Health anxiety

[Mvshrln]

Hi all,

I've seen a couple of health anxiety threads on here but they're all quite old/inactive and wondered if there were any more recent ones, or if anyone fancied discussing it via this new thread? It's helpful when someone else knows how you feel.

I really struggle with HA, the thoughts bounce around my head until I fixate on one and worry about it relentlessly. I can see why the anxiety has appeared (friends parent passed away, the covid-19 situation has terrified me, I'm getting older/have life events happening like buying a house, and I also work within the hospice sector). It's helpful to know why but it doesn't help with how to deal with it! I'm currently taking venlafaxine and CBT counselling via videocall but the worry takes up huge chunks of my day.

Nightmare! How is everyone else?

Thank you everyone, it seems that bowel issues are a common trigger for us. That is reassuring that it’s not just me that doesn’t have a regular pattern.

It could be caused by more alcohol and rich food over Christmas I suppose, my stomach is doing a lot of churning this morning so I think the medicine I took yesterday might be starting to work.

Ah this morning has brought me even more anxiety, TMI but I seem to have thrush 😢 There also seems to be a little bit of spotting, does anyone know if this is normal. This is a bit of a trigger for me because several years ago a friend of mine kept going back to her doctor who kept diagnosing her with reoccurring thrush but it turned out to be cervical cancer.

I can feel my heart started to beat faster and that feeling of dread in my stomach, I just know this is going to send me into a spiral 😢

Hope everyone else’s day is off to a better start than mine!

@MrsWhites sorry to hear you’re having a hard morning. I used to get thrush quite regularly when I had the copper coil. Could the spotting be due to irritation? Are you near your period? X

@Lib3rtine no, mid cycle so definitely not period. The spotting was only one bit this morning when I went to the toilet, it is definitely very irritated so I’m thinking it might have just been from a small cut or something as there has been no more. I’ve dashed to the chemist so have taken the tablet now so hopefully that will clear it up. Thank you for replying so quickly, it’s nice to talk to someone when the spiralling starts x

@chorusline79 I really need to avoid googling, it just sends you down a rabbit hole of all the things it could be by some tiny remote chance but hardly ever points out that it could be something absolutely normal too!

Good luck with the CBT, I am getting to the point now where I think I probably need to seek some support but I need to look into whether I can self refer because I’m just not ready to discuss it with my GP.

@MrsWhites or it could possibly be something to do with ovulation if your mid cycle? Hope the tablet clears things up quickly so your not in discomfort for too long!

@MrsWhites I bet it will have been a small cut, it used to happen to me it was that sore. The tablet should work pretty quick.
No problem, I know how that rising panic feels and hate the thought of anyone going through it x

@Pinkmonroe Thank you! I don’t usually get ovulation bleeding but it could be I suppose.

@Lib3rtine I think it might be a cut because there initially was no sign of any bleeding, it appeared after I had wiped. Thanks for talking me down, like you say the rising panic feeling is so horrible!

Yes @MrsWhites someone else said on here about google and what a crap doctor they were as they had misdiagnosed so many things! It really helped me.

Hope you can self refer, that's what I did. We have a scheme where I live where you don't have to go through GP and you can self refer for anxiety, depression etc My Dr sign posted me to the service after a bad phone call where I blubbed to her, and it was v quick - I started my CBT within a couple of weeks. Im not sure it will work amazingly for me, but I feel that in seeking the support I've acknowledged it's bad and I want to make it better, so even that is helping me feel more positive.

It’s a little bit different but I once had bv when pregnant @MrsWhites and had some spotting! It really did scare me but whoever I saw at the time about it did say it was normal and probably irritation etc! Hope your ok!

Hope everyone else is doing ok too! I feel real inner sadness at the minute which I can’t seem to shake it’s just constantly lurking!

@MrsWhites I self referred for cbt. I didn’t need to speak to the GP at all, though the therapist did ask for permission to share my progress with the GP.

Hi everyone. Hope you're all doing okay today.

Catching up a bit but...

1. Crazy bowel movements do seem to be a bit of a hallmark of stress/anxiety. My stomach is all over the place when I'm in a bad phase.

1. I've never taken any medication despite being prescribed it several times. I'm terrified of side effects and feeling worse. Plus, another big trigger of my HA was having an anaphylactic reaction a few years ago which was terrifying. The reaction wasn't to any meds (or anything that any doctor can figure out) but I think the not knowing what caused it makes it worse. It's made me very scared of putting 'new' things in my body though.

1. I think most areas can self-refer for CBT now can't they? It worked well for me last time I had it but I've been having sessions again since September and it's not quite the same. Maybe because it's online rather than in person I'm just not getting the same out of it iyswim.

I'm doing much better in general the past few days. I feel less anxious and my blood pressure is coming down nicely. It is hard not to obsess over it while keeping an eye on it. Hypertension has been an issue for me for years (hangover from the pre-eclampsia that first triggered my HA) and it's mostly well controlled with meds but wobbles every so often. So my GP does ask me to check it daily when it's not great but it's a very fine balance between checking and obsessing...

Thank you everyone. I went out for a walk in the snow and have managed to calm myself down a bit. There is still a little bit of pink spotting but I’m trying to remind myself that it would be a massive coincidence to have thrust symptoms and random spotting at the same time not caused by the thrush. External symptoms don’t seem as bad after taking the tablet so hopefully that’s doing it’s job.

I think I’m definitely going to look into self referral, I think I’d feel better to do it that way than speak to my GP, especially as at the moment it’s all done by phone and I hate talking to people on the phone!

I’m glad to hear you are feeling a bit better @WitchSharkadder. Good that your blood pressure is coming down!

@tmh88 thanks for sharing about your BV, I think if that can cause bleeding then so can thrush so that made me feel better! I hope you are doing ok, the inner sadness feeling is so hard to shake isn’t it. It doesn’t last forever, or maybe it does but we just get used to it x

My mum said when she got to her late 30’s that things started to get a bit more sensitive up there so she thinks I’m just following her pattern towards the menopause, I had a clear smear test last year I need to keep reminding myself of that.

Glad you’re doing better @MrsWhites definitely sounds like a cut! As I’m going older (39) I find that i can sometimes get a paper cut like tiny tear either after doing the deed or if I have a thrush, so like you just generally so much more sensitive down there than i used to be.

X

@MrsWhites I’m sure I’ve had slight spotting when I’ve had thrush before.

How’s everyone’s day been? I’ve been quite anxious and am at that stage where I just want to hide in bed. I’ve got a uni assignment due next week and haven’t even started though.

Thank you both! It’s seems it’s quite common then!

@Goolies how are you doing?

@Ethellsmum I’ve come to bed early, my husband is watching football and I can’t be bothered listening to it or making conversation, sometimes sleeping it off is the best thing! Take yourself off to bed if you think that will help, you won’t get anything productive done on your assignment tonight anyway, best to start after a good nights sleep with a fresh mind!

Hey @Mrswhites I’m ok thank you. I can’t put my finger on what been bothering me but have a heavy sad kind of feeling I can’t shift. I’m due on my period and it did start just under a week ago. My pms seems to be getting worse and worse, I started evening primrose oil capsules last week in the hope it will help my moods ( and also my breast pain) but it hasn’t done anything so far xx

@Goolies I have the same sad feeling that I can’t explain as well! Anything seems to to be setting me off and I’m finding myself being moody and irritable which I then feel bad about! X

@MrsWhites glad you’re feeling better and calmer, definitely all sounds like normal thrush symptoms to me x

@Ethellsmum I have days like that, agree that best thing to do is rest and start fresh when you’re feeling more like it tomorrow x

@WitchSharkadder glad you’re feeling a lot better and your blood pressure has come down x

@tmh88 hope you’re doing ok tonight. The inner sadness feeling is understandable considering what you’re going through, I think you’re incredibly brave x

@Ethellsmum I agree that resting is he best possible option right now. Start afresh tomorrow on a decent's night sleep. I know that is hard (I'm drowning in uni work myself) but its necessary.

Morning everyone, the heavy sad feeling is something I can relate to too, mine usually kicks in around 10-7 days before my period. Makes me feel like I can’t be bothered with anything, lethargic and very irritable. I think my anxiety is often liked to my cycle too, it’s definitely worse in the week leading up to and the first week of my period. Or maybe, the anxiety itself isn’t any worse but it affects me more in those weeks, like I can’t shake off the anxiety as easily in those weeks if that makes sense.

Does anyone have any plans for New Year’s Eve, we are expecting to move into tier 3 today so will just be getting a takeaway with the kids!

@MrsWhites morning! I definitely think the heavy, sad feeling has been worse for me since I got pregnant, must be the hormones! I’m so happy and excited for the baby and then the feeling of dread that something bad will happen kicks in.

We will just be doing the same NYE, we’ve been in tier 3 all along so nothing will change unless they move us to 4!

Good news today, just had growth scan and baby has grown nicely and blood flow and fluid all ok so that’s a relief!

Hope everyone is ok x

@Lib3rtine that’s great news! I think pregnancy is one great big worry, I remember being so anxious to get to 12 weeks, then when that passed it was 20 weeks, then 24 weeks...basically haven’t stopped worrying since 😂 It does get easier once the baby arrives safely though, you get back a feeling of control over the situation I think!

@Lib3rtine I'm pleased everything is looking good. Pregnancy is difficult and anxiety inducing generally but so much harder when you have HA. Hope you can enjoy the rest of it

@Lib3rtine so glad to hear everything is going well with your pregnancy

@MrsWhites I’m much worse when due on my period also starts anything up to 2 weeks before I’m due on! Horrible dread and anxiety feelings