Health Anxiety causing REAL symptoms?

[Mumma02]

I have had my fair share of illnesses over the last 18 months and have developed terrible health anxiety as a result. From irregular bleeding, loosing a lot of explained blood during labour, battling low ferritin ever since, developing an overactive bladder and ibs, being referred for suspected bowel cancer due to what turned out to be piles that actually produced clots!! Here I am now...I almost feel this anxiety is justified.
Here's my problem...As soon as I get over one problem, something else happens. Each of the occassions above I was convinced I had cancer. Now out of the blue 6 weeks ago, I developed an extremely unusual headache on the right side of my head which made my face go numb and made me feel sick. Obviously I convinced myself it was a tumour. Since then, I have had this headache to a degree every single day on the right side of my head! I've never experienced this unusual pain before, it can be a stinging/tingling/burning sensation at times. Over the last 2 months or so I've also developed pins and needles in my feet/hands/arms/head and even mouth on one occassion. I feel sick and dizzy often. My legs feel very heavy or like jelly at times. My arms (but particularly my left arm) feels weaker and harder to use. I've seen stars in my vision (had an eye test last month so I know it's not my vision), had palpitations, chest pain and air hunger (went to a&e last month who did an ecg and said I was ok), feel faint and as if I am going to pass out during the middle of a conversation, extremely fatigued, feeling that I'm not really here, balance is off and started to get twitches all over my body...probably more but I can't think! I'm hoping to try and see a private neurologist next week but my question is...can anxiety cause any of these symptoms or am I actually just that unlucky to keep having things wrong with me? Trouble is, I've never felt this bad...it's effecting my life every day and I'm fed up about fearing the worst every day and want a diagnosis so I can just deal with it and move on.
I'm 32 and have 2 children aged 1 and 4 for context. Happy in every other aspect of my life. I've been tested for vitamin b12 and d, thyroid, autoimmune diseases, iron, full blood count...all normal other than low ferritin which has started creeping up with liquid supplement.

@savvy7 no, not diagnosed and gp hasn't really touched on it too much despite my numerous visits. I do feel in a MUCH better head space since positing this at the start of the year. I don't think my headaches stem from this. I can be totally relaxed and still have them.

It definitely sounds like health anxiety to me. You need to stop looking online and trying to diagnose yourself, you’ll find you just develop symptoms to those your reading about. Anxiety definitely causes physical issues and pain. What you need to do is self refer yourself to maybe your local IAPT and get some CBT, maybe if you have have health insurance getting it on that, it’s known to really help with health anxiety, and if it’s good CBT will put a stop to it. That with meditation, breathing exercises, look at 4-7-8 breathing. And diversionary activities such as gardening, craft basically anything that stops you overthinking, the pains and symptoms will start to disappear, but you have to believe that it’s health anxiety causing this otherwise you’ll carry on obsessing. Good luck.

I've got very similar symptoms, mine started from something real that was misdiagnosed and included other f**k ups by one consultant and just escalated from there. It's horrible. There's a thing called benign fasciculation syndrome that covers many of my neurological symptoms that seems related to anxiety. I'm on a six-month waiting list for CBT but it's difficult not to be hyper-aware of every little thing with my body, especially with spending most of my time alone at the moment because of covid restrictions. Part of the challenge I think is learning to live with uncertainty and telling myself that I'm okay now (nothing I have is really painful though so that makes that easier) and that if I did get something then I'd cope with it if it happened rather than trying to control everything right now.

I know this thread is a few months old but I kind of just need to let out my feelings. I also suffer with health anxiety and for the past few months I’ve convinced myself I have a few different ‘C words’ can’t even say it :( the main concern was a lymph node in my neck that the GP had no concerns about. (It was small mobile and soft) anyway the other night I was asleep and woke up by a horrible stitch feeling in my chest. I thought I was having a heart attack. I’ve realised it only hurts if I’m led on my right side, which is weird as the stitch feeling is at the left?? Anyway I’ve seen the GP who thinks it’s a muscle strain as I told her I’d been trying out yoga. (The yoga was supposed to help with my anxiety) and coming to think of it that could explain why but I can’t stop thinking that I have a tumour in my chest or swollen lymph nodes in there. I’m worried about having lymphoma or another C I don’t know about. It’s sending me crazy as you always hear about people being misdiagnosed ect. It almost makes you not trust your GP :( any words of advice would be appreciated as I’m not in a good place at the moment x

I’m also a health anxiety sufferer I’m always worried that I have every type of cancer doctor tries to reassure me that I’m fine mine too at the moment is a tumour in my chest because I read an article on it happening to someone last week it was skin cancer or bone cancer I completely agree it drives you insane I genuinely didn’t believe anxiety can cause you so much pain

@Motherto that is my fear at the moment to :(

@Motherto how are you feeling today? I have the exact same worry as you X

Hi @ACCx I’m not too bad today thank you the pain in my chest actually got the better of me that I ended up in A&E spent 7 hrs in there because I had this knot feeling in the middle of my chest to be told it’s actually the anxiety so come away highly embarrassed and the pain went now it’s back pain have you spoken to your GP or do you do CBT

Did you have your Covid vaccine around 6 weeks or so ago? There have been cases of tinnitus following vaccination. Also thought Covid because a lot of your symptoms are similar to my long Covid symptoms. There are also people reporting similar symptoms to long Covid post vaccination too.

Health anxiety...how do we overcome it 🤦🏻‍♀️

@Mumma02 how are you now ?

@Starrr123 actually been diagnosed with PoTS recently which is commonly misdiagnosed as anxiety. I think its awful how so many people are wrongly diagnosed without further investigation. I KNEW something was wrong and it wasn't all in my head.

@Mumma02 do you know what caused it ?
Also are you on any meds for it ? X

@Mumma02 is your heartrate increased? X

Hi @Mumma02, was just reading your thread and convinced there must be something happening at a physiological level that wasn't 'just' anxiety so thank you for updating. Did your iron levels improve?

@Starrr123 yes it is increased and definitely worse since having covid last October but had all these symptoms first so I know that's not the reason. Finally speaking to a specialist next week.

What symptoms do you have @rainbowninja? My ferritin is up and down. Highest it went was 31 but back down to 21 in January. No idea now.

Hi @Mumma02

Hope you get on ok with the specialist.

I was getting panic attacks, not sleeping, just completely stressed and exhausted but it turned out I had nutritional deficiencies, leaky gut and adrenal fatigue. I saw a functional medicine doctor and these things get a bit rubbished by the NHS I think but they were part of the picture of what was happening to my physiologically and things that could be helped with lifestyle interventions rather than being just treated for anxiety with therapy etc.