What caused u to have Health Anxiety

[Havefaithx]

Hi Guys,

As the title says i'm interested to no what caused ur Health Anxiety and if in the months/years it has got better/worse or up and down, I no this will be hard for some people but I also think if you talk about things even just writing them down can help, overcome some anxieties i'll start.......

3 yrs ago I fell pregnant, I already have a son, anyway I was on the way to pick him up from Pre-school, when i doubled over in pain, I had to carry on as i didn't want to be late for him, i got home and went straight to the bathroom, i was bleeding, called my mum and we went to the dr's. I was seen by a dr who told me i am miscarrying and told to go home and wait, my mum said to her could it be an ectopic pregnancy as she was in a lot of pain but i was told no way as i was to early into the pregnancy (5 weeks) and it tends to be around 7-8. I went home and ended up collapsing that night at home thankfully my partner was home from work and called an ambulance, i was rushed to hospital, and was sent straight into theatre where they discovered I had been bleeding internally from a ruptured Fallopian tube due to an ectopic pregnancy, i had to have a blood transfusion and lost my Fallopian tube. I was discharged from hospital 4 days later and just as i was about to walk out i had my first Panic attack and that is when my HA started, i went into hospital never worrying about my health etc and came out a nervous wreck.
I have defiantly got better, i am on no meds now but still have bad days, I am due to start my 2nd round of CBT in April, we can beat this it just takes time, patience and you have to learn to trust yourself. xx

[kurtis1990]

The death of my dad when i was 17 started my HA. he died a work related accident but autopsy showed he had heart problems. which led me to belive i was next to go. My HA is horrible. i can go years without having a episode and then Wham one strikes without warning

[Havefaithx]

i'm sorry, that must have been horrible, to lose ur dad at such a young age, thanks for ur reply, there always seems to be a trigger with HA and i wonder if we overcome that intial fear/tragedy, that maybe we could eventually overcome HA

[realworrier]

I think I have always had it to some extent. I remember as a child looking at the light to see if my eyes hurt after I had a bad headache, thinking I had meningitis. Its just got worse as I have got older. My Gran had it and my Dad (although he doesn't like to admit it) but its been a long while since I was like the way I am at the moment, there has been a lot of stress over the past month or so and I think that has triggered it all again.

[NotCool]

Looking my past in hindsight, I figure that I've had it most of the time, but not severe- more like a worry here and there. I guess it started strongly forming more a couple of years ago when I thought I had hernia...then testicular cancer...then skin cancer. Slowly, it started getting kind of weird, and I've started to notice symptoms and sensations of my body a lot more over the next years. It really really flared up and developed into a full blown HA (with panic attacks) with all the nasty physical symptoms with it around 7 months ago, when I thought there was something wrong with my lungs. Then testicular cancer again. Heart problems. Brain tumor.

And here I am today.

[RoseEve]

Mine started after smoking marijuana. I had a major panic attack I didn't understand what was happening. I thought I was going insane. I had lots of depersonalization and couldn't feel normal. I started researching all sorts of mental illnesses convincing myself I had them all. After a while when I realized I wasn't losing my mind I began to worry about my body failing me. So then the cycle of HA began. It waxes and wanes. I think this time I have a pretty good handle on it though. It's been almost 3 years since this began.

[mbarger33]

The death or grandfather whom I always saw as an immortal figure in my life, followed by 6 year old cat being diagnosed with lymphoma made me realize that nobody lives forever and life is short. And I'm always scared to die.. so in comes the health anxiety. ...

[Paradise24]

Like most here, I think I've always had it to some degree. Where it really got out of hand was about a month ago when the doctor told me I had slightly high blood pressure. I went home, found dr google, and it was all downhill from there. Now I think about lung cancer (Because I smoked for a few years), heart problems, and death in general. I really hope to defeat this thing quickly, as it's taking a toll on me.

[RoseEve]

I really don't think I would have gotten HA without Dr. Google.

[Catherine S]

Apparently I was always a sensitive soul as a child and always worried about stuff. My home life wasn't brilliant and I was often left in charge of my little brother during school holidays while my parents went to work, but in the earlier years, at 8 yrs old I was kinda young to have all that responsiblity, so I worried alot because my mother would always find something i did wrong while she was out of the house. So I guess my anxiety was inevitible in a way...predictable even! Some things you never let go of but you learn...through the support of people on here...that there is a way to live life even if it includes anxiety. I still look out for my baby brother, even though he is now in his 50's