Illness anxiety disorder

[fatherfurlong]

Has anyone had or cared for a friend or family member with this?

I hasten to add my daughter hasn’t been diagnosed with this but I think she has it.
Brief history, I have posted before - I have an adult daughter with special needs who unfortunately has a life limiting illness. I was aware that she was becoming unwell 3 months ago reporting that she had ‘funny sensations’ in her eye, then it was noises in her ears. Obviously we took these seriously and I took her to the GP who prescribed medications for both conditions. I did report before she was put on Amitriptyline which caused all sorts of problems and we had to wean her off it. She is back now on a low dose of Citalopram which has improved things BUT…
She is now absolutely obsessed that she has an eye tumour, 2 days ago it was brain cancer, each day something new, some new pain, symptom that she wants addressed immediately. She is clearly distressed alternating between tears and pleas to take her to the GP- we have been several times and asking lots of questions. I am the only one in the family who acknowledges her worries. The others ignore her or tell her she is being stupid. I am finding it so hard to keep a lid on my feelings as it’s driving me crazy. She is being admitted to hospital next week as part of her care- an annual in patient check up and I am hoping they will address this. Has anyone else dealt with this or experienced it themselves? I feel it is starting to effect my health- I have just left the room to finish off dinner & I can hear her & her Dad arguing….

It sounds like Health Anxiety .
Hopefully the citalopram will help with it.
I am sorry you’re going through this, must be so hard for you. X

Thank you TreeHuggerMum1

Really appreciate you taking the time to reply. It IS hard. Interestingly I have asked staff at the day activities she goes to and they say she hasn’t mentioned anything- she saves it all for when she is at home.
We have so much expectation of this up coming hospital stay I hope that they have insight into what’s causing this issue and help rather than just get the tests done that they want doing.

Oh bless her. I have diagnosed health anxiety and Illness OCD. It’s debilitating and I’m in my 30s so I can’t imagine what it’s like for her. It’s so scary and unpredictable. Hats off to you for being so supportive and trying to help her. Alt of people don’t get it and think it’s just being dramatic but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Hopefully the citalopram helps, I can’t comment because I’m not medicated due to my anxiety not letting me take the bleeding things! Honestly the rest of the family need to be pre patient with her, as someone who has no real support system it’s so lonely when people think you re being stupid and it’s not real. It feels very real to us. Hugs xx

MummySS22,
Thanks for responding and telling me your experience. It must be incredibly hard to manage without medication- have you not found something suitable for you? Have you had counselling- if so was it helpful?
Because my daughter is physically disabled she has very little autonomy and has to rely on others for so much e.g she couldn’t get to the GP on her own, maybe if she could she would feel some control which would help.

How did you get your diagnosis and how long have you had it? Is there anything that helps you?

I got my diagnosis through lots Of GPs and then when I self referred to talking therapies they are the ones that diagnosed me with OCD and health anxiety. I’m 31 now so I’ve had it around 15 years. I always had anxiety as a child and into my teens and then it became more focused on my health and thanatophobia (fear of dying)
how old is she? Talking therapies is free in the NHS and she can self refer. They have well-being practitioners who will do a through assessment and diagnosis and then best cause of action for treatment. I can only guess she’s reluctant to open up because maybe she feels embarrassed that she’s suddenly developed this? I know sometimes I feel so ashamed and embarrassed because some of my intrusive thoughts are just downright ludicrous! The medication hasn’t helped me but I will own up and say that’s because I don’t take it (I have an irrational fear if I take a medication it will kill me) the therapy didn’t help me unfortunately but I’m going to give it another try because I feel I wasn’t fully invested before. Cognitive behavioural therapy is very helpful and successful for many people so there’s a good chance it could help her.