Deteriorating Health Anxiety

[JacHuggie]

I’ve had health anxiety, OCD and GAD for over ten years now. Tried CBT several times but it always comes back. Over the last year health anxiety has got massively worse. DH dad died from a brain tumour before I met DH but I’m so scared this could run in families. Last year my DS had headache and ended up in a&e having emergency mri. Thank god it turned out to be “just” a migraine but since then HA has been worse than ever. Constantly checking my DS for symptoms/asking him if he’s ok. We went on holiday last week and I was terrified he’d get a headache. Second night there, he got one and I spent the rest of the week constantly terrified he’d be ill again. I’m on waiting list for CBT but have been told it could be a 12 month wait. Has anyone else had obsessions like this and, if so, how do you manage it? I’ve always been proud for managing without medication but thinking now I might need to consider it because this is taking over my life

Can you remember when and why this started? Finding the root cause is the best way of dealing with it.

So sorry to hear you are going through this, it must be incredibly stressful. Is there any chance you could do CBT privately? Even if it's just £20 sessions with a trainee a couple of times a month? There is no shame at all in taking medication if it will make things easier x

Thank you both for your replies. @Eyesopenwideawake I have no idea why the anxiety began initially but it has definitely been triggered more since DS had migraine and scan last year. I feel I have to be hyper vigilant to stop it happening again, even though I know migraines can be quite common during puberty. @Sera1989 I have looked into private CBT but in my area there is a waiting list for the ones I could afford, otherwise looking at £125 an hour! If anyone else was in my situation, I would say absolutely go with meds if it helps but I’ve always been proud of the fact I’ve managed without them. Plus the HA side of things makes me worry that once I start taking medication then I’d be on them for life and that’s not something I’m sure I’d be comfortable with for myself.

My DH suffered from health anxiety to the extent that he began having panic attacks and his life became really miserable. He was proud of never taking medicines but in the end he gave into it and within a couple of weeks his life improved so much.

He eventually had counselling (very hard to get and long waiting list on NHS!!) both individual and group and, within a year, was able to wean slowly off the medication with no side effects or problems. This was about 5 years ago and since then he's had no anxiety or panic attacks. If we could see our time over again we both know he would start taking the medication earlier rather than waste so much time in misery.

Other things that helped him were really talking things through with family an friends, keeping busy with the things he loves e.g. gardening and woodworking. Things outdoors in the fresh air with people he loves especially helped him. He also did guided meditation which he got online and read lots of books from the library about panic and health anxiety.

I really hope this helps you and that things get better for you soon as I know how grim this can be. A big hug to you.

I feel I have to be hyper vigilant to stop it happening again

Think about that sentence. How is being hyper vigilant going to stop it happening again? It's not - all it's going to do is affect your own health as your sympathetic nervous system will be in overdrive. This goes into detail about what happens to you body when you're stressed. If you haven't tried it already consider remedial hypnosis as it's very effective with dealing with all types of anxiety. (Disclaimer, it's what I do).

@SomersetTart Thank you for your positive story! It’s really encouraging to hear that your DH weaned off the meds and is now doing better. I’m kind of already thinking along the lines of what you said-I don’t want to look back on my life and wish I’d done something sooner. Particularly as DS is nearly 14 and won’t want to spend time with me for much longer so want to be in the best head space as soon as possible really. Will definitely look into guided meditation too x