Health Anxiety is ruining my life!!

[Lauradoc]

I am wondering if anyone suffers extreme health anxiety who can give me tips how to manage it or even just to chat about it.
I have had health anxiety for as long as i can remember. It has always been horrible but I was able to control it to a certain extent but this year it has gotten out of control.
It hinders my every wakened moment.
This year alone I have been to my GP 47 times, A&E 5 times, more blood tests than I can count, 2 chest X-rays and a CT Scan.
I have also paid to see a breast surgeon twice, gynaecologist and a dermatologist 4 times: I can't afford this may I add.
Reassurance doesn't help me anymore.
I don't believe a word any of these people tell me. I think they are fobbing me off or have missed something.
I had the CT Scan on Monday after taking myself to A&E. Nothing was found but now I have worried sick all week that something has been missed on it. That the radiologist hasn't read it right.
I can't eat, sleep or think straight for worrying constantly about every ache, spot or freckle. I wake every morning and go over and over every tiny thing. "Is it a lump, is it not a lump" "is the pain still there" "is my left leg more swollen than my right" it's never ending.
I have 3 beautiful girls and I can't look at them for worrying about being ill and leaving them.
The lastest is I have been getting random shooting pains in my anus, sharp pains. They aren't there all the time and only last a few seconds. I have now since these started on Tuesday convinced myself my bowel movements have changed. I am frantic again.
Does anyone else behave like this?
Chatting would be great 😍

oddly enough there's a current thread on here about this - you are not alone!

sounds like you need to talk to your GP about it, have you tried already?

Hi yes. I have been to my GP 47 times this year. I am also seeing a psychiatrist.

I'm also struggling with health anxiety so I really empathise with and feel for you.
I know that my HA flares up when I'm worried about something else or when things are generally stressful, I've actually had a few good months with it but this week it's been hard. If I find something that worries me I stop myself from prodding and googling (really hard!) and tell myself that if I'm as worried about it in a week I'll make a gp appointment. I haven't been to the gp since May. From then to now is the good period I mentioned.
I try to keep busy, eat healthily and exercise because I know that if I'm feeling good about myself I'm less likely to start to feel that something is wrong if that makes sense.
Sorry you're feeling this way

Did your GP refer you to a psychiatrist specifically for health anxiety?

ignore the above, something went wrong!

oh it didn't post, my phone's going wonky tonight

I have OCD and GAD and although I don't specifically have health anxiety, I do sometimes get health worries out of proportion. Lots of people, including my GP have warned me to stay away from Dr Google as s/he tends to catastrophise and approach diagnoses in the wrong way.

Are you having CBT? That can help a lot. I've had some and learned that thoughts, feelings and behaviours can feed off each other in a cycle and make each other worse. So, noticing a symptom might give you a feeling of dread, keep you up at night worrying and persuade you to ask for hospital tests. The dread, worrying, sleeplessness and the fact that you're going to the hospital might make you feel that there's something seriously wrong, but but these aren't reliable indicators. It was a bit of a revelation for me to find out that a feeling of dread does NOT mean that something is seriously wrong. So, that feeling has less of an impact on me now. And going over the worst-case scenario isn't helpful, either.

Try not to have CT scans or X-rays just for reassurance. If you don't actually need them, the drawbacks can outweigh the benefits. And as you've found, the reassurance doesn't last. Are you taking an anti-depressant such as sertraline? This can really help some people, alongside CBT.

Health anxiety is horrible but with help, you CAN stop it from taking over your life. Good luck!