Health anxiety

[jay28]

Hi everyone

I have posted a few times on this forum and have found it helps, im a 27 year old male and my doctor diagnosed me with anxiety 6 months ago.

In the last 6 months i have been to the doctors quite alot with problems i have, i have also been to the opticians and dentist.

The thing is i am convinced that there is something seriously wrong with me, each time i see my doctor he checks out any symptoms i have and tells me that i am ok which reasures me. But then i always seem to find something else to worry about and the cycle continues.

I have not had any tests done, but the doctor does take my symptoms seriously and gives me a thorough examination and he is very understanding.

I am always checking myself and looking for anything that does not seem right, i do have alot of muscle tension in neck back and shoulders, i often feel my heart racing and struggle to get to sleep.

I do feel stressed out at work which i think is also playing a part, i have also just started an anxiety management course at college which i hope will help. Can anybody else relate to the above and if the doctor thought there was anything wrong i am sure my doctor would have sent me for tests or something.

[Lilith1980]

Hi Jason, I suffer with GAD - I did go through a period of health anxiety though.

Your GP would definitely refer you for further tests if he thought something was wrong so try and reassure yourself with that.

Although I dont seek reassurance of my health, I seek reassurance in other things - security in my relationship being the main one. Constantly checking that my partner is ok, whether he is annoyed with me etc.

I think the constant checking/need for reassurance comes from low self esteem and lack of confidence in ourselves. The course you are doing is a positive move and I am sure this will help. Have you thought about having counselling to discuss your feelings?

xxxxx

[jay28]

Lilith

Thanks for your reply and uderstanding. I just feel really down at the moment i felt my eyes filling up just reading your reply i know it sounds silly, last time i saw the doctor we spoke about councillng, he said that he would like to see if the course im doing helps first then if im still having problems he said we would look at psychotherapy.

[doglover]

Hi Jason
i understand how you feel. I have pretty constant upper back pain, tingling arms, sore spots on back and ribs, sometimes heart racing etc etc.
No matter how many times im told its muscle tension i need to know for sure so am having an mri done privately cos the GP wont refer me for one.
I am determined not to let this rule my life and am doing everything i can to make myself better and less anxious.
Ive started swimming twice a week (good for back/muscle tension), stopped drinking caffiene and alcohol, taking citalopram, had acupunture and im going to have counselling.
I am improving in as much as i feel stronger mentally but until i get that mri result i dont think i can make much more progress.
I hope you find the counselling helps
Donna x

[JennyW]

Hello Jason. I appreciate how you're feeling. OVer the last couple of years you wouldn't believe how many times I've seen the doctor over cancer fears, heart fears - it's scary how powerful and real all the symptoms seem.

At one point I had convinced myself I had MS - god knows where that came from but I was going out of my mind. Ended up having an MRI scan and everthings fine.

All I can say is that during this extremely anxious time I was under a lot of stress. My husband was away (he's in the Navy) and we were moving house so I can only assume that I just couldn't cope.

Perhaps some counselling would help? At the time I was receiving bereavement counselling and I talked about my health issues too which did help.

[Knight]

I can relate to it. I'm 26 and have been having problems since April. The doctors seemed to take it serious enough and had me checked out, even took an ambulance once (huge waste of time). When he finally said "maybe it's just stress" I figured what he ment was "I have no idea whats wrong, please go away". A bit later I found out he lied to me about some test results, and on a differnt occasion misdiagnosed a skin conditon that ended up being Psoriasis. Needless to say I'm seeing a new GP now, but it's gone back to the "maybe it's just stress" deal. Well after all thats happened, of course I'm stressed now damnit! :mad: I'm still not buying it. Theres plenty of those days where I just feel depressed and broken cause it feels like I can't get help and no one cares, and if your having those too, I don't really have advice because I'm not sure how I make it through them ether :sad: