Suffering from Health Anxiety at the moment? Read this..

To all HA sufferers,

I know it's hard. Whilst I'm not a HA sufferer, I truly know what severe anxiety feels like having suffered from it for over 40 years. Anxiety is awful, painful and it can take your life away from you. If you let it.

If you're at the height of anxiety now, stop what you're doing, go and get a glass of water and sit quietly for 5 minutes. Focus on your breathing (5 seconds in, hold for 3 and out for 7). Come back and read the rest of this when you've done it.

No go on, do it....

Ok, I'll trust you.

Next, there are some questions I'd like you to consider.

1. Have you felt like this before? Did it pass? It probably did. Is it worthy of more worry time? It will pass again.
2. If this is new or has changed, is it something you think you should see your doctor about? What would a friend do? You could ask them.
3. If you've seen your doctor about this before and you've had the appropriate tests/checks, why would their diagnosis change? Of course, we've all read the newspaper stories about the doctor who missed serious symptoms. It happens. To probably about one in a million. The odds are in your favour. But by all means see your doctor about your anxiety. They're there to help.
4. Are the symptoms so severe that you need to go to A&E? Again, if you can't decide, ask a friend. The answer is very likely to be no.
5. If you haven't seen a doctor and others think you should, make the appointment but be honest about your anxiety.
6. Jot down what you want to say before the appointment. It helps and stops you forgetting things when you're face to face with the doc and she says 'what can I help you with today?'. Clue - the first answer you give is 'I'm feeling anxious'.

Ok, so you've done all that and you still feel terrible. What can you do? Well, I can guarantee that the more you focus on your symptoms, the worse they will get. That's how it works. Your brain has evolved to seek out potential danger and to prepare you for it. The more you dwell on problems, the more danger your brain senses and reacts to. It's a vicious circle. So again, what can you do?

1. Distract yourself however you can. Walk, read, meet friends, help others on here, watch tv, start penning your memoirs, write to a pen pal in Tibet, run round naked in the garden. To be honest, it doesn't really matter. Just keep busy.
2. Don't google your symptoms. Ever. Ever! You will find what you fear most every time. I don't believe Dr. Google's medical degree is worth the code it is written in. He probably bought it off the internet.
3. Talk to friends about how you feel, either in the real world or on here. Be honest.
4. Don't ask for reassurance about your symptoms, ask for help for how to deal with your anxiety about the symptoms. The same applies to conversations with your doctor.
5. Listen to help when it's offered. You might think something won't work. You might be surprised.
6. Don't lie in bed. Formulate a plan which gives you structure. You might just want to block it all out by retreating but it makes you feel much worse.
7. If you work, do everything you can to keep working. If you can, discuss your anxiety with your boss. Flexibilities can help but avoidance won't.
8. And whilst we're on it, don't avoid situations which make you anxious. It's the old 'fall off your bike and get straight back on it' scenario. It's easier (not easy though) to catch it early. Later, it's so difficult.

So to finish my little (?) post, I'd like to say that I'm no medical expert but, unfortunately, I'm a first-hand anxiety expert. 40 years and counting and I still frequently get it wrong. Having said that, I have worked full time all my life, never had one day off sick and feel that I'm very fortunate, despite the frequent torture that I suffer through anxiety. Torture that I know you understand.

And finally (phew!), give anything a go, don't look back in years to come, regretting all the time you spent worrying about things which never came to pass. If not for yourself, then for those around you.

As anxiety sufferers, we are incredibly strong people. You have to be strong to have made it so far (and so far into this post). Find a little more strength and take some positive action. This may be some of what I've written or something completely different. It doesn't matter, just take some positive steps and you will see things improve.

All the best

Pip

This is good. Hope people take the time to read it.

It would make a good sticky.

great post pip its that critical decision to do something that can often stop the panic even if it`s just consciously walking slower when you want to rush back to the car, or trying to last an extra 10 seconds in a busy shop
I once saw in an article a description of fear as `false evidence appearing real` which called for challenging your thoughts etc as you describe

hope everyone can take the time to work through your steps because they really could be a godsend for them

This is a great post

Great post Pip

Very good advise, I need to take.

Thank you for this advice !

I got to start taking things on board more serious now and stopped worrying as much, all fantastic points. like trust the GPs etc (something I struggled doing in the past)

I am paying attention to this thread agian

#2 Don't Google your symptoms, sound advice, only a small handful of people have been right what they have got.

#3 happens 1 in million where the gps get it wrong/missed key symptoms, we also got to them as well what is wrong every single detail is key.

Pip...thank you. That is a good post. And you are so right.

Hi Pip, I woke up this morning with awful HA, (waiting for a scan and blood test)...your advice is gold. I really, really needed to here this right now. x

Excellent post. I haven’t had HA for too long, but long enough. 22 months, every day since my son was born. I’m sick of it. I see a counselor next week. I’m doing yoga for anxiety. I’m trying to stay busy. I also read that proper hydration, not getting overly hungry, and adequate sleep all help to keep anxiety at bay. A nice walk helps a lot too. I like to swing myself, our little swing set in the backyard over looks a farm, it’s peaceful. I’m thankful for threads like these. Thank you!

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Originally Posted by Halle0587

Excellent post. I haven’t had HA for too long, but long enough. 22 months, every day since my son was born. I’m sick of it. I see a counselor next week. I’m doing yoga for anxiety. I’m trying to stay busy. I also read that proper hydration, not getting overly hungry, and adequate sleep all help to keep anxiety at bay. A nice walk helps a lot too. I like to swing myself, our little swing set in the backyard over looks a farm, it’s peaceful. I’m thankful for threads like these. Thank you!

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Hey thought I would join this thread.
I have had health anxiety about month now .
It's very debilitating !
Keeping busy is key . Being alone to much males me go so deeep in to my own negative thoughts . Diagnosing myself with certain ilnneses . It's come from no where . I've always been a worrier but never about health and never to this extent .
Googling stuff is not helpful for health concerns is it !



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I am suffering terribly just now, have a small red spot on my lower arm, I have had nightmares about it, going to see a counsellor tomorrow.

Have you tried using cbd oil like this ilovegrowingmarijuana.com/cbd-in-medical-marijuana/ for your problem? I heard its a thing now and ive heard alot of people are using this CBD oil thing..I tried searching what this CBD oil is capable of and im very fascinated to know its medical properties and how it can help many people from certain kind of disease like arthritis, compromised immune systems,muscle spasm, seizures, epilepsy, anxiety, and hair loss..

Distract yourself however you can. I can't because I am worried about every symptom, pain and ache.

#4 severe ask do I need to go a&e. my parents would say no.

The googling my symptoms or even just health advice about different drugs and peoples negative experiences with them is what gets me. Everyone has told me to stop (friends, therapists, etc.) and I usually can stay away for a bit but I always feel back down the well and don't know how to stop. So I am now scared of not only every disease, but every drug and getting off said drugs.

Thank you for such a great post. I suffer every day and every day I'm trying to do a little bit more. I'm trying not to go down the tablet route and trying to do it mentally. Like you say trying to keep busy is the key thing.

I am still suffering from my heallth anxiety, hitting breaking point and I think I got something serious wrong with me with aches and pains more and more deeper, I got some adult colouring books, still attending meetings, keep thinking every symptom is the big c,

Thank you Pip for this. I am all alone right now and consulting Dr Google which has made my symptoms worse and my chest constricted. I'm going to take your advice and go visit my parents. X

Brightened my morning :) thanks!

I am currently in the worst mental knot I've ever been in. I have health anxiety over my mental health, specifically in my belief that anti depressants that I have taken for years to 'help' me have actually just damaged me by giving me anhedonia, tinnitus hugely increased depression, unresponsive mood, depersonalisation, confusion, brain fog, and UNBELIEVABLE ANXIETY. Sometimes it literally feels like my brain is swimming in a vat of cortisol. The problem is, is that I genuinely think that they have made things worse (anti depressants only work for 40-60% of people and eventually stop working for most) and its snowballed because now I can't take them and I feel like I'm in withdrawal, which is going to take me YEARS to recover from. I'm now obsessed with the idea of getting ECT/ a lobotomy /DBS/rTMS and spend almost every waking moment thinking about ECT /lobotomies/DBS/rTMS researching it or thinking about anhedonia and researching it. I have severe depersonalisation and moods are highly erratic.

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Originally Posted by Pipkin

As anxiety sufferers, we are incredibly strong people. You have to be strong to have made it so far (and so far into this post). Find a little more strength and take some positive action. This may be some of what I've written or something completely different. It doesn't matter, just take some positive steps and you will see things improve.
All the best
Pip

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Really great OP, many thanks, just what I needed to read!
Chris

Just came across this now. I've had health anxiety for years and sometimes it gets worse than others. Going through an anxious period at the moment, so will save this for future reference. Thank you. :)

Pipkin...great post. I suffer with severe anxiety when I go abroad , I have gone to Spain & left within 24 hrs due to anxiety attack , any help out there as to how to overcome this debilitating pain

Your words are perfect, thank you. 🙏🏼🙏🏼

Sound advice Pip. A great post which people will find extremely helpful and comforting.

A great post that I come back to read when I start to spiral. One things I've learned is that the more you Google, the more unnecessary health information you put in your head. Then, when you get a symptom you have a database in your brain to draw from past Google searches. So even if you don't Google at the time, your prior knowledge works against you to fuel your anxiety.

I’ve never read this before, it was good.


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So uplifting to read this… taking control is what it’s all about. Thank you for sharing such positivity

Having health anxiety while also having actual health issues has been a huge struggle to find balance between advocating for myself and not letting myself spiral. It's hard to parse out.

I have felt anxiety all my life, but now I have decided that I have to stop this suffering. I am not so many years old, but I have spent my entire conscious life in terrible fear for everything around me. Now I thought it would be logical to become a psychologist and solve all my problems independently. I'm going to college https://miami.asa.edu/college-degree-programs-miami/health-care-management/ in a year to acquire a profession related to my problem and help the same anxious people like me.