Health Anxiety chicken or egg

[Flapj]

My first bout with HA happened over a decade ago. It was terrible. Somehow I managed to get through it with only occasional recurrence since then. Unfortunately now it's back with a vengeance. I am trying to deal. Posting here and reading your posts helps.

One thing that has always been an issue for me is the following question: Is the anxiety causing the symptoms or is the anxiety a symptom of something?


Pretty much all of those diseases I have feared (brain tumor, ALS, MS, CJD, whatever) list anxiety and depression as a symptom. This is unfortunate for sufferers of health anxiety. Am I having anxiety and fear of disease and physical symptoms are a manifestation of that, or do I have a disease and anxiety is a symptom? This is a horrible cycle. Has anyone else thought of this? How do you cope?

[ankietyjoe]

Anxiety and depression can be a symptom of almost anything. Any time you're physically and/or mentally under stress (illness is stress) then anxiety and/or depression can manifest.

And of course, anxiety can cause almost any symptom of any disease.

So the trick is to learn to ignore the symptoms and wait for them to go away, and that involves not checking. Not googling. Not looking for reassurance each and every time you feel something new or different. If you sit with a symptom for a few days and it goes away, it can't have been anything serious can it?

Now of course the HA brain will say 'well yes it can, some diseases have sporadic symptoms'. However, the older I get the more I realise just being alive comes with a series of symptoms that you just have to learn to live with!

[Fishmanpa]

One thing that has always been an issue for me is the following question: Is the anxiety causing the symptoms or is the anxiety a symptom of something?

While some symptoms are purely fantasy, I believe that most who post about a symptom, actually experience it. Be it a pain in the side, abnormal digestion etc. The issue is in the reaction and actions thereof. Take an everyday niggle or pain, add Dr. Google, and the dragon turns it into a monster. Anxiety, self examination and hyper focusing amplify the symptoms and yes, creating others where they didn't exist before.

Positive thoughts

[lofwyr]

If we feel sensations, often times I think we confuse those with symptoms. To healthy people, a sensation in the body is not a "symptom," per se. I think most people experience a tingling foot now and then and think nothing of it. But someone with HA will experience that sensation, and immediately consider diabetes or MS etc. And this, then triggers the anxiety. The anxiety perpetuates, and creates hyper focus on the tingling foot. This loop serves to feed itself.

To almost everyone, this tingling foot would never have been considered a symptom to begin with. It would have been "just one of those things" and brushed aside.

Anxiety and depression of course can be symptoms themselves. But take anxiety, as an example. How many of those people who actually have MS or ALS had anxiety before their diagnosis? How many developed it, understandably, post diagnosis as a result *of* a serious medical diagnosis? It would then still be a symptom of the serious disease, caused by the serious disease. Many cancer patients I have known over the years dealt with terrible anxiety, and rightly so, as it is terrifying.

[Fishmanpa]

But take anxiety, as an example. How many of those people who actually have MS or ALS had anxiety before their diagnosis? How many developed it, understandably, post diagnosis as a result *of* a serious medical diagnosis?

The answer is none to just a few. In the time I've been on boards, I know of three of the tens of thousands of posts that have actually had something serious going on. In all cases, their anxiety took a back seat and they dealt with the issue. Also, in all cases, their experience has kept their anxiety in the back seat.

Positive thoughts