I worry every day about something - do you?

[JennyW]

I've been suffering health anxiety for nearly 4 years now, bought on by the death of my father :weep:

And to add to that, I worry about my age and getting older. I turned 41 this year and I guess getting older and the health anxiety just merge into one big monster for me :scared15:

There isnt a day go by that I don't worry about getting something horrible and think to myself that as I'm getting older then it's obvious I'm going to get something? I just cant help it or stop it and it's so draining. It's stops me functioning as a normal human being. I consider myself healthy and fit and I eat well and try to do things that are good for me :yesyes: thus reducing any risk (hopefully).

For example this morning whilst walking my dogs in the morning sunshine and thinking what a beautiful day, this horrible demon voice popped up inside my head and said “what if I’ve got something horrible manifesting inside me and it’s going to make me ill" :weep:

Every week I seem to have something else to worry about, last week I was scared about skin cancer and got my brother to check my moles, that's gone away now and I'm now waiting on my next worry :blush:

I had bereavement counselling after losing my father and I'm not sure if I should have some other sort of counselling to help me with these fears and anxieties?

[bexy1970]

hiya,
i could have written that myself hunni, thats exactly how i feel everyday!! been made worse since the death of my dad too.:weep: my focus is my boob lumps and bumps at mo, even tho doc said theyre fine!! im waiting still for bereavement counselling, but went to gp yesterday and explained how this fear is really ruining my quality of life!! and i asked for cbt, which he is arrangeing for me,, honest my thought are exactly like you, i can be happy with kids or dog in the sun then wammy that horrible felling of what if comes along plus the getting old fear!! im 37.. hope you feel better knowing your not alone hun
becca xxx

[jellybean43]

I also could have written that post.
Mine all really started last September when we moved house although i have always been an anxious person and I suffered post natal anxiety in the 80s which took me 7 years to get over!!
I have had 15 years of being relatively ok but since we moved things have come to a head and i have got health anxiety.
I am now going to start CBT in the next few months and I know it will be really good for me.
I do have good days when i never think about stuff but on a bad day it is on my mind from morning til night.
At nearly 44 I think the same as the you----and it is ruining my everyday life!!!My thing is a swelling on my neck and you guessed it!!!!!------despite having 3 docs check it and various tests!!!.
Take care---you are definately not alone.I was out walking my dog this morning thinking the same things as yourself!!! xx

[Mudskipper]

And another one! 42 this week and frankly it gets so bad sometimes and my quality of life is so poor that life itself feels like it's all but over. I'm starting hypnotherapy on monday, gotta be worth a try!

[miss diagnosis]

me too! been this way since my dad died 3 years ago.
Am 28. Also had bereavment counselling,general counselling,hyponotherapy u name it!

its amazing to me how many people on this forum have HA directly resulting from the death of a close relative.

I always get worse around his aniversary which was last week.
My 16 year old neice was killed 8 months before my dad died which was a double whammy to deal with. Then i had a major family bust up and moved home. now im moving again!
My shrink said once i focus on evrything but what i need to deal with but if its not the health anxiety then I usually relapse into my old bulima ways which is worse (it is trust me cos u care nothing about ur insides)

[Carla08]

Hi all
I used to be really anxious about my health but then for no reason that all stopped without me really realising until I look back and I think a big part of that was making myself be the healthiest that I could be by what I ate and lifestyle etc. I read loads on how to be as healthy as possible and cut out everything bad for me and fill myself with vitamins and everything else .However I think the being obsessed with everything healthy thing has now overtaken the what if I get something syndrome I had before!!!

[panicagain]

Count me in. I'm 36 and every day i think something is wrong. Every time i get rid of one symptom another one pops up. I always think about my age and how time just flies by and i won't live another 36 yrs so over half my life is over. Its so sad that so many others worry all the time like me. I wish there was a quick fix and we'd all be happy All The Time,,,,,,Someday There Will Be That Day:yesyes:

[menomum]

Hi there, yes i'm in on this one too. I'm 49 and all i keep thinking is now i'm older things are going to start going wrong health wise and the older i get the more chance there is of something happening. I think its age 50 you start getting called for mammograms so that is going to send me into one massive panic when i do get called. Wish so much i could look at things logically. Just received a new book which comes highly recommended which is about CBT and consists of timetables that you work through to hopefully alter the way you think. Anythings worths a try don't you think?

[dumpling]

My counsellor told me this was quite common in the 30 - 40 age range, I'm 38 and I have always had health anxiety, I just didn't realise it! people just said I was a hypochondriac!

I went really dizzy 3 years ago and that sent me off onto a MS fear, that ruled my every day life for 2 years and counselling was the thing that helped me get on top of it.

My counsellor said that its quite common for people whose lives are changing, children getting older and not being so dependant on you, reaching 40 cos you suddenly think I'm getting old! all sorts of thing like that can make anxiety surface!

[jellybean43]

That is sooo true dumpling!!
Both my kids have left home long ago and I am "only" 43 so my life has taken a totally different route. Maybe, this has also contributed to my anxiety rearing its ugly head again after sooo many years!
xxx

[petmad]

I was just about the put a new thread on about worrying everyday about something else, I am 38 and worried sick about cancer or any horrible deseases.
I keep hearing about people who have been diagnosed with cancer and its making me worse. I get a pain and think its the worst illness, I have got a dodgy tummy at the mo and a sore back and am paranoid its bowel cancer or something like it.
I know it sounds stupid but I even worry that worrying about it will bring it on! Its awful and so wish I was normal and didn't have health fears. I am worried about being ill and not being here for my kids and pets.
I worry about anything and everything and it drives me mad and makes me so down some days.
I feel so alone at times and think am I the only one who is seriously paranoid about cancer and illness? Why can't I just relax and enjoy life??!
maybe its an age/hormone thing??

who knows....

[bluebell68]

Hi .. me too:weep: , im 40 this year, which im not bothered about as such but two if my 3 children have left home in the last couple of months and my HA has gone crazy again, hadn't thought about the connection before but it could be linked... it seems like their lives are just beguining, new homes and careers and mine,.....well mine feels like something has come to an end, which it has in a way... its the end of an era.... maybe that has contributed to my feeling so old and this has lead to me thinking like all of you, that the older i get, the more likely i am to get ill....logically, i know 39 isn't old but emotionally i feel it is....:weep:

... i am wasting my life worring everyday and i sooo wish i could stop, Urrrrgh! ..........i HATE Ha sooo much !!!!!!!!!!:mad:

HUGS TO YOU ALL
:bighug1:
Rachel

[pips]

Hi There,

Me to folks if I could have a job in worrying I'd be a millionaire no make that a billionaire!:whistles:

Tis so draining and so very unnessasary yet I find it an impossible habit to break I have just been to the Dr's regarding it as it does my head in so much.:doh:

I was told by a therapist once to worry as much as I want but for half an hour in the day I wasn't allowed to worry over one single thing. It did work a little but it was so very difficult:scared15:

Take Care

Love Pip's X X X X

[glenda23]

reading all these threads i cant believe there are people like me, spend my life worrying about health, convinced i have cancer, at the moment its skin, convinced i have a dodgy mole, but if its not one thing its another, affects my whole life, really want to stop it so i can get on with my life but how?? cant find the answer. I think its because I've been a nurse for 20 years and illness has become the norm. All the illnesses i have so far diagnosed myself with have come to nothing, have been terminal every time, you'd think i would learn but rationalising things is not my strong point! any other nurses out there with similar issues???? or anyone feeling the same?

[JennyW]

Oh wow, I didn’t realise so many of us feel the same way EVERY DAY and with the same thoughts. It's sort of comforting that I'm not alone but sad too that so many of us suffer :weep: . It’s interesting also to see that many of our HA worries are caused by the death of a loved one. Hugs to you all :hugs:

[Blackstar]

I definitely worry about something every day! Sometimes I can worry and not let it get to me - just let it simmer in the background - but other times it sends me into a spiral of worry and then panic, which is horrid. If I've had a bad episode of anxiety and panic it can take days or weeks for the associated physical symptoms to subside...after a panic attack at the weekend I'm still drained and emotional and have avery grumbly tummy. :wacko:

What Glenda said struck a chord - I always diagnose myself with the worst illness, and so far it's not materialised (blimey, just typing 'so far' gave me a pang of 'but there's still time'). As my housemate said only yesterday, I'm pretty c**p at self-diagnosis! And yet, at the moment I have something that could be MS/hypoparathyroidism/Addison's Disease. There is always something. :mad:

Thank goodness we have this forum and each other! Just knowing I'm not alone is amazing, such a support and keeps me going.

Big hugs all round! :hugs:

Anna. x

[LunarLizzi]

Hi there!
I am very similar to you in that I worry daily. I was diagnosed with a fairly rare condition in 2003 (called Myasthenia Gravis) and around the same time I lost my mum-in-law to cancer and since this I have become obsessed with illness. I turned 36 a couple of weeks ago and have been terrible since then. I also panic if I see something on telly to do with cancer as I then start to think I have the same. It's awful and so debilitating. I really can empathise with you (or do I mean sympathise?) I am going for my third visit (in as many weeks) to the doctor today. I am so fed up of feeling like this.

[sheba2]

I'm with you all. I'm 52 now but have been like this since my 20's. I have spent my life hoping that I would make it to another mile stone eg get married have children see the children grow up and so on. Trouble is I've never been able to enjoy any of it cos I've always been worrying that I have some terminal disease. As I've got older it seems to get worse because you become more aware of the time wasted and the time remaining. I think this is what used to be referred to as a mid life crisis. According to various theories this sense of doom stems from not being content with the life yu are living. How many of us feel that we are missing out, not enjoying what is happening now waiting for life to happen.

So much of our feeling is related to the way we react to various situations and maybe that is what we need to look at changing. Perhaps more importantly we need to value what we have now.

It is interesting how many people have said they have been worried about a mole this last week, me too but then I watched that embarrassing illness programme and I know that it has stemmed from there. The male doctor did say that gp's would be innundated with people wanting their moles checked!!

[jellybean43]

Sheba----that is me---hoping i make the next milestone. I sooo want to see my kids get married and have kids but hey that is a worry for me!!Will i still be here? I sooo wish i could be different and not worry.OH is great as he doesnt have a care in the world. He says when his time is up that is it but til then he is not going to worry about what is round the next corner.

[Tom_M]

I think everyone is frightened of cancer, possibly because everyone knows someone who as died from it. Take me for example. Prostrate cancer runs in my family, my farther died from it, so I have to have regular checks to hopefully catch it before it gets me. I already have an enlarged prostrate now, but my recent cancer test came back negative, so it's still benign at the moment. But what's happening to me is the same as what my father went through, as his was benign at first, but eventually turned malignant.
I think the only thing we can do is to be vigilant and go to the doctors if we find anything out of the ordinary. And don't forget, nearly 50% of cancer - if caught early enough, are curable. That is, the person is still alive 5 years after first being diagnosed - that is the yardstick they use.

Tom

[JennyW]

I think everyone is frightened of cancer, possibly because everyone knows someone who as died from it. Take me for example. Prostrate cancer runs in my family, my farther died from it, so I have to have regular checks to hopefully catch it before it gets me. I already have an enlarged prostrate now, but my recent cancer test came back negative, so it's still benign at the moment. But what's happening to me is the same as what my father went through, as his was benign at first, but eventually turned malignant.
I think the only thing we can do is to be vigilant and go to the doctors if we find anything out of the ordinary. And don't forget, nearly 50% of cancer - if caught early enough, are curable. That is, the person is still alive 5 years after first being diagnosed - that is the yardstick they use.

Tom

Hi Tom. At least you are vigilent and aware of this. I believe prostrate cancer is one of the easiest to treat and cure if caught early enough?

Lunarlizzi - I'm the same as you - see or hear of someone who has just been diagnosed with a cancer and my mind starts to tell me that I may have it too :ohmy: . I don't think my worries will ever go away and I'm just going to have to learn to live with it unfortunately. Thing is though, I'm happy with my "lot". I'm happy with my life, great family and friends, nothing really to worry about - but I'm plagued by the HA illness. I try and be positive and say to myself that life is good and I've got so much to look forward to, but then that demon voice ruins it all and tells me that I might get something horrible, or my family will or my husband, then my mind takes me off to places I don't want to go to :weep: then all my positive thoughts are gone.

[jodiehind]

I too could of written that post. My dad dropped dead ofa heart attack in front ofme when I was 17. Totally terrified it is gonna happen to me!! Terrified of any chest pain, dizziness, pains in the arms etc.... I have at least one ailment a day! Sometimes stops me from going out for fear of dropping dead!

Totally understand where you are coming from and I feel like I am not alone now since I found this forum.

take care,

xxx

[crunchie01]

hi
i could also have written the post.i have always worried about my health but not to the extent i do now,it got worse when i lost my grandma in october who i was very close to the closet person in the world to me.

jennie xx