New here just got diagnoses of health anxiety

[ian_234]

Hi all , I have just been diagnosed with HA by a pychiratrist , I had a bad time a few years ago accompianed by a breakdown , my biggest fear by a mile was that I had some sort of cancer which was terryifying , I would weigh myself up to 20 times a day to reassure myself that I hadnt lost any weight , which then I realised I had OCD , from what I have read the two are closley related HA + OCD.

I managed to get over my fears of cancer or at least no be too impressed by them anymore , unfortuantly now all my fears are realted to mental illness , such as bipolar and schizophrenia , which are really scaring me at the moment , does anyone else suffer HA about their mental health rather than there physical health ?

I am currently on 20mg of prozac at the moment and my doctor wants to increase the dose to 40 then 60 , just to deal with the OCD and HA , but Im not so sure because really I want to get over this without the need of prozac , I am pretty upbeat usaully and positive so I want to come to terms with it without tablets.

Anyway enough of the life story , lol :) , just thought I would post a thred here to see if anyone can relate and would like to chat to people with this dreaded HA , I have found this site brilliant so thanks everyone who posts !

Ian

[fairyfloss]

hello
i worry about both,the thing what makes me worry that it is something like im going mad is the fact that my head is foggy and when anxiety levels go up then i cant focus on anything and i feel scared.dont know if you feel like this,but i feel like im not here.Do you feel pos" enough to go it alone with no meds? because dr usually says HA is caused by anxiety dont they? so if prozac relieves your anx then it may relieve your thoughts.

[leedsmeister]

felt i had to comment on this.
i'm the same, only my fears cycle about, mainly between motor neurone disease (obsessively checking my body for uneven muscle tone, doing one legged squats tested my reactions etc!!!) this is all because i twitch a lot, schitzophrenia, alzheimers (i am 21 years old even i know this one is ridiculous) and testicular cancer (this is completely random, nothig to suggest i have it whatsoever)

just dont let the anxiety take over too much. i can't really go out in busy places anymore without a near breakdown and this is my own fault for using my house as a place where i can feel safe.

tbh im not sure bipolar would be that bad and with schitzophrenia you probably wouldnt know you had any mental illness at all ,every thing would seem tip-top only you'd be completel crazy to everyone else.

[ian_234]

hey thanx for your replys ,

i must admit i get the feeling of being unreal so often , and I know this is down to anxiety , but when I get it its horrible and then Im convinced im on my way to madness although I can still think and rationalise clearly , so its strange !!! by far the worst symptom of anxiety in my opinion.

well ive been back to the docs today and they want me to think about going to 60mg of prozac to ease the the ocd symptoms , but im really not sure it seems like a high dose.

if anyone feels like chatting ur welcome to msg me

[agent orange]

I was diagnosed by a psychiatrist (big word coming) Undifferentiated Somatoform Disorder which runs with HA/Hypochondriasis Ian I used to weigh myself obsessively,I still do but not in the same way. I think too I have ocd but it has not been diagnosed. I do not take drugs only the odd beta blocker as they did not work for me. I don't think mine is chemical,it has to be mind.