Health Anxiety - Part 4

[polkadotpixie]

I hope no-one minds me starting a follow up thread. I know some people were waiting for me to update so I thought I would but happy to ask MNHQ to delete if one of the long term posters wanted to start it 😊

I posted last night but I bought and read “help me in a hypochondriac! From headache to hypochondria” and it was a really good read! £2.99 on kindle and worth it! I could relate to us all in the book and I was nice to see someone cured of it! It takes about 45 mins to read!

@tmh88 funny you should say that because I am due on my period. I think it does happen more when I’m stressed or anxious. Thanks for the reassurance x

Does anyone else's neck click every time they look left or right? I really don't want to Google it.

Yes @MrsWhites I do, and also make stupid mistakes sometimes! Sometimes I miss out words when I'm writing, or talking! Physically when I am anxious

@tmh88 Amazing news! It feels so strange to calmly track them doesn't it? That's what it must be like to be a normal person!! Well done, hope you get some respite X

@ofwarren yes my entire body clicks/cracks! My neck I just slightly tilt to side and get a massive crunch noise! xx

@MrsWhites your welcome! I can be rational for us all as I’m on my period now 😂 the build up I’m a mess! Xx

@Skyliner001 thank you! Yes it feels nice to be sane 😂 me too! Give it a couple of weeks when I’m due on again and I’m sure I’ll have something new 🙄 xx

@Skyliner001 thank you, it seems it’s not just me then. Hopefully I’ll be able to let it go now.

@ofwarren mine doesn’t click when I turn my head but it does click if I lean my head over to the side, like trying to rest my cheek on my shoulder sort of motion. My knees and hips click too!

@tmh88 looking forward to the weekend when I feel a bit calmer. The build up and the first few days are always the worst for me!

@chorusline79 thanks for the tag for new thread. I’ve not been around for a while. Just nothing useful to say really! But have been dipping in from time to time.

Have to say totally agree about the anxiety changing throughout monthly cycle. I have about a week a month where I get super anxious about breast lumps, and they feel different and more tender and get into a spiral of poking them making it all worse...

@ofwarren I have a really cracky neck, got into the habit of needing to make it crack, which can’t be good for it.. think it’s common and probably crepitus. Sometimes it sounds a bit like popping candy when I rotate my head around!

Sorry I haven't been around for a while (anxiety through the roof and I find it really hard to post when it's bad for some reason. A weird combo of not wanting to bring everyone down, using MN as a distraction from the HA so trying not to think about it during my downtime & other stuff which I can't quite articulate)

Anyway, I have dipped in and out to keep up with you all and wanted to say I'm so pleased for you @polkadotpixie, you must feel so relieved and I hope the scan etc is over and done with soon

Yes, I'm definitely hoping it's soon and good news. We were planning to TTC again next month and this has thrown a real spanner in the works. I think that's part of my fear actually, not just that I'll die and leave my existing DS behind but that even if it's caught early I'll need a hysterectomy and be robbed of my chance for a second child

I had a better night's sleep but I'm feeling quite anxious again today, I can feel it creeping up on me again. I'm trying hard not to let it in and shut it down immediately but every little twinge sets me off 😩

Has anyone tried medication for their anxiety? I've had antidepressants in the past for depression but not really for anxiety and I'm not sure if it'd be a good idea to speak to my GP again and request something. I really don't want this health anxiety to get a real grip on me again and the last few weeks I've been in a perpetual state of fear over one thing or another that I'm convinced DS or I have

Hope everyone is having a good day and not struggling too much

Thanks for the tag for this thread. I stepped away for a bit as I was doing well and didn't want anything to set me off again!

Except this morning I am having a panic about my racing pulse. I am really conscious of my heartbeat all the time even when it's at normal speed but in the shower this morning I could feel my heart racing and took my pulse and it was 114. I've also noticed it speeds up after I eat. The obvious conclusion is that it's caused by anxiety (and I have been prescribed beta blockers for when I get into a panic that slow the heart so that makes sense) but now I've got it into my head that there is something wrong with my heart.

The option is whether it is postural tachycardia but I don't have many of the other symptoms. Argh, just wish I could be sure it is anxiety.

That book sounds interesting, does she explain in it how she got rid of her health anxiety?

I have been doing some hypnotherapy on YouTube for health anxiety. It's by a lady called Tansy Forrest and I really like it. She has a few different ones for anxiety. Would definitely recommend trying it, it's more like guided relaxation/meditation than what you might otherwise associate with hypnosis and not scary at all.

Does anyone take anything for their anxiety, I think I really need to maybe ask the doctor but does anything actually work, I can't imagine ever not feeling anxious.
I've had an okay day but started thinking this afternoon and now I feel dizzy and lightheaded.

@ofwarren hope your appointment goes okay this afternoon

I've never taken medication really. I've been given beta blockers in the past and they made me feel light-headed as they slow your heart rate down. I couldn't even walk up the stairs. I also had 1 sertraline and I had a 24 hour panic attack.
I don't like taking medication at the best of times and am really scared of side effects so they really aren't for me.

@RunawayBride2 I feel tired and dizzy when I sit for too long! I get a spaced out feeling! I try get out for a walk or in garden and it makes a huge difference! I don’t take any meds but I am seeing a hypnotherapist which is helping x

@KasparKat I have a naturally fast heart! My resting heart rate is about 90bpm! I enjoyed the book a lot because one it makes you feel not alone and two he does explain what helped him x

I also have a fast resting heart rate!
I think for me, the spaced out feeling is disassociation. I remember the first time I ever had it, it was after my first panic attack when I was 17. The disassociation feeling lasted for months and months. I was so scared I was never going to feel normal again.

I don’t take anything for my anxiety, I probably should but I don’t like to go to the doctor so I’ve never spoken to them about my anxiety.

My anxiety about mixing words up is ongoing, during a lesson with my son I said I’m going to cut up the scissors instead of I’ll going to get the scissors!

I take sertraline 😊

@ofwarren @Lolly12 and other fellow neck crackers! My neck cracking is ridiculous, it almost sounds like it's grinding at times. I am trying not to do it as was habitually cracking it all the time to release the pressure. It goes through phases though.

I'm glad im not alone in the neck cracking 😂 it becomes a habit and I read once on google (🙄) that it could cause a stroke.
It just crunches and crackles when I don't even try!

@chorusline79 I’ve been like it’s since I had a chiropractor for a few years for my scoliosis about 10 years ago! I crack everywhere all the time now xx

@ofwarren I read that too about the stroke! I also realised it was becoming a bit of a tic

@tmh88 it's quite disconcerting all the crunching?! I am 40 now so to be expected I guess

I'm sure it was the chiropractor that buggered my neck up too.
I went with a stiff shoulder on the left side and he cracked my neck. The next morning I was in AGONY and couldn't move my neck without extreme pain for 2 weeks. Was on really strong painkillers to cope.

@MrsWhites I mix up words when I'm stressed. I also did it all the time when I was pregnant, probably because I was stressed and anxiety for the entire pregnancy 🙃

At the hospital now.
Wearing masks is horrible when you are anxious isn't it 😔
Trying hard to breathe slowly