HA gone mad

[KK77]

I can't believe the amount of threads/posts on here by people worrying about their HA at the moment. It's as if there's an epidemic! Maybe it's a combination of the weather and the time of year etc - I don't know...

As someone that's suffered from this in the past I want to say that our first priority has got to be to separate our symptoms from our anxiety. Ohtherwise your symptoms feed off the anxiety and vice versa. Your anxiety will increase and so will your symptoms.

I'm not saying that all symptoms are caused by anxiety but probably 90% of them are and there's no doubt that anxiety makes these symptoms 10 times worse.

Treating our anxiety has got to be our first priority. So we need to find ways to relax and if necessary medication and definitely some kind of talking therapy. The longer we leave it the worse it will become.

It's normal to sometimes get headaches but for the HA sufferer it becomes a terrible illness and the worry and stress causes the headache to be more intense and frequent. Then anxiety increases even more and the headache gets worse. This is a vicious circle and we need to break this pattern.

So, we need to say: "OK, my anxiety is bad and I need to do something about it. My physical symptoms are worse because of my anxiety. Once my anxiety levels are better I'll deal with any symptoms I have then. In fact, once I've dealt with my anxiety my symptoms probably won't bother me anymore and will most probably disappear. Even if they don't disappear I'll be able to cope with them much better..."

I still get weird symptoms like tingling and numbness sometimes. I get migraines and I have chronic neck pain. But my anxiety levels are low and I can cope with the pain and other symptoms I have despite the fact that I've seen over a dozen doctors and none of them know what's wrong with me. When I had bad HA my symptoms were so bad that I couldn't work for 6 months and I nearly lost my house.

Please don't let HA destroy and run your life. Treat the anxiety. Focus on the anxiety, not on all your physical symptoms. You will beat this...

[Jimpy]

Thats a great post and very true, sometimes I just find it soooo difficult to know that is it just my anxiety. But your right, treating the anxiety is priority it's just sometimes thats one of the hardest parts. I mean, it is sometimes easier for me to tell myself that the chest paint (for example) is down to my anxiety, rather than dealing with what is causing my anxiety in the first place. I think the time of year does play a big part, it does with me. Great post, will try and shift my focus.

Jim

[Cell block H fan]

The trouble is, you missed the bit out about it never being anxiety, its always something serious! lol
Thats what HA is. Being able to think clearly, just doesn't happen with HA. Thats the problem. Its almost like telling a person sufferring with severe depression to 'snap out of it'
If it was that easy, this forum wouldn't exist? lol
You're right in what you say though of course.
I think my rule of not googling acts in my favour, because unless its a sore throat that lasts more than a few days, or an obvious lump somewhere, I dont stress about it these days. Probably because I dont google & dont know half the symptoms of things like MS etc. I cant worry about it, if I dont know what it could mean!
I get migraines about once a month, so I would never instantly asume I have a brain tumour. I get chest pains sporodically, so I dont worry about that either.
But I think we all have our 'sore points' so to speak. At certain times in life. Anything presenting symptoms in that area, will have us going off at a tangent. Telling ourselves its only stress just doesn't cut it unfortunately :o(
xxxx

[KK77]

That's why I hope people will realise that they need to alleviate their anxiety, just like someone with depression will seek help for that, instead of focusing on the "illnesses" most of the time. It's not a matter of telling someone "to snap out of it".

And I don't believe that people with HA aren't capable of rational thinking. Sure, when it comes to their HA they're not thinking rationally, but that doesn't mean that they don't think rationally in other areas of their life. Therefore, they are capable of thinking logically, intelligently and sanely too.

You may act quite irrationally when it comes to cooking your food but I'm sure you can act rationally when it comes to looking after your children. It's a matter of where you focus your energy.

If people can think logically and rationally enough to come and surf the internet, find forums like this and express themselves in their posts, I'm sure they've enough rational thought to look at problems from another angle. Of course, they may say, "Well that's a load of crap" and move on.

That's their choice...

[Cell block H fan]

That's why I hope people will realise that they need to alleviate their anxiety, just like someone with depression will seek help for that, instead of focusing on the "illnesses" most of the time. It's not a matter of telling someone "to snap out of it".

And I don't believe that people with HA aren't capable of rational thinking. Sure, when it comes to their HA they're not thinking rationally, but that doesn't mean that they don't think rationally in other areas of their life. Therefore, they are capable of thinking logically, intelligently and sanely too.

You may act quite irrationally when it comes to cooking your food but I'm sure you can act rationally when it comes to looking after your children. It's a matter of where you focus your energy.

If people can think logically and rationally enough to come and surf the internet, find forums like this and express themselves in their posts, I'm sure they've enough rational thought to look at problems from another angle. Of course, they may say, "Well that's a load of crap" and move on.

That's their choice...

Yeh, I dont know if I see it quite as black & white as that. Its all true, but not in the HA world really. In theory of course it makes sense though!
Occasionally on here I see a repeat poster of threads & I think 'geez you cant seriously think you have ALL these things you've posted about this week alone, can you??'
Then I think back to the early days of HA & remember how awful it was & how it is possible to think all those things.
As I said though, I do agree with what you're saying. I think I am looking a little deeper maybe, or not! x

[KK77]

Yeh, I dont know if I see it quite as black & white as that. Its all true, but not in the HA world really. In theory of course it makes sense though!
Occasionally on here I see a repeat poster of threads & I think 'geez you cant seriously think you have ALL these things you've posted about this week alone, can you??'
Then I think back to the early days of HA & remember how awful it was & how it is possible to think all those things.
As I said though, I do agree with what you're saying. I think I am looking a little deeper maybe, or not! x

I know ... it's hard to look at things in a simple way sometimes! I also see all these posts here and I feel for people and understand because I've been there but there's only so many times you can repeat things.

I know there's no "easy" answer and I'm not saying that but I just hope that people can shift their focus - even a little bit - because that first step is so important!

Appreciate your input!

[Cell block H fan]

I know ... it's hard to look at things in a simple way sometimes! I also see all these posts here and I feel for people and understand because I've been there but there's only so many times you can repeat things.

I know there's no "easy" answer and I'm not saying that but I just hope that people can shift their focus - even a little bit - because that first step is so important!

Appreciate your input!

Yes I think sorting the anxiety, would have a positive knock on affect with the health worries bit, definately.
I saw a Psychologist years ago, & he was a nice chap, but to be honest, I just ended up going from one extreme to the other. From visiting the doc once a week or more, to actually avoiding going to the docs like the plague! Nowdays I dont set foot in the place unless really desperate. I am quite scared of them!
I think its getting the right help with HA thats needed.
Was reading in the paper the other day about the percentage of people that worry about their health, & it was quite a staggering amount! Its always been around obviously, but its only just coming out how wide spread the problem is. Hopefully this will start making more help available ey. We can live in hope xxx

[Jimpy]

Both of you have great points, HA has really blown rational thought out of my head for days at a time but only when my thoughts are lingering on my symptoms. I can still carry out my normal day to day stuff (usually!) ok. It is almost as if I fear looking at my symptoms logically because they may turn out to be something serious! Its really quite a horrible way to live life sometimes. It is a great point you make regardless of if we can think clearly, if it is possible to shift our focus and deal with the anxiety head on than things will improve. I am quite new to this and naive in the ways of anxiety but anything positive makes me feel more confident about the future,

jim

[Cell block H fan]

Both of you have great points, HA has really blown rational thought out of my head for days at a time but only when my thoughts are lingering on my symptoms. I can still carry out my normal day to day stuff (usually!) ok. It is almost as if I fear looking at my symptoms logically because they may turn out to be something serious! Its really quite a horrible way to live life sometimes. It is a great point you make regardless of if we can think clearly, if it is possible to shift our focus and deal with the anxiety head on than things will improve. I am quite new to this and naive in the ways of anxiety but anything positive makes me feel more confident about the future,

jim

I think HA is much like everything really, the more you experience it, & the more you come out the other side, the less severe it gets to a certain extent. When I first got it, it was 100% real & I got in a big time state. 16 years on, things still worry me, but I am able to hold back to a certain extent because its tried to fool me many times before & i'm more wise to it!
Its not like we see all that many pensioners on here with HA. Maybe lots of reasons for that, but I expect the main reason is like my mum says to me, she used to suffer terribly with HA, me & sis remember it from old! But not these days, she's nearly 61 now & recently had 3 reasons for consultant appointments at the hospital, most of us on here would be pulling our hair out at the symptoms she was having, yet all of them have turned out to be treatable things & nothing serious. As she says, when you get older, you stop worrying about your health, & stop sweating the small stuff, & enjoy life! :)
xxxx