Health Anxiety

[craziedaisy]

I have been battling for a long time and have made several appointments to the GP that I have cancelled at the eleventh hour. I really want to combat this without medication. At the moment it is really bad and so much of my time is taken up this nagging feeling that I am about to find that I have cancer or my children will have something wrong with them. I spend a big chunk of time checking breasts, skin etc and it is so very exhausting. My husband works away a lot so this feeling tends to creep up on me when the kids are in bed an I have time to think and google.

Is there anyone that can give me their success stories. I am not against antidepressants but for me I watched my mum have some horrible reactions to them and feel too scared to go the same path.

[yamsareyammy]

I dont have experience of this.

fwiw, I think there are different sorts of ADs, so one at least may well suit you.

Also, bear in mind, that each individual is different.
So one AD may suit one member of the family, but not another. And vice versa.

[monikar]

Oh dear you sound so upset and worried.

My DD has suffered with anxiety (not health anxiety) so I do have some experience of how consuming and debilitating it can be.

I got a book from the library which said that the way to combat any anxiety was to accept that you have it, rather than trying to fight it. So, when you get thoughts that are worrying you, you accept that you have them, they are just negative thoughts and that is that. Most anxious people get these thoughts and then feed them with more anxiety and so on. It is about re-training your brain - at the moment you worry that you have say skin cancer, so they way you deal with it is to check constantly that you don't have it, so you are feeding it. Instead, when you get the thought that you might have something you think to yourself 'I'm thinking that because I am anxious. These are just thoughts.' and you don't try to fight off those thoughts, you just accept them.

It sounds bizarre but with DD it did work to some extent.

You say you have a lot of time on your hands in the evening and that is when you google and worry. Google always gives you the absolute worst-case scenario of any illness.

Good luck, hope that helps a little.

[Stripedmum]

I have this. It's awful. A living hell really, colouring every lovely moment. I'm not up for ADs either - part of the anxiety!

I think I'm just going to ride the storm and trust eventually it will pass.

[Notsoblonde]

I have had this for a few years, its worse when dh is away at work, he works away for a month at a time. I have tried not to go down the medication route too but am now on my third week of sertraline ( after having the tablets in my house for about 5 weeks before plucking up the courage to start them, as I worried about the side effects) am also having counselling. I am feeling slightly better, like something has lifted.
I knew that I couldn't go on the way I was, wasting time googling and snapping at the dc. The meds aren't so bad, yes you feel rough for a few weeks but if they are going to help its worth it.

[Lonelybunny]

I could have written your post , I have a cancer fear big time. I'm convinced I will get it :( . I'm on citalopram and it has done wonders for me !

[rosesinmarch]

Hello. Sorry to hear you've been feeling so horrendous, OP.

I've had this (in bouts) for years, too. There have been times when I've been totally non-functioning because of it. Pacing around in the night vomiting from anxiety, etc. Not been able to concentrate (or even make it into) work sometimes (and my job is very dependent on concentration and clear thinking). I think (in retrospect) at times I've been terrified of letting the anxiety go because then I might take my eye off the ball and not spot something serious (in me or DC).

Also, like you OP and Notso, I try to combat without meds (with the exception of a few weeks on Citalopram 10 years ago). I had limited success with CBT techniques - I found it really fed into my tendencies to over-think. But recently I've started using mindfulness meditation (not woo - just learning to be present - and I think has a lot in common with what Monikar says) and (although it makes me nervous to write this...) I think it's really helping.

I've had a couple of "aha" moments in recent months, when I've felt the anxiety start to build in a way which would almost certainly have led to a big flare-up in the past, and then been able to watch it dissipate through using some of the mindfulness techniques. This is not to say that I won't have many more flare-ups in the future (I'm sure I will), but I feel a lot calmer about handling them.

I don't have much experience of going to the GP about the health anxiety, as opposed to with numerous physical health scares, but I have heard that some people's GPs can be brilliant about it, so it might well be worth a try.

Let us know how you get on

[strawberryswing]

I am going through the exact same thing for the past month. In fact I started a thread on general health that you might want to have a look at as I've had a lot of good advice.

I made the mistake of googling symptoms which has snowballed into epic proportions. I am in constant pain caused by anxiety, which in turn makes me anxious which makes the pain.worse and I'm trapped in a vicious circle. Tests cant find anything yet I'm convinced its serious and im going to die.

Its taken over my life, today I have been prescribed citalopram and have been booked for CBT in a few weeks.

I know none of this helps you and sorry for rambling but just wanted to say I know how awful it is and how it can take over your life. I'm trying to take back control but its not easy, I hope you find something that works and you can share it with me!x

[ClockWatchingLady]

How are you doing OP?

[ClockWatchingLady]

Oops sorry - left off half my message last night. It said that I also have had this, and found mindfulness meditation really useful (like rosesinmarch). Is quite a commitment to keep practising but might be worth a shot?