Health Anxiety ruining my quality of life

[pigtailplaits]

Hello Everyone,

i was posting on here a few months ago as i had very bad health anxiety particularly over a brain tumour. I had ct scan, hypnotherapy,offered anti d's but declined, yoga, CBT,everything really but it still wont go.
I dont google my symptoms anymore but its very hard to forget what you have already read. Anytime of the day i will just be trying to get on as normal and a nasty little statistic or fact will pop into my head about brain tumours. I had a very good childhood so there is no background reason for me being like this. I have a good life now too. The only major thing that has changed in my life is having my little daughter. She is now 19 months and since she has been born i have done nothing but worry - checking her in the night and just in general being over protective. I suddenly started worrying about dying and not being here for her one day. The thing that is upsetting me now is i am focusing my attention to other peoples health and it is doing my partners head in. The reason i am posting here today though is last night, me and my partner were in bed and i was watching him sleep and his arm and leg starting shaking like he was having a fit. He didnt wake up but i was very scared. This morning also, he was a bit moody. I dont want to tell him that i seen him shake in his sleep coz he will think its me being paranoid about brain tumours again but i am worrying about it. Should i tell him?
If anyone knows of any books relating specifically to health anxiety that are worth reading please let me know. I am suffering alot with tinnitus at the moment so half of me is saying yes its health anxiety but the other half keeps saying you need another scan. I am at my wits end with it all x sorry for the long post - just really feeling the strain

[Captain America]

i'm feeling the same. like, exactly! with the kids and my wife..when i'm not worrying about me, i worry about them. how to confront health anxiety like one would confront a phobia would be nice to know.

[sharon1]

hi there, i only been posting on here for about a week but after reading your post today i had to reply...i know exactly how you feel i recently been diagnosed with anxiety after having some very peculiar symptoms(im not gonna go on bout them again but you can see them on one of my other posts)..i have googled everyone of them and diagnosed myself with brain tumours, ms, tumours on spine, lupus, HIV..you name it i worry about it. I know what you mean that once you have read it it stays with you always niggling at the back of your mind. I too have no reason to feel this way although have always worried excessively over my children and parents health but never my own..i now think all the time im going to die and not see my children grow up. At the moment its a constant battle trying to keep things normal while my mind is whirling away with the latest terminal illness i might have..this is making me irritable and snappy then i get upset for been so awful...I know its hard to think logically and believe me i hardly do but the thing with your partner will have been him dreaming..if he had anything like that he would be affected whilst awake.
I saw my doc last week and told him what i think i have and he spent time talking through each of these illnesses and telling me why i didnt have them, this made me feel a little better, if you have an understanding doc then why not try the same, i wrote down all my symptoms and gave him the sheet of paper to read so i didnt miss anything..I think its great to read about this too as it helps to understand better and helps you feel like you are not alone..and you are not alone, i am here and im sure there a hundreds of other people just like us...We have both got young children lets get ourselves sorted and enjoy them...let me know how you get on...x

[Jay1979]

Hiya,

You are not alone

I feel exactly the same I have PND (my daughter is 20 months) which has given me terrible health anxiety about me and my family.

Its crippling sometimes but I am trying really hard to overcome it as the more you worry and think about it the worse it gets.

I have got a good book called anxiety and phobia workbook and also have a health anxiety book from amazon, its a good read.

[Jay1979]

By the way I have awful tinnitus too
Its really horrible

[Trixie]

Hello Everyone,

i was posting on here a few months ago as i had very bad health anxiety particularly over a brain tumour. I had ct scan, hypnotherapy,offered anti d's but declined, yoga, CBT,everything really but it still wont go.
I dont google my symptoms anymore but its very hard to forget what you have already read. Anytime of the day i will just be trying to get on as normal and a nasty little statistic or fact will pop into my head about brain tumours. I had a very good childhood so there is no background reason for me being like this. I have a good life now too. The only major thing that has changed in my life is having my little daughter. She is now 19 months and since she has been born i have done nothing but worry - checking her in the night and just in general being over protective. I suddenly started worrying about dying and not being here for her one day. The thing that is upsetting me now is i am focusing my attention to other peoples health and it is doing my partners head in. The reason i am posting here today though is last night, me and my partner were in bed and i was watching him sleep and his arm and leg starting shaking like he was having a fit. He didnt wake up but i was very scared. This morning also, he was a bit moody. I dont want to tell him that i seen him shake in his sleep coz he will think its me being paranoid about brain tumours again but i am worrying about it. Should i tell him?
If anyone knows of any books relating specifically to health anxiety that are worth reading please let me know. I am suffering alot with tinnitus at the moment so half of me is saying yes its health anxiety but the other half keeps saying you need another scan. I am at my wits end with it all x sorry for the long post - just really feeling the strain

I don't think you need another scan, if you were to have one would you believe it or would you want another a few months later? Please try and stop worrying.

[pigtailplaits]

thanks for taking time to reply everyone. If i had another scan i probably would want another one soon after. The longer this is going on i keep thinking 'oh no the scan was 4mts ago, 5mts ago, 6mts ago! The thought of not seeing my daughter grow up just cripples me but i guess thats just motherhood. Thanks for the book advice. Trixie, how are you feeling?

[Trixie]

thanks for taking time to reply everyone. If i had another scan i probably would want another one soon after. The longer this is going on i keep thinking 'oh no the scan was 4mts ago, 5mts ago, 6mts ago! The thought of not seeing my daughter grow up just cripples me but i guess thats just motherhood. Thanks for the book advice. Trixie, how are you feeling?

Here we are plodding on I had an MRI the other month and my tumour has grown but the neurosurgeon is going to hang on until I get symptoms.

I really wish your mind could be put at rest regarding this stupid tumour thing, here is a list of ones you haven't got http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/de...age=5014#types

Take care and try to be brave

[HeatherMc]

Hiya

I suffer from terrible health anxiety and I am currently seeing a CBT therapist, all I can say is stop googling and try and distract yourself (I know it is easier said than done but honestly it makes us 100% worse) last week I was suffering from twitches in my face, I came on here had a look around the site and made the decision not to google and hey it disappeared.

Good Luck

Heather

[Lissy43]

Hi,

You sound exactly like me, I have 3 young children and all I do is worry about them, wake in the night to check them and worry if I have to leave them etc.. I worry about my health 24/7 and my life is pretty crap because of this anxiety looming over me.

I am currently reading this book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stop-Worryin...9245787&sr=8-2

It is a very good book, I am reading it while I wait to start CBT.

If you need to talk please pm me.


Re your husband sleeping, don't worry we all jump in our sleep. If he had anything wrong he would know, he would have alot of other symptoms and would be having seizures during the daytime im sure.