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Thread: Aging with Health Anxiety

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    322

    Unhappy Aging with Health Anxiety

    I'm having a real hard time with my HA lately. I've had HA all my adult life. It started with the birth of my first child in my early 20s . I use to go to the doctors all the time getting texts getting reassured and moving on. Was put on Celexa and had therapy and did all right in my 30s and 40s. Tuning 50 was hard. The fear of cancer is now taken over my life . I now have so many physical symptoms and having a real hard time.
    I wake up every morning feeling so many aches and pains. Something always hurts! This year has been awful. Since December I have had so many breakdowns. It started with weakness and numbness and of course I thought I had ALS (lost a friend to ALS and she was my age) than it just got out of control. Right now its cancer again. I think I have cancer all over my body. I have so many physical symptoms it's crazy. Im really worried about pancreatic, ovarian, colon, throat...

    How is everyone else dealing with getting older with HA? The odds have changed and getting cancer is VERY real now

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Posts
    84

    Re: Aging with Health Anxiety

    It is so hard, isn't it? I turned 52 this year and since I turned 50 my health anxiety has been just awful. I too wake up with a new ache or pain every morning. Currently dealing with bursitis. I also wake up with new fears every morning. I used to focus on one thing, now I think something is wrong all over my body. It isn't easy. I try to keep busy. Tomorrow I am starting a gentle yoga class. As difficult as it is, try to find something positive for yourself. Exercise, eat healthy, read, anything to create a positive distraction. It is exhausting. You are not alone.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    322

    Re: Aging with Health Anxiety

    I just need some people to talk to. I find if I can hear from others going through it helps a bit.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    10,624

    Re: Aging with Health Anxiety

    I can relate to everything you've said as I suffer with HA too.
    Reading your post, it seems that illness of others has affected you and you are over aware of mortality.
    Cancer has no age limit, so getting older has nothing to do with it and I think you are associating getting older with more potential illnesses, which is not necessarily the case.
    Pains are more apparent when you get older, but that is very common and doesn't necessarily mean it is anything serious.
    It's easy to say these things and put them in perspective, than it is to not listen to our brain telling us there could be something seriously wrong, but we have to try somehow to think positive otherwise it churns away at you 24/7.
    Last edited by Carnation; 24-07-19 at 23:08.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    934

    Re: Aging with Health Anxiety

    I am 48 almost 49. I feel it. Concerns over skin, minor chest pains etc. For the most part in have compartmentalized pretty well, and years of experience have taught me to recognize anxiety for anxiety. But things have gone wrong and things will go wrong. I have tried my hardest to live in the moment more as I have gotten older, but sometimes anxiety slips through the cracks.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Posts
    24,667

    Re: Aging with Health Anxiety

    From a non-HA perspective its just a PITA! ~lol~ I have tons of physical issues/side effects from my real illnesses. Add aging to that and sheesh! Like today, I actually slept well last night with only one pee break (at 60, that's an accomplishment!). I woke up, went to get out of bed and my left knee was killing me! WTF!? I didn't bang it, twist or anything! So I took some ibuprofen and while it still hurts, its much better. Its just one of those things

    From reading here, I can only imagine what goes on in the minds of an aging HA sufferer and from what I've read, its not pretty by any means. And what I mean by it being a PITA is that life goes on regardless. You either deal with it or let it take advantage of you. You're going to have aches and pains and as you age and they definitely increase I assure you! I remember telling a younger person, the day you awaken on your 30th birthday, you'll have an ache or pain you never had before I've not had one person tell me otherwise So for me, it's just an inconvenience and I push through it. I still have to work and do everyday activities so I deal..... I think if you can adopt that attitude, it would be very helpful.

    Positive thoughts
    __________________
    "Eat. Drink. Enjoy the work you do. Be thankful for the blessings God gives you in this life. Live, love and seek out the things that bring your heart joy. The rest is meaningless... Like chasing the wind." King Solomon

    The best help is the help you give yourself! http://cbt4panic.org/

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    934

    Re: Aging with Health Anxiety

    Forty was my big year, the year I went for my physical and suddenly it was like I ran out the warranty from the dealer. Things kept wearing down and breaking all through my 40s. I am used to it now, honestly. Just keep plugging away. I hurt half the time for no real reason. For whatever reason, age itself really isn't bothering my HA. It is the things that come along with it that are real, measurable problems to deal with. Horrendous cholesterol, an aortic aneurysm, moles that apparently have their idea of a new normal, and let's not forget reading glasses and tooth problems.

    No one gets out alive!


  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    322

    Re: Aging with Health Anxiety

    Quote Originally Posted by Carnation View Post
    I can relate to everything you've said as I suffer with HA too.
    Reading your post, it seems that illness of others has affected you and you are over aware of mortality.
    Cancer has no age limit, so getting older has nothing to do with it and I think you are associating getting older with more potential illnesses, which is not necessarily the case.
    Pains are more apparent when you get older, but that is very common and doesn't necessarily mean it is anything serious.
    It's easy to say these things and put them in perspective, than it is to not listen to our brain telling us there could be something seriously wrong, but we have to try somehow to think positive otherwise it churns away at you 24/7.
    It's so hard to watch and hear about other peoples illness and death. All these deaths are starting to take a toll. Having very bad HA all my life it's very hard dealing with illness and death of family and close friends. The only time I didn't struggle with HA was when my son got sick. I was so busy trying to help him and save him I had no time for myself. But after I lost him to cancer I completely fell apart. I was not in a good place for a very long time. With medication and help I started to climb out of the hole. But once I turned 50 I started to lose the battle again. A close friend got ALS and passed away. I started hearing about all these cancer diagnoses from friends and family. It's getting so hard to not worry about every little symptom. I don't even go looking for symptoms. Just this weekend someone told me about how their mother in law just died of cancer and continued to tell me about all her symptoms It's just so hard. I just want to cry all the time. It's also getting so hard to hide it from my children.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
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    , , Australia.
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    2,259

    Re: Aging with Health Anxiety

    I know how you feel
    I started to fall to bits at 50 as fish said.
    I now have crippling back pain , a new hip and pains just about anywhere you can think of.
    Unfortunately it's just part of ageing and we just have to get on with it.
    I'm 66 now and would love to retire but the thought of having too much time on my hands frightens me so I just keep working.
    The distraction of work is a big help for me.
    PS Only one pee break is amazing - 2 is a good night for me.
    __________________
    Don't believe everything you think.

    Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.

  10. #10

    Re: Aging with Health Anxiety

    I totally empathise with you. I turned 50 this year but my health anxiety exploded on a nuclear level last year. I was convinced that I had either ALS, Parkinson's or MS. In addition, I thought I had a myriad of issues too long to list here. Needless to say, at my worst, I was seeing three (3) Neurologists, a Cardiologists, 2 ENT specialists, two Orthopaedic consultants and an Ophthalmologist. Having cleared most of my neurological fears, I am totally fixated and scared of all kinds of cancers now, especially bowel cancer. This has put me through some of the worst moments in my life and I have no clue when this will end. Even my therapist is getting tired. Like you, I get triggered easily. The worst part is that I am anxious for myself and my wife. If I'm not fixating on some cancer that I think I have, its worrying over something that she may have or develop in the future.

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