i seem to have developed severe health anxiety..probably always been slightly dramatic but it’s gotten out of hand since my uncle recently died a pretty horrible death and I think it started because the doctors thought he had mild / very treatable cancer. He came to the end of his treatment, went for a scan and all of a sudden it’s everywhere and he’s dead 2 months later. This has made me terrified of any small problem going on in my body, hyperaware and also going down the Google rabbit hole to self diagnose as I worry doctors will miss something.
im already in psychotherapy and have a good understanding of why it’s happening but feel I have no control over it. I’ve started to also get dizzy / near fainting spells and went to see a cardiologist thinking it was probably panic attacks but obviously due to health anxiety wanted to get checked. He thinks I have something called POTs as heart rate and blood pressure arent right. Waiting for a test but this has just skyrocketed my anxiety as now I’m thinking oh god there actually is something wrong with me and I’ve been Googling obsessively. I feel significantly worse since I saw the cardiologist which makes me think some of this must be stress or anxiety either creating these symptoms or making it worse. I can’t tell if I’ve got a condition or it’s all in my head..I did wear 24/hr monitor which showed low blood pressure so that’s something that’s ‘proven’ I guess and my heart rate went nuts on the treadmill test and took ages to come down but I actually think this is because I was panicking. I told the cardiologist this but he still didn’t think he was right.
anyway I’ve been back to my GP every few days as I feel worse and now feel sick all day, muscles feel weak, near fainting spells multiple times per day etc. I’m so scared that I’m dying as I feel so rubbish but also wondering if I’m having some sort of nervous breakdown.
I’ve been prescribed sertraline but because I’m worried about an underlying medical condition I darent take it..I’m so scared of feeling worse but then of course maybe it’s the stress that’s making me feel so bad.
very long ..if anyone can relate or has been through something similar I’d really appreciate it. Talking to therapist later to get her advice about the medication also.