Head Pain and Anxiety

Hi,

I came across this forum today, and I am so glad I found out it. I am sure fellow health anxiety sufferers will understand when I say, it is nice to know you're not alone. As much as I wouldn't wish this on anyone, it's comforting to know I'm not alone.

I have suffered with health anxiety on and off for the last 17 years. This year however, it has been at an all time high, and peaked in February when sadly my father in law passed away very quickly and suddenly from Covid. Since then I have been spiralling, with a new ailment every few days.

I am currently halfway through an online CBT course with my local counselling service, and I take anxiety medication (only for 8 weeks so far).

I had my second vaccine (Pfizer) five days ago. Felt absolutely fine until Sunday morning when I woke up and noticed a pain on the right side of my head (above the top of my ear). It only happens when chewing, swallowing, and weirdly when a burp is building up and releasing.

Has anyone ever had this?

I have convinced myself it is a bleed or a clot from the vaccine for two days, and today it's a tumour. I obsess over it every second of the day, I cannot sleep as I wake up panicking through the night, my heart racing. And the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is focus on my head.

Today has been my lowest day in a very long time, and I just feel like I will never lead a normal life where I don't spend at least 95% of my day obsessing over every little pain and niggle.

Another issue I have is a fear of seeing the doctor, so when I worry about symptoms, I don't seek medical advice. Sometimes I do in the form of doctor Google (I know, I know. Never Google!). Usually these pains pass and then I'm ok for a day or two, until something else comes along.

Two weeks ago I had chest pains while on a staycation, and spent the whole week away obsessing over a heart attack.

I'm not quite sure why I posted. I guess it is just a relief to know this is normal and that I am not a freak. I think I've always been like this since a young age, but back then I was always called a hypochondriac, and felt like I was weird and a freak.

Anyway I am waffling.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading!

For the pain on the right side of your head by your ear, it could be pain referred from your jaw (specifically your temporomandibular joint/TMJ), especially since it happens during actions that typically require or cause jaw movement (chewing, swallowing, burping). Does your jaw click at all? I know that sometimes my jaw seems to unhinge a bit and will start clicking and hurting in the ear area. TMJ pain is really common, and doesn't have any nefarious underlying cause.