constant checking

[anxious]

does anyone else do the same if you find a lump, bump, spot or whatever. Do you check until its sore and find it hard to leave alone. Then do you worry your going to make it into something worse.
Do think if you really had a lump you'd know. I have a habbit of finding things to worry about. Anyone know what i mean??

[giddy]

Hi - I understand exactly where you're coming from, I'm just the same. I suffer from patches of dry skin and once upon a time, thats all they were - dry skin, now when I see one they are everything under the sun, except dry skin!!! I seem to obsess about something for a while then move onto something else - at the moment its the state of my tongue, I can't pass a mirror without checking its colour, coating, for cracks etc!!!!
I guess the only way to stop is find something else to when you catch yourself checking for lumps etc, try to break the cycle. I do think with anxiety things get blown all out of proportion and we find things that are normal, yet still manage to link them to some dreadful thing.
Take Care
Love Helen

[anxious]

thanks helen its nice to know your not alone. Breaking the cycle is soo hard i have arguments with myself inside my head and unfortunately my anxious side nearly always gets the better of me.

[sharoncjb]

Hi Anxious

I too am constantly checking myself, even at the best of times, but at the moment I am constantly in an anxious state and feel I have something either in my throat or attached to the very back of my tongue where it goes down my throat and the amount of times per day I either go to a mirror to check my throat and think how strange it looks, I'm sure it doesn't look any different to a lot of others but the little negative person in my head tells me it is different, also as I feel I have a mucusy throat I am trying to clear it constantly which I think continues the viscious circle of making things worse because it hurts my throat and I'm sure I'm making my tongue feel sore and swollen because I keep trying to clear my throat, it seems total madness that you can make yourself sore etc by this constant checking. Take care of yourself and remember your not alone, and if you need to talk you can always PM me I'm usually not far away.

Sharon

[anxious]

Hi Sharon,
thanks for your reply. I have been there with checking my mouth also. It started when i used to smoke and convinced myself i had you know what. The constant checking made my jaw and tongue ache and i have now been left with tmj (clicking,aching jaw,burning tongue) which flairs up something terrible when i am anxious.
Why do we do this to ourselves.

[strawberrie]

hi anxious,

i find that if i have the thought "wow, i havent had anything wrong with me to worry about for a while" then i am pretty much guaranteed to find some sort of lump, mole, pain etc. to worry about within the next few days! It is extremely difficult to resist checking but please try, i am learning that checking and asking for reassurance are a sure way to make health anxiety worse long term. Once i am reassured about one symptom i just move onto something else, and breaking the HA cycle is much easier said than done!

My mental health worker suggested writing a diary and making note of my levels of anxiety. I am finding this helpful as i can now look back on my episodes of health anxiety and see that i was blowing things out of proportion, which helps when i find another symptom and think "this is it, this time!"

Try and read up as much as you can about health anxiety because getting a better understanding of it really does help, you'll also find that it is much more common than you think!

take care,
mag

[anxious]

Hi mag,

your reply was so interesting, i'm still in a state of shock of finding people so like myself. Your "this is it, this time" comment amazed me as i actually thought only i said this.
I read your other thread about the book to get and i think i will, especially after you said there was nothing scary in it.
This is helphing me so much, thank you all
xx