxiety mainly. It gets worse especially since I have been working from home. Too much time to sit and worry rather than being distracted. It started when my son then aged 4 was diagnosed with Perthes disease. He was walking with a limp for 8 months before being eventually diagnosed with the problem. A major operation two years later and he was in a wheelchair for 6 months. He's okay now a strapping 12 year old taller than me but does get some backache and occasional hip pain. I think the trauma of all this caught up with me sometime later and I had what you might call a nervous breakdown and panic attacks. It's been very up and down since. I think my age/hormones don't help either. I seem to always be worrying about myself or one of my children, mainly getting cancer. I get IBS because of it and my nerves are very sensitised. It doesn't take much for the panicky feelings to start. One of the children only has to say 'mum I've got this......' and my stomach lurches. I constantly am looking for reassurance. When I'm okay I think oh stupid woman what were you worrying about, but that doesn't help when you are in the height of anxiety. I was also a nurse/midwife before I had children and my GP just rolls
her eyes sometimes and says 'A little knowledge blah blah blah'. I try not to google but I can't help myself sometimes.
What I find helps is to think to myself 'What are you worrying about this week?' Also if my children do have something wrong with them , then I go on what my first instinct was as that is usually the common sense answer, before the little voice in my head says 'oh but what if its....'
I think this site is great, I didn't realise it was such a common problem.
I hope I can offer encouragement for other people here. I am very calm when it comes to other people in a crisis, just not myself.
Barnie
What a great site. I now know I am not alone. I'm Barnie, 42 yr old mum of 5 kids, 4 boys and eventually a girl. My problem is health anxiety mainly. It gets worse especially since I have been working from home. Too much time to sit and worry rather than being distracted. It started when my son then aged 4 was diagnosed with Perthes disease. He was walking with a limp for 8 months before being eventually diagnosed with the problem. A major operation two years later and he was in a wheelchair for 6 months. He's okay now a strapping 12 year old taller than me but does get some backache and occasional hip pain. I think the trauma of all this caught up with me sometime later and I had what you might call a nervous breakdown and panic attacks. It's been very up and down since. I think my age/hormones don't help either. I seem to always be worrying about myself or one of my children, mainly getting cancer. I get IBS because of it and my nerves are very sensitised. It doesn't take much for the panicky feelings to start. One of the children only has to say 'mum I've got this......' and my stomach lurches. I constantly am looking for reassurance. When I'm okay I think oh stupid woman what were you worrying about, but that doesn't help when you are in the height of anxiety. I was also a nurse/midwife before I had children and my GP just rolls
her eyes sometimes and says 'A little knowledge blah blah blah'. I try not to google but I can't help myself sometimes.
What I find helps is to think to myself 'What are you worrying about this week?' Also if my children do have something wrong with them , then I go on what my first instinct was as that is usually the common sense answer, before the little voice in my head says 'oh but what if its....'
I think this site is great, I didn't realise it was such a common problem.
I hope I can offer encouragement for other people here. I am very calm when it comes to other people in a crisis, just not myself.
Barnie