Health Anxiety?

[davidr]

Hello thanks Meg for creating the health anxiety forum, I was wondering where to post next with questions etc and now I have a home :)

Does anyone else find they are losing big chunks of the present worrying about their future health? Do others find that large parts of their waking hours are filled up with monitoring sensations coming from various parts of the body and then feeding this information back to the brain to confirm you are OK and you can go on to the next moment.

It seems a lot of the processes my body would subconsciously deal with have now moved to the front part of my brain and I am now acutely aware of things like breathing, heart, circulation, touch, pain etc and that I need to manage each event consciously for fear if I don't I might suffocate, or my heart will stop beating or beat too much etc.

I am having other medical tests next week which again are not pleasant which again causes more anxiety but I seem on a never ending treadmill. I have spent a year in constant fear of my heart, now I am told it is certainly not my heart, my mind has shifted to something else and I feel no joy, which I thought I would at being told my heart is OK, this has REALLY shocked me. I felt once I know it's not my heart I will be well but I don't seem to be able to let go of things.

I seem to be occupying a seperate reality where I feel my survival is constantly under threat and I need to take charge of things to ensure I do not die. I seem to have taken the normal rational fear of death we all have and magnified it to the point of it becoming a phobia I think, I am not sure?

[sal]

Hi David

I have lost days even weeks worrying about if i will get over the anxiety and still do, although i must admit i can dismiss it a lot more than i used to. I look back to the last 6 years i have suffered from this and the first two still remain a question to me.

It does seem such a waste but i also realise out of the bad i have learnt so much. Not through choice i hastened to add but through what i have been through i feel i have learnt so much.

It isnt easy for us but maybe how i believe at the end of the day something good comes out of it.



Lots of Love Sal xxxxx

[jamesy]

hi david you describe everything that i feel myself i am terrified that im suddenly going to die its taken over my life and my brain is so tuned into every little body sensation that is going on inside me if i get the slightest pain in my chest i immeadiatley get this wave of fear right through me i can feel the blood draining from me and get this cold feeling in my hands i cant get the thought thats there is something wrong with my heart out of my mind ive had it checked by a private consultant , been to casualty for ecg and they say its fine. this still hasnt helped me i live in constant fear of dropping dead it scaring me now just writing about it, i cant move on because of this on edge feeling. i think my problem is that as well as my anxiety i now have ocd . i need to be busy a concentrate on whatever im doing if i ve time to think its just torture. nobody in my life knows i feel like this apart from my doc some people just have the attitude of when your times up its up (like my wife) i could enjoy life much more if i didnt have this fear of death i really feel for you and hope things get better for you i wonder if there are any others out there who feel this way.

take care my friend, jamesy

[lainey]

Hi David

I used to feel like you , and still do to a certain extent but have learnt to be positive and not panic everytime I have a twinge, with time it will get better I promise you

take care

Elaine x

[mojo5]

Hi David

I understand completely, I am in the same situation as you except my tests have not been so extensive.

Speaking to people on this site has helped me rationalise the way I feel.
At lot of these 'unwell' feelings have to be just that ..feelings.

It does become an obsessive and unhelpful pre-occupation.

I was on 'high alert' for a long time - months. And now I would say I'm on medium alert. It does get better, but I am beggining to realise it may take some time.

Key things I find are........

Keeping occupied
Looking after yourself well
Thinking POSITIVELY ( as difficult as I know that can be at times)

Hope you're feeeling better soon

Best Regards,
Mo.

[Meg]

Its not called Health Anxiety for nothing . You are anxious and obsessed with your health, others are anxious and obsessed about driving etc
In the end its all anxiety which is a irrational and over concern in response to a trigger.

I see a lot of talk about OCD here - beware of collecting another label. All anxiety involves excessive/ obsessive thinking pattern. This in itself is not OCD.

The feelings and sensations are awful and its scary thinking that your body is dissolving around you but realistically .. is it ?

You need to learn not to jump off the end of the scale each time you become aware of a new or recurring sensation.

You are in a disproportionate thinking pattern that encourages this and it is this that needs the work to resolve it.











Meg
www.overcominganxiety.co.uk
You cannot conquer fear until you have learned what it is you're afraid of. The enemy is ignorance. Vivian Vance

[Hemaluta]

Hi guys, im new to this forum and came across is when i was looking for some reassurance about how im feeling... i have had panic attacks since i was 8 and did learn to live with them , until i broke up with my boyfr5iend of two years and suddenly i began to notice that i had a slight tremble, this then made me think, hang on a minute what if its the start of a brain tumour, then it njust went out of control, every day for the past 4 months i have been in constant panic, always on edge, my head hurts constantly, my neck hurts and when i walk it feels like the ground is moving, im getting so fed up, please someone help,
much love x

Angela Hemsley

[Tracy68]

Hi David
You are certainly not alone with this one. I'm one of those people as well. Headache = brain tumour, bad cough = cancer, left arm pain = heart attack, god the list goes on. And yep i feel like i'm losing part of my life to these thoughts and i hate it. I get mad at myself for feeling like this, i have two girls and feel that i'm losing precious time with them. But unfortunately its something that will take time to get over but WE will :D.
Take care
Tracy
x

[tessa]

a small bite on my wrist='s a brown recluse bite='s losing my arm. I could go on, but won't. Just know you are certainlly NOT alone!!!!!

tessa

[FAN]

hi hemaluta,
sorry to hear your not feeling too well im sure you do know that what you are feeling is not the serious stuff you imagine, but all connected with the anxiety and panic im sure reading some of the other posts will help reassure you that we all do as you are and imagine the worse but you can be helped to think more rationally

fan x

[sandy]

hi hemaluta, i to am new to the site, and i can relate to all you have said,and more, to many worries to mention, i try to distract myself by doing something else, or phoneing some one for a chat,

[peter6_edwards]

David, I have exactly the same fears and I do feel like I'm giving up incredibly large amounts of time worrying. I would like to say that I have the answer to making us feel better however in reality I don't believe there is one answer or a quick fix. I want you to know that you are not alone, I find writing my thoughts/fears out and then rationally answering them helps me to get a more 'normal' perspective on what I'm fearing. Try and keep busy in your spare time, I play rugby and football, it helps. The worst times are when you have the time to worry. I hope it helps to know that you are not alone, Peter