How to manage severe health anxiety

[JusWunderin]

At least for the next 17 weeks, while I’m waiting for CBT.

I’ve always suffered, but more recently it’s spiralled out of control. I spend every waking minute worrying I have cancer, or some for of horrible surgery-needing ailment, or that I’m having an allergic reaction.

at the minute the doctors think I have some eczema, despite it not being dry or scaly. My hands, feet, armpits, groin and scalp itch like nothing I’ve had before! It’s so intense and it comes and goes every couple of hours.

I feel constantly sick at the thought of something being wrong with me. I cannot cope, I don’t know how to live like this anymore. I need help now.

I’ve read up about having blood tests/scans/full body MOTS but it seems to be that they don’t help, or don’t help for more than a few days.

What can I do, what did I do to deserve to feel like this constantly.

Medication. I take sertraline, it really helps.

@79pinkballoons thank you. I was offered sertaline years ago but I didn’t take it out of fear of reactions and side effects. I rarely even take pain killers even though I know I’m not allergic to them it still puts me off. My sister was on it though and it made her anxiety so much worse she had to come off of it.

I’m considering paying for therapy to see someone quicker.

Look up The Anxiety Guy on YouTube. He overcame severe health anxiety and his videos and meditations are really helpful. His book changed my life. I was in a terrible state with HA and it pulled me out if it. There are exercises in there probably simular to what you will do in CBT. Every now and then I feel myself slipping and re-read the book. It was someone on MN that recommended it to me a few years ago now and it's a game changer

I got the book on Amazon - his name is Dennis Simsek but goes by The Anxiety Guy on YT

@XiCi thank you so much! I do try and do some meditation so it coming from a man who’s suffered health anxiety/anxiety specifically I think will really help. Off to order the book now!

I hope it works for you @JusWunderin . The book was a bit of a miracle worker for me.

No real advice just solidarity. I have horrible health anxiety. Every week I've diagnosed myself with cancer. I also went suddenly deaf in my ear a few years ago. No known cause, ENT said possible viral or bacterial infection. I had no pain and it was sudden leaving me with horrible tinnitus 24/7 & permanent hearing loss. This causes no end of anxiety about my 'good' ear & the tinnitus can cause horrible anxiety at times when it's particularly loud. I constantly catastrophise. Every symptom and I go to the worst case scenario. My husband this evening went to lie down with a headache which is very unusual for him and I'm trying to ward off thoughts of tumors. It's exhausting! I panic about my kids too. I did try CBT for 6 months. I paid for it myself. It did help a little and definitely worth a try but I'm thinking I might go down the medication route. Like you I'm concerned about side effects. I suffer occasionally from vertigo and I'm worried about dizziness or ringing in my good ear. It is endless. I think I'll try that book another poster recommended.

Overcoming Health Anxiety by David Veale and Rob Willson is brilliant. I cried reading the opening because the description of how I was feeling was so accurate. I had CBT on the NHS for mine and lots of the techniques they used were pulled straight from this book. I also took sertraline at first alongside the CBT which really helped pull me out of the pit.

I was coming on here to recommend this book, I thought it was really good.

I feel you OP, the constant worrying is exhausting. Anti depressants have taken the edge off for me but it's still a big part of my life.