Health PISSING anxiety!!!

[sazzysazz337]

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DS 12 months is teething, I think. Chewing fingers, drooling, snotty nose and pulling ear, woke up crying, generally abit ratty.

I’m suffering badly with this stupid health anxiety.
Gave him some calpol and I’m so fucking anxious I’ll have to take him to A&E (no fever, breathing fine)

I’m having CBT and it seems to be helping, except in times like this where I just want to run away.
(Background DS was in hosp with RSV bronchiolitis and query sepsis early on in his life around 6-10 weeks old)

I’m so anxious, palpitations and cotton mouth and I feel like I can’t breathe.

Please someone convince me DS is fine and I’m just fucking insane.

You know he's fine. It's written all through your post. You know it's the anxiety talking.

I wish the fucking anxiety was mute. Why can’t it social distance from me.

Is there any genuine cure for HA?! Cos it ruins my bloody life

I'm no expert, but what you've listed sounds like classic teething symptoms.

I'm sorry you're so anxious. Can you listen to an audiobook maybe? Or find anything that distracts you from your worries and is soothing?

Has your ds gone back to sleep now?

DS is watching duggee and trying to scratch the eyes out of one of the bears in “thats not my teddy”

I didn’t know teething could keep babies up all night, genuinely. When he wakes in the night really crying I just assume the worst

My wisdom teeth came through at the same time as my daughter was teething. I can honestly say that I have never felt so sorry for anyone in my whole life. My wisdom teeth coming through was agony. No wonder the poor little mites are so upset.

It's not just calpol (paracetamol) he needs it's ibuprofen too...that relaxes the swelling. You can give both! Alternate them... he will sleep then. Some people prefer warm drinks for teething and some prefer cool drinks so just try both.

It’s the runny nose I’m worried about, is it normal for teething? Or is it a cold he’s had a bit of a runny nose for a few days. He’s okay in himself he’s doing laps of the living room.

A cold is a bad thing as my minds like cold = bronchiolitis

Listen I get it. I totally get it. I'm exactly the same with health anxiety and took my baby to a&e so many times in her first year I ended up with social services intervention for my mental health.

Right now, a&e is the last place you want to take her. If you still feel the same in the moment call 111 and get an out of hours GP: but an unnecessary a@e trip now could lead to a Covid exposure for everyone.

I had CBT for my anxiety around my children's health and to an extent it really worked - particularly the distraction techniques that buy you an hour until your rational thought processes come back into play. It also teaches you how going to the drs or Google or whatever is reassurance seeking behaviour which often actually makes things worse in the long run,

I would highly recommend seeing your GP about how you feel. If your baby is under 12 months you get priority access to services

I do still struggle though. My 3yo has been genuinely ill all week and I've had about 9 hours sleep in total since Sunday

Thank you all so much for being so understanding. I just gave DS some warm milk.

I take duloxetine for my anxiety and it has worked miracles. Like turning off the anxiety tap. I take a low dose every three days. I’m never stopping taking it!

I would be exactly the same in your position. Ds had a febrile fit and I still panic now when he gets a temp.

Mouth, ear, nose and throat are all connected. A runny nose is extremely common when teething. Mine used to always get a croup type cough when a tooth was coming through. Try not to worry. Just give meds and tomorrow go and buy ashtons and parsons teething powder it's very very good!! Lots of cuddles and fave foods and your DS will be just fine.

Thank you, I’ll try the teething powder, DS is sat watching Moon & Me, the paper cone episode - if anyone else knows about this then I feel for you

I have health anxiety too. It's hard.
What I will say is get some good cbt and try your hardest not to seek reassurance.
Sites like this are bad for it because there's always someone about to reassure you. Which short term may feel like it helps but long term just helps the cycle continue.
Hope you're able to get some relief from it

I have such bad health anxiety too OP! I have no advice except (like a PP said) deep down (VERY deep down) part of me knows when it is the anxiety talking (although of course I usually doubt this knowledge, as that's part of the whole fun filled anxiety experience 😫)... And it spunds like you know that this is your anxiety. Gosh, health anxiety is even worse when you have kids and start to worry about them too, isn't it! Mine always got mild cold symtoms when they were teething - I could have written this exact thread. So I hope this helps x

I had treatment for anxiety years ago, and one thing that came up again and again was that I would be cross at myself for feeling anxious and in some ways make the anxiety spiral even worse. My therapist suggested just naming the feeling, say it out loud to myself and let go of the anger. You feel anxious because you love DS and don’t want him to be ill. That’s normal, that’s being a mum. It’s okay to be worried. And list the things you know aren’t worrying; he’s breathing fine, he’s well in himself, he’s drinking milk, responding to painkillers etc.

How are you feeling this morning OP? And how is your little one?

DS is fine, very red cheeks this morning and a runny nose but he’s okay

I am okay, I’m not as anxious as he hasn’t been sick or spiked a fever or anything

Definitely agree health anxiety is worse with kids, I thought last night I didn’t ever mind just worrying about me but when it’s my baby it’s too hard

Try and name the anxiety. So “I know DS is fine and just teething but Donald Trump (or whoever) is trying to persuade me he is unwell”

Congratulations, OP - you just did one of your CBT 'experiments' - you didn't take son to A and E, and have seen that the anxiety dropped anyway, eventually. Nothing bad happened.

Remember your CBT mantra - "I feel anxious, palpitations, cotton mouth and like I can't breathe - and that's ok, that's a normal panic response. It means nothing about the seriousness of the situation. I will monitor my son and make judgments using his symptoms, not mine"

You did this last night. You have seen that it worked. Slowly, over time, your 'experiments' will break those automatic connections of 'cold = bronchiolitis'. You will keep on disproving it. This is what CBT is about - not just changing your thoughts, but proving to yourself that the new thought is true.

It’s quite normal to be worried about the health of our kids, especially when they’re still so little. That said, it sounds like the trauma of him being ill when he was so young is still there for you, and it’s probably fuelling the health anxiety. In my experience, CBT won’t work that well until the trauma response is resolved, and for that I would look to do either EMDR or hypnotherapy with somebody experienced in using the rewind technique.

Once the trauma has lost its emotional charge, you’ll no longer be automatically plunged into panic every time he’s showing symptoms of illness.

I’m kind of proud of myself that I didn’t rush to A&E. I did when he had a sickness bug and we was out within 10 minutes 😬
The health anxiety just ruins my life, I lost my fit and healthy dad quite suddenly 6 years ago today with a pulmonary haemorrhage so all of the experiences have been very unpleasant

I have it too. I beat it for years until covid came along, now it’s suffocating me again. I have nipple thrush (breastfeeding) but convinced myself it was a rare form of breast cancer a couple of weeks ago and kept having panic attacks... It’s awful.

Main coping mechanisms for me are steering clear of google and avoidance tactics. I get my DH to talk to me about really boring shit to take my mind off it or I put the radio/TV on.

I’ve noticed that since covid it’s just amplified! I don’t tend to worry about myself really, just DS