Health Anxiety - what helps?

[CosyWasp]

For background - I've got a chronic illness (endo) which I've already had quite a lot of treatment for. It wasn't diagnosed until it was very severe and I was extremely poorly, and I had to have multiple surgeries v close together, and ended up in premature menopause in my late 30's. Last surgery was 6 years ago. I experienced a lot of mistakes in my care, the worst being an internal haemorrhage that was dismissed as gas pain, and my trust in doctors is low.

About 18 months ago the symptoms came back. At first I thought it was long covid and that it would pass, but it didn't, and I've been back under care of a specialist gynae and back on the treatment treadmill since February last year. My main symptom this time round has been bouts of incredibly painful and unpredictable diarrhoea (TMI sorry). I've got that pretty well under control now with medication but can't shake the anxiety around leaving the house, and I'm also really struggling with anxiety related to anything medical. I had an MRI last week and cried when I got the results, even though they were what I was hoping for. I've also developed anxiety around my boobs (my mother had breast cancer when she was the age I am now). I've got almost constant scary thoughts about cancer.

I am pretty sure that this is all being exacerbated by changes in the hormones I'm having to take (I've had to reduce my oestrogen dose and double the progesterone to try and stop the pain flares from the endo). I'm on a low dose antidepressant for nerve pain, plus regular painkillers when I need them, plus 2 different daily laxatives.

Before I got ill this time, I used to take regular day trips into London, I haven't done that in almost a year now and I miss it :(. I'm scared to go too far from the house in case I have a toilet emergency. I'm terrified of fainting in public. Life is getting really small again :(

Husband has said, very kindly, that I need support and I need to talk to someone. I've arranged an assessment for tomorrow but I don't know what they're going to ask me or what they might suggest. Has anyone been through this and what has helped?

Sharing how you feel and medication will help. There's other things like cbt and talk therapy that really help too but finding somewhere you can vent and get support really helps x

Hi OP, another fellow HA sufferer here.
I don’t feel I can offer the best advice, i actually went to the drs today for the first time to address my HA and have been put on some medication myself after teaching a bit of a crisis point.

You sound like you have been through an awful lot 🥹 no wonder you are feeling the way you do.
Perhaps you could take baby steps to begin with, maybe not as far as day trips to London, but build up your courage getting out again to places a little further and further each time. That way, if something happens and you need to get back, it might feel manageable.

I also have a lot of HA around my boobs too, I’ve stopped checking them because I can’t face it 😞 which I know is the complete wrong mindset but I feel I can only tackle one thing at a time.
sending you hugs, I understand at least some of what you are going through and I know it’s debilitating at times.

Exercising, if you're up to it, can help. It can help you start believing you can rely on your body more.