Health Anxiety - part three!!

[MrsWhites]

Hi ladies, back again for thread number 3!

@RunawayBride2 best wishes for tomorrow! Hope it goes well!

@ofwarren I had stiff neck yesterday and eyes were hurting, I was complaining to DH and he said no wonder you have been looking down on your phone most of the day, and he was right, but I still panicked

@tmh88 thank you x

@runawaybride2 my eyes have been the same! I bet there are thousands and thousands of people who have been the same over this pandemic. It's just not normal to sit like this day after day is it

Hi everyone, thanks for your concern for me 💗

I've had a crazy busy day at work plus the medical stuff and then had to pick my son up so I've only just looked at Mumsnet

It's a bit of a long story so I'm going to get my son bathed and in bed and then come back and type it out but I'm okay x

@polkadotpixie Good to hear. Just when you are ready 😊

TheSilentstars and all hope you all coping.

I went for ultrasound today and embarrassed myself by being so anxious I was asking what every measurement was

Had trans V and abdomen and he was extremely reassuring. I said I seemed enlarged in Top right of abdo and how worried I'd been. He said several times he saw nothing of concern. Still have a simple liver cyst which was on last one and a gall stone. I kept asking if gallbladder looked ok as I was worried and he said it all looked fine. I asked after scan about lymph nodes in abdo he said they are difficult to see although he'd not seen anything which he was concerned about.

I initially felt relieved, but then the anxiety kicks in about something he might have missed. Think it's because I still feel so bloated and uncomfortable. To be honest the prodding and poking on myself, and quite a hard pressing ultrasound probably hasn't helped. I felt so tender in that top right area while he was doing it.

Still no appetite at all.

Dr has repeated bloods as so hoping inflammation marker is down if not I'll be terrified again I think the relief will be immense if it's normal.

Thinking of all who are worrying and waiting.

Tmh88

Thank you.

Always reassuring to hear when someone feels similar little lumps bumps

Hi all, is there space for one more on this thread? Do you mind me joining?

I’ll try and keep it brief but I’ve had HA since I was a kid and it’s been up and down over the years. The last 2 1/2 years though it’s been awful, it started getting worse when I first fell pregnant and lost the baby to a fatal foetal abnormality. Then my 2nd pregnancy was full of anxieties about the baby’s health which got worse after a stay in the special care baby unit after birth. The first year of her life I ‘diagnosed’ her with so many life limiting conditions. It was awful and I guess the only silver lining was that I forgot about my own health.

She’s 17 months now and I’m currently 13 weeks pregnant and currently diagnosing my little baby bump with all sorts of things! Also, I was due a smear when I found out I was pregnant and now I’m going to have to delay it by almost a year! Of course, I’ve now decided that by the time I have the smear, it will be too late for me and my husband will be left to raise our babies alone.

I’m so tired of feeling scared all the time and I just hate this feeling of impending doom that I’ve got hanging over me, like I’ve got a feeling something’s wrong so it must be! Does anyone else get that?

I’m even thinking of going private and lying to them about my symptoms so they can do a colposcopy and check I don’t have any abnormal cells - is that crazy?! I can’t even think straight anymore to talk sense into myself! Sorry that wasn’t brief! 🙈 thanks if you’ve read this far!

@polkadotpixie glad you are ok

@MarthasGinYard yes my stomach is very lumpy/bumpy!! Glad your scan went well! I understand you not feeling relieved from the anxiety though as I was just the same!

Can anyone else go really extreme with there anxiety? As in way over the top! When I googled jaw and ear pain the other day it brought up that it’s a sign of a heart attack in women and naturally thought of my mum who passed in December from a heart attack and sent myself into a frenzy of is this a sign?! I feel daft typing it but sometimes my brain just doesn’t let something be anything but a sign! I get it with adverts/medical programmes but this is self inflicted when I google so why would it be a sign!

So even though I actively searched for it.. I still see it as a sign! If that makes sense

Welcome to the thread @Squibble84
I've not long joined but so glad to have found my people and they are so helpful and reassuring.

@tmh88 I definitely do that. I had pins and needles the other night, searched and it said heart attack so I got myself in a tight mess, had to get up and was pacing around the house. I hate HA

@Squibble84 welcome! We really are all lovely and full of reassurance on here!

@RunawayBride2 I hate it too! Really feel like I’m wasting my life to it! I wish I could just magic it away somehow!

Hi @squibble84 welcome to the thread
My health anxiety was triggered by an ill baby too so I totally understand. I also occasionally feel like lying at the doctors to get proper tests done. If I had the money I would definitely pay for a full screen to be done.
Health Anxiety is so debilitating isn't it 😔

@tmh88 and when I'm on a googling mission I can feel myself getting really irritated if anyone tries to talk to me 🙈

@tmh88 I get that "is it a sign" thing too. Horrible.
My neck is easing off but I'm on high alert now and my sense of smell gets heightened. I could smell a really strong smell of mint and panicked because I thought I was having a phantom smell like you can have with a brain tumour but it was just my son's toothpaste..... Feel like I'm going crazy sometimes.

Thanks for the welcome guys! It’s nice to feel not so alone in the worry!

@ofwarren I hope everything was ok with your baby! My daughter was diagnosed with a sleep condition at birth which was completely benign but whenever she fell into a deep sleep, all her limbs twitched and shook like she was having a mini fit. For someone who already had health anxiety, it pretty much almost finished me off every time it happened!

Debilitating is definitely the right word to describe it, it’s exhausting! 😩

I've got a CBT book especially for health anxiety as my appointment isn't for 22 weeks...
I cried in terror even just reading it as there is so much on exposure therapy. I'm assuming that's how CBT works.
It gave examples of things to do such as, read books about people who have a terminal illness, plan your own funeral, write your own eulogy.... Nearly had a panic attack just reading the advice. I'm so, so scared to do any work like that with the therapist 😔

@squibble84 my son is fine but ended up having to have a liver transplant and we basically spent the whole of his first year in hospital. He's been on the shielding list in the pandemic too so that's really not helped with the situation.

Hi @Squibble84 welcome to the thread! Smear tests send me into a frenzy!! I too had to put one off to being pregnant with my now 11yr old. It will be fine! I went to my GP to express how worried I was at the time and she reassured me.

@RunawayBride2 me too! I genuinely feel for my poor partner most days! 😂

@ofwarren you should read “help me I’m a hypochondriac!: from headache to hypochondria” have just started tonight on my kindle and it’s giving me a good laugh as it feels like it’s been written about all us ladies! 😂 new thread time soon xx

Ooh, I'll have a look now! Thanks tmh88!

Wow this thread has moved fast today so I’ll just say hope everyone has had a good day!

I wrote a post out this morning but it didn’t post for some reason and I’m still not getting notifications for this thread so sorry I keep disappearing!

@ofwarren wow that must have been such a terrifying time for you! I’m so glad he’s ok now! Although the fact he has to shield must be worrying for you - thank god for the vaccine! Also, I agree with you, the examples in that book sound terrifying!

@onlyreadingneverposting8 thanks for the welcome! How long did you have to put it off for? If you can remember!