Does anyone else keep a log?

[Kittenrain]

I feel like I am spiraling into panic. I just brushed my teeth and one of my front teeth felt cold.. Not really pain but definitely a feeling that I noticed. I rinsed again with hot water, then tried the cold and didn't feel it again. I am thinking the worst. I went to write it in my health journal and I was wondering if I am the only one who does that?
I write the date, what I ate, symptoms, bathroom habits, pains etc. I wonder if it is obsessive. Or not.
Also, I just went to the dentist and all was good. Is it normal to feel that? I am freaking out and feel sick.

[Beachlady]

It sounds to my like that log is only flaming your HA symptoms. To answer your question, yes, it’s obsessive.

Unless you’re recording insights into what triggered the anxiety, don’t keep a log.

[BlueIris]

Agreed, keeping a log encourages hypervigilance, which is really bad for us HAers.

What you really need to do is train yourself not to pay attention to these things. Something I'm working hard on right now is not switching the bathroom light on at night, for instance. It's tough (and I don't always manage it) but you have to teach yourself these things mostly hold no significance.

[Darksky]

Yes it's just too much info really.
Reading your entries over and over is just adding more fuel to an already burning HA fire.

instead of keeping a health journal start a new one and chart in it, things to aid recovery, how well you did by ignoring this or that symptom etc

[ErinKC]

Agreed, keeping a log encourages hypervigilance, which is really bad for us HAers.

What you really need to do is train yourself not to pay attention to these things. Something I'm working hard on right now is not switching the bathroom light on at night, for instance. It's tough (and I don't always manage it) but you have to teach yourself these things mostly hold no significance.

Yes. Training myself to be less vigilant has been the single most successful strategy for getting through my anxiety. At first I took the approach that I should pay attention to what I'm anxious about and then not let it worry me... but that didn't work. The key was to not even notice the things that normally trigger me. This means not examining food before eating or cooking it, not watching people prepare food for me at fast dining places or deli counters, not overthinking before ordering what I want to eat, not stopping to notice sensations or pains that occur throughout the day, etc... It's been extremely effective. And, every time I pass through a potentially anxiety-producing situation without stopping to let the anxiety in, it reduces my overall anxiety burden and makes the next time easier than the last.

I would definitely stop keeping a journal. It's absolutely fueling your anxiety. If I kept a log of every feeling I had in my body throughout the day I'd lose my mind!

[jray23]

I like keeping logs of everything, I think it's part of my personality. So several times I started doing it about my health anxieties and symptoms, thinking it would add some insight. Nope. Every time I would feel more anxious after a few logs and stopped.

One "log" of sorts that was very helpful though, was an app called "Thought Diary". You record your anxious thoughts, and the app takes you through the process of challenging the thoughts and deciding on new conclusions. It helps both in the moment, as well as starts building up a history that you can look back on and see your patterns. I highly recommend it if you're the journaling/logging type.

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[jojo2316]

So my therapist actually encouraged me to keep a symptom/anxiety diary a long time ago and I do still log stuff. I agree with Blueiris about the hyper vigilance thing but it does also have a plus side, especially for the long term HAer: I find I always think today’s symptom is new and uniquely worrying- but if I look back over my log I often find I had a similar symptom and worry 12 months ago, which I had entirely forgotten. For me that is a comfort and puts things in perspective

[Kittenrain]

Wow, thank you guys so much. It never even occurred to me that my log could be bad for my anxiety. I thought and feel at times that it's obsessive, but always assumed it would help me in the event that I had to figure something out...
Jray23 I will check out that app thanks.
☺

[MyNameIsTerry]

I like keeping logs of everything, I think it's part of my personality. So several times I started doing it about my health anxieties and symptoms, thinking it would add some insight. Nope. Every time I would feel more anxious after a few logs and stopped.

One "log" of sorts that was very helpful though, was an app called "Thought Diary". You record your anxious thoughts, and the app takes you through the process of challenging the thoughts and deciding on new conclusions. It helps both in the moment, as well as starts building up a history that you can look back on and see your patterns. I highly recommend it if you're the journaling/logging type.

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Yep, Thought Diaries are used in therapy and as you say they are aimed at challenging the thoughts as opposed to obsessively being stuck in what it all means.

Thought Records are a worksheet often seen, plenty of templates out there for them.

There are other types of journaling too but this one is very useful in CBT.

[Beachlady]

Yep, Thought Diaries are used in therapy and as you say they are aimed at challenging the thoughts as opposed to obsessively being stuck in what it all means.

Thought Records are a worksheet often seen, plenty of templates out there for them.

There are other types of journaling too but this one is very useful in CBT.

I believe the OP was talking about another kind of log--recording imaginary health issues and somatic cues, all which will perpetuate the HA. The Log you describe would be healthy; the OP’s log, not so much.