Please talk to me about health anxiety focused on your kids

[SmuggleStudies]

I'm struggling a lot with this at the moment. Have big surges of it especially with hormonal cycles I think (tender boobs is a warning to me I'm going to get panicky).
I manage it, and try very hard not to communicate it to the DC, which includes having to tolerate lots of anxiety rather than go to the doc unless someone else also says it's necessary. It's exhausting (for me and for DH) when it flares.

Just wondered if anyone else lives with this?

Sorry you’re struggling with this op. I too have severe health anxiety. Like you, mine is mainly focussed on my DC, but also on my DH and myself, but to a lesser degree.
It got so bad a few of years ago that I went to my doctor and broke down. She referred me for CBT but sadly it didn’t help. The only other option I have are some sort of antidepressants but I really don’t want to go down that road. So I just find a way to muddle through and try to accept it. It is shit though. The only thing I can say is that it has got slightly better as the DC get older (now early teens). Don’t get me wrong, it is always there, but it is not nearly as severe as when they were younger. When it does get bad I try to focus on all the times I panicked and made myself sick with worry and it all turned out to be fine. It sometimes helps.
Maybe think about CBT. Just because it didn’t work for me doesn’t mean it won’t help you.
You honestly have my complete sympathies. I really do get how shit it is

Sorry, forgot to mention, I was a lot worse when I was on the contraceptive pill. It really affected my mood and my anxiety was through the roof. Every time DC even sneezed I was virtually having a full blown panic attack. It improved significantly when I stopped taking the pill and my hormones settled down a bit. But its still there and I have just resigned myself to the fact that I just have to live with it as I really don’t want to take medication.

Hi @PoptartPoptart. I'm really sorry you have this. Thank you for posting.

I'm also not willing to take meds for this. The evidence they do much good is scant, and I also have a general aversion to the idea of it.

Mine's also probably better now my kids are older (sounds like our kids are about the same age), but it still absolutely floors me sometimes. The panic, when it hits, is horrendous, isn't it?

I'm a bit concerned about menopause given the hormonal component (though maybe it'll be better after menopause??). Not there yet, but I just hit 40 and it's making me think about these things...

@SmuggleStudies it sounds like we are very similar and have similar circumstances too.
I agree it is horrendous when that panic hits. It really dominates my life and even during good periods it is still always there at the back of my mind and I feel constantly on edge. It is truly horrible.
Feel free if you ever want to DM me. I have no words of wisdom but sometimes it just helps to talk with someone who gets it.

@PoptartPoptart thank you - yes, please DM me if ever useful, too.

It sometimes makes me think of a tiger prowling around, going in and out of sight. You know it can and will leap out and maul you at random intervals, and you just have to learn to live with that. And I have to take the tiger on holiday/out for every special occasion, etc., where it often attacks.even.more...