Health Anxiety is relentless

[flatterycat]

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me.

Nora - you speak so much sense and I wish I could be like you.

Pulisa - I definitely wonÂ’t ask for print out of results. 😱

Carrie - Although itÂ’s awful that youÂ’ve also suffered for so long, itÂ’s given me hope that I can manage it better.

IÂ’m currently in a state here at work, waiting for my blood test results which I had done yesterday. They included the usual fbc, liver, kidney, sugar, cholesterol, thyroid and a bone profile. Doctor called it a well-woman check.
I sent an online request to speak about them and a receptionist just called me to say they arenÂ’t back yet and that I already have a telephone appointment for next week so the doctor will discuss them then.
My HA is thinking that the results are in but she didnÂ’t want to tell me they were abnormal. I just want them to be normal so I can carry on and not be feeling like this. But then, I question whether I would and how soon it would be until IÂ’m worrying about something else😏

Sarah x

[pulisa]

So....what was the point of having the bloods done if you are already doubting whether you will be able to benefit from knowing the screen was normal?

[pulisa]

Have you ever heard of a doctor not wanting to tell a patient that tests were abnormal?

[flatterycat]

So....what was the point of having the bloods done if you are already doubting whether you will be able to benefit from knowing the screen was normal?

Yes that's a good point. Rational thinking goes out of the window when the HA is high. I was the one who proposed the tests and when the doctor said no problem the anxiety shot up. They can't win!

[flatterycat]

Have you ever heard of a doctor not wanting to tell a patient that tests were abnormal?

No I haven't and I need to remember that.

[NoraB]

Nora - you speak so much sense and I wish I could be like you.

Hasn't always been the case FC. I've had to work very hard to get to where I am with health anxiety. I have 47 years of HA experience - including a breakdown. My point is that I overcame all of this to get to a better place where I am more rational about my health, but as I keep saying it is work in progress..

My HA is thinking that the results are in but she didnÂ’t want to tell me they were abnormal.

If they were back and abnormal you probably would have heard by now regardless of whether you have a telephone appointment booked next week..

I just want them to be normal so I can carry on and not be feeling like this.

That's not how it works with HA..

But then, I question whether I would and how soon it would be until IÂ’m worrying about something else

And this is why..

Normal test results bring short-term comfort to a long-term problem. It's therapy you need in order to challenge your thinking. It's not realistic to expect there never to be any issues when we enter into middle-age but these are generally minor issues which are corrected or easily managed. Having HA we tend to bypass 'minor' and go straight to terminal illness..

[pulisa]

Full blood counts are normally done quickly so you would have been contacted by now if there had been anything "sinister". The lab would alert your GP. I've been rung at 5am by the lab re my daughter's results in the past (She is ok now..Not lymphoma etc)

You won't believe what we say and will still be full of fear but it's important to put some perspective into this. No news is good news.

[flatterycat]

Thanks again for your support - I admire the time you give to help so many on here. Hearing from people who have suffered with anxiety for as long as me and still managed to beat it (well, manage it so well that you can live your life without anxiety dictating) really gives me hope.
I often feel like one of the worst HA sufferers when I look back on the years of fears and reassurance seeking. Having been on medication since 1998 and having had numerous talking therapies makes me feel a bit of a failure too. I know on one level that’s not true - but on an emotional one that’s what it feels like.

Your support is helping so thank you again xx

[pulisa]

I've never had therapy for HA but have made my own "rules" which I stick to because I'm boringly disciplined when it comes to how I live! The therapy and meds package isn't necessarily a game changer in terms of alleviation of HA so don't feel that you are a "failure"?

[smogie]

Omg Sarah I could have written this post I have suffered with anxiety since I was a kid and have had many rounds of various therapy I’m now 58 and it’s getting worse not better also like you I feel like the boy who cried wolf and think whatever “illness” I currently think I have will be the one that is real and will finish me off spent 30 minutes today checking and re checking my blood pressure and now convinced I’m on the verge of a heart attack or a stroke it’s exhausting and relentless and sometimes I hate being me wishing you peace of mind soon