Health Anxiety - What helped you overcome it

[bertsquall]

Hi All

I have posted in the past about my Health Anxiety but after a few years it has returned and this time its beating me and draining my life so badly. I will be 33 next year and its been 3 years since my mum passed away which i feel triggered my anxiety all those years back as i watched her die in hospital.

A few years back i was convinced i had bowel cancer but slowly with therapy i overcame this. I just dont look when i go to the toilet anymore and since i have been doing this it seemed to just go out my head. A few relapses but i seem to have them under control and not looked back since.

However the last three months ive had what probably are the classic healthy anxiety of thinking there is something wrong with my heart and that i have MND/ALS.

These issue have all intermingled in the last few months through Google, which i know reading is an addiction itself, from having pins and needles in my toe, then moved to my hand from toe, been to a chiropractor who actually cleared it up but i was worried about short breath which lead me reading to heart conditions and this lead to me having the worst panic attack ive ever had in front of ten friends where it felt like i was bear hugged for a few secs and my breath was gone and my whole body was hot. From there a week passed i was checking BPM, pulses, feeling my chest, looking for pain, convincing myself i cant walk far etc. I got to the point enough was enough and i went to the DR who checked all this as well as blood pressure and surprise surprise it was all normal. I used this as a platform and i do not feel any issue with my heart and if i get the odd pain twinge i let it go.

However, the killer anxiety for me right now is MND/ALS i can honestly say from googling symptoms i feel like an actual expert in it (which of course im not). Ive had issues where i felt like my throat was catching food, when that went it was checking indents in my back for muscle waste, then to checking if i get short of breathe easily and now i honestly feel the worst physical symptom of all, my muscles all over just dont feel like they work, as if someone has strapped weights to me or as if im in a gravity chamber, my knees feel weak when i walk, my arms twitch all the time and i feel muscle ache and the worst one for all it feels like i cannot use my thumbs properly or grip things correctly (which in many ways is ludicrous cause im typing, place pc games, drive a car, open door with keys and ive never failed to do it) Its just the current feeling like my body feels heavy and i cannot overcome it and feels like my body is failing me so bad.

I currently started counseling again but i just dont feel it after the first few sessions. I have stopped the googling symptoms and looking at health stories. Even on the forums i have avoided reading the main ALS forum cause no doubt ill take the symptoms as i have them. I go through the logic tree:

• chiropractor checked my muscle and reflex and said i was fine
• dr checked my tongue and other areas and said i was fine
• Symptoms only come on when i concentrate on them
• Muscle feeling like they dont work came on when i thought what if i feel like my muscles dont work what would my body do and 5 minutes later it happened and continued for a week progressively getting worse

I just want to get to the point where i can switch my mind off from this, when i do things i enjoy thins some of these symptoms go out the window and only when i think "oh shit i havent noticed this" it will start again. I really am getting sick of it and was hoping people might share what helped them overcome it. Im pushing myself to do walks, lift weight and go out my comfort zone as i really have become less active because of this.

I dont want to look back in years to come and feel like i have wasted my life.

Robert

[Mostu]

ALS comes on and then progresses fairly quickly. If you had those symptoms for three months, then by now you probably would not be able to button your shirt or walk if it was ALS. I once was convinced that I have multiple sclerosis/a brain tumor, here are my threads: click , click. Just like you, I was focusing on my body all the time, I felt the strangest sensations, and the symptoms only came when I was concentrating on them, but if I was having a good time and not focusing on them, they weren't there. Eventually, when I started to worry about something else(colon cancer, because I had bleeding), SUDDENLY I didn't feel the MS/brain tumor symptoms, however I started feeling colon cancer symptoms - abdominal pain, diarrhea etc. Your own mind will trick you and will make you feel the symptoms that aren't really there. That's how anxiety works. I had an esophageal cancer scare a week ago, and as soon as I thought that I might have it, I started to feel how much harder food goes through my throat and chest. It lasted for a few days, but as soon as I got an all clear from upper GI, I suddenly, magically started to swallow normally. You're fine man. Your mind is playing you.

[bertsquall]

Hi Mostu thanks for the reply.

It really is the horrible side to anxiety when you feel the physical symptoms of all these things. I know logically any sign of these would be picked up by my DR, Chiropractor (who both seen me in the last three weeks) and even friends & family but with the current symptom i have it just feels like my entire body is failing.

Have you had any luck recently in stopping these anxieties form returning? I just feel like i will feel like this for the rest for my life and it worries me that i wont enjoy life at all.

[ankietyjoe]

Stop googling and ignore your symptoms. That's pretty much it.

People have a tendency to over complicate health anxiety as some kind of sinister exterior force, but it's not. It's not a lot more than a habit.

You are feeding the fuel of anxiety by googling, and as long as you google you will suffer. There is a 0% chance of you overcoming health anxiety as long as you google.

When you feel symptoms, when you feel like googling, just force yourself to go and do something else. You need to PRACTICE not doing the things you are doing now that are causing you issues. Do anything else. Go for a walk, do star jumps, play a video game, sing a song, have a fap marathon...whatever it takes to take your mind off the immediate nonsense. This isn't a fast process as you've practiced worrying about it for such a long time, so you'll have to spend weeks or months practicing doing the opposite.

[Mostu]

Hi Mostu thanks for the reply.

Have you had any luck recently in stopping these anxieties form returning?

Well, all I need to stop worrying is a clear scan. For every single cancer/disease there's a scan/examintion that has a high negative predictive value, meaning that a negative(clear) result is truly negative. Every time something bothers me, I just go and have a scan. For colon cancer I had colonoscopy. For brain tumor I had a head CT. For pancreatic cancer I had abdominal MRI. For lung cancer I had bronchscopy and chest CT. For esophageal/stomach cancer I had upper GI. I'm only 24 and I pay for all those tests out of my pocket. It's an expensive hobby, but a clear scan brings me relief... until I "get" another disease.

[ankietyjoe]

Well, all I need to stop worrying is a clear scan. For every single cancer/disease there's a scan/examintion that has a high negative predictive value, meaning that a negative(clear) result is truly negative. Every time something bothers me, I just go and have a scan. For colon cancer I had colonoscopy. For brain tumor I had a head CT. For pancreatic cancer I had abdominal MRI. For lung cancer I had bronchscopy and chest CT. For esophageal/stomach cancer I had upper GI. I'm only 24 and I pay for all those tests out of my pocket. It's an expensive hobby, but a clear scan brings me relief... until I "get" another disease.

Can we see the problem here, and why not checking and just ignoring the symptoms is the better way to go?

[Carys]

My personal persective - different things work for different people as we are all individuals, but this was my approach -

Learning that it takes hard work to undo the negative perspective that you constantly feed to yourself day in and day out. The 'cure' isn't from other people, but from yourself - so if you keep looking for 'something or someone' to solve the problem then you need look no further than yourself.

Don't view it as an 'illness' of which you are a passive 'victim', view it as thought processes that you have allowed to take over that can be rectified.

Learn from your past mistakes with assessing your physical symptoms (easily done on here by looking back at old threads if you have them) - look back at incidents where you were wrong and look for the patterns/similarities and remind yourself that you have been here before.

Being prepared to go through some discomfort (no pain no gain) and accept that fear is just fear, a feeling, and if you just accept it then it goes away quicker than giving it validity.


Practicing applying logic to a situation rather than responding to the catastrophic, negative fears that come instantly to the mind. HA is a biased mindset, you have to undo the bias by giving the opposite persepective. (for an example, see this thread, where we talk about it in the last few pages particularly https://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showth...-result-is-bad)

Self-reassurance using those logical points you have abstracted (see above), not allowing the fear to be the truth and instead repeating over and over the reasons why you DON'T have what you fear (as most people here don't have and won't have what they fear!) That list could contain points from family, doctors, this forum, tests etc.

Focusing on the alternative side to the biased fearful thoughts you feed yourself - mentally listing the reasons why you DON'T have something and what the likelihood is of something else. Why jump to the least likely ?

Stop the 'but' and the 'what if', discard it, go back to the actual facts you've been given.

Realising that you are wasting your life - why spend your whole life in fear of it ending ? Yeah, its going to end, and you only get one, so start using it as the gift it is.

Trusting medical professionals, many of whom have studied for decades to be specialists in their field.

Be motivated to tackle the problem and be ready to be courageous and push yourself when needed.

Accepting that one day you could be ill, but not today and if today you are well enough to spend time worrying then you are well enough to enjoy life instead.

Stopping worrying about things outside your control (yeah, everyone will die one day), concentrate on those things that are in your control - making memories, having experiences, loving, laughing....

Distraction and particularly doing things for others, so that you develop a less insular and 'selfish' pattern of thoughts. Volunteering, talking and listening to others can be very helpful indeed. Achieve something each day which you are proud of and doing something each day you enjoy - push yourself to do these things at the start, even if you don't feel like it.

The list could go on.....but essentially you have to break the habit (as ankietyjoe says above) of feeding yourself thoughts that you take as being true. (I had HA, GA and assorted 'A's and OCD and stuff lol that were crippling in my late teens and early 20's incase anyone is wondering and I'm now over 50 - self-help worked well for me, books and so on.) Apologies for the changes in tenses throughout this post and the rather random feel to it as have typed it v.quickly LOL

[AntsyVee]

What the above posters have said is true. You have to realize, that for most people with really bad HA, they have OCD, and that's why its so hard to stop the cycle. And also for many, their OCD has gotten so bad that they can't stop obsessing and googling by themselves. If you find that you can't take the proactive steps to change your thinking and stop googling on your own, then it's probably time to get a therapist. CBT, exposure therapy, habit reversal therapy usually have pretty good outcomes with OCD. Some people also use medication in conjunction with therapy. The medication basically helps you with the intrusive thoughts so that you can work your therapy program.

[pav1984]

I struggle with health anxiety and i find that if i obsessively check things then i am much worse. A few years back i overcame ocd (hand washing) which basically involved stop over washing my hands. Hard at first but now i really dont have a problem. This is pretty much what anxietyjoe has said. You need to stop the habit and eventually you get better. I will admit health anxiety seems harder for me but i will crack it.

[bertsquall]

I really appreciate all the feedback. Today has been better than normal. It has been several days since i last googles symptoms of illnesses and hopefully i can keep this up and try to have a positive festive period.

I am looking at it logically that the strain in my fingers and arms gets worse in the night and must be down to muscle tension with anxiety so i will be looking at some exercises to try and loosen this up over the next week. Hopefully the mental block i have given myself will lift in the next week or so. Even reading the the anxiety part on the home page of no more panic helped as the muscle strain sounds exactly what i have.

Cheers

Robert