First time there was anything wrong with me I was woken up with some insane head-rush, unbalance, breathlesness, and the hot then cold and then weird dull sensation coming from my heart. Since then i've had all sorts; i've had plenty test on my heart and seen one of the best cardiologist in the country and he said my heart is fine. He tells me it's down to anxiety and I have had most of the syptoms described on this forum (new one today, throat swelled up thought i was going too choke, panic ended and I was fine.)
This is all so strange as I'm such a laid back person who dosn't tend to worry (maybe its different when coming to health obviously). Here's some helpful tips that can really help which was given too me and specifically cover health anxiety:
- Stop trying too prove there is nothing wrong with you. We all have too live with uncertainty
-Learn not too ask for reassurance as this makes it worse. Learn to reassure yourself
- Challenge your worrying thoughts. Identify distorted thinking such as "all or nothing thinking" (presuming worst case scenario as too prepare yourself if it is. e.g. i'l be thinking I have a serious heart problem or a cancer as you can see from this forum alot of people are doing that who are perfectly healthy), castastrophising or awfulising, jumping to conclusions.
-Stop avoiding things too do with illness such as hospitals or t.v. programs, learn too master your anxiety
-Stop behaving as you are ill, carry on as normal and keep active
-Stop finding out about illness and reading medical textbooks. throw away your books.
-Reduce background stress levels. Learn to relax more and bulid in more pleasurable activities in your life.
- It is not either physical or psychological but a combination of both.
-List 5 positive self-statements and reherse them when feeling pre-occupied
Hope this is a help, it helped me.
All the best
Nick Rutter
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