Health anxiety

[coco111]

I've always suffered with health anxiety but since giving birth 6 months ago it's got so so bad. I e genuinely got it in my head that I'm dying. I'm constantly worrying like it's taking over my life. I use to be excited about the future but now I'm just worried. Who would look after my kids if anything happened? I just don't know how to beat it. My brain is constantly going 200 miles an hour and I feel sick constantly! Does anybody have any advice?

Did it start with the birth or was it there beforehand?

Look at the facts first. If you are a female of, say, 30 your chance of dying is 0.000976* - that's a very, very low number. Are your parents/grandparents alive? Is there any genetic illnesses running in your family? Are there are actual reasons to believe you won't - like the vast majority of people - live to an old age?

Secondly thoughts are not real, they are just random ideas that flit into and out of your mind. If however you give a particular train of thought more attention than others it will expand and stay with you. Try this thought diary to put your thoughts "on trial"

https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/ThoughtRecordSheet7.pdf

Sometimes just taking a thought out of your head and physically writing it down robs it of it's power - seeing it in black and white makes you realise how ridiculous it is and you can screw up the piece of paper (and the thought) and bin it.

If you still find yourself ruminating then it might be time to look at some sort of therapy.

*https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html

I've always been an overthinker and always thought the worst but since having my 3rd child 6 months ago it's definately got 200 times worse. It's just a horrible feeling in my stomach that something is wrong. It's really starting to take over my life. It's constantly in my head.

It's really important that you get this under control before it transfers to anxiety about your child which can cause issues for them.

Do you already have strategies that you use to manage your intrusive anxiety thoughts?

At the moment it might be worse if you're sleep deprived or stressed about parenting/possibly juggling this with work or worrying about returning to work.

some advice here; https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/health-anxiety/

I don't have coping strategies at the moment. It's got so bad that I now have physical symptoms such as nausea and headaches which im sure is down to me constantly being stressed and worried but instead I have it in my head I must have a serious illness. I just don't know where to start or what to do to make it better.

Talk to your doctor, at least you'll get on the waiting list for CBT and they might suggest some medication.

I’m feeling the same. I’ve got no family history of anything and I’ve been to the GP convinced I have a heart problem who kindly did an ECG which came back fine. Yet still I feel every ache and pain means I’m going to die. I’ve been diagnosed with GAD in the past and had CBT for it so maybe I need to go over what strategies they taught me. It’s very hard though as anxiety causes symptoms such as irregular pulse, shortness of breath etc which then convinces my mind I am dying!
It’s really awful and it helps knowing I’m not alone.

I can totally relate to this. I am scared to sleep incase I don't wake up. In constant pain through my full body. Panic attacks. Blah blah blah. It's awful. Really feel for you.

I really think having kids (especially multiple children) can heighten feeling like this as you start to worry you may not be around for them, and then the thought grows and festers.

Maybe try to turn the energy from a negative to a positive? So instead of sitting around Googling symptoms of illnesses, why not do proactive things to increase your lifespan and improve health, like going for a run. May sound silly but the endorphin rush after can really help stop the negative thought cycle x

If I'm understanding you correctly that your anxiety is caused by worries about your physical health, that seems an easier problem to tackle than it might be. A visit to a doctor, maybe making some minor changes in your life to ensure proper nutrition, including vitamins.

Do you have any older relatives or friends you could talk to?