Health anxiety

[Mumlife84]

Does anyone else suffer with health anxiety? I’m not diagnosed but I find myself worrying and automatically thinking the worst of every single symptom.

A few months ago I was convinced I had bowel cancer. I couldn’t eat or sleep for days because I was so certain I had it. Other times I’ve convinced myself I have a brain tumour, lung cancer amongst many other things.

I can cope with worrying for myself but it’s at a point now where if one of my kids mentions something hurts.. like earlier my son said his leg was hurting and straight away I think it’s bone cancer. He’s very pale, always has been but if he looks more pale one day I think it’s Leukemia. He had a tiny red spot pop on his face once and instead of just thinking he has a spot I assume it must be linked to cancer. My husband had a lump on his arm and I immediately thought he’s got cancer. Didn’t sleep at all that night. I start to feel really sick I get palpitations and can’t think of anything else.

I’ll stay up for hours googling symptoms which I know is the worst thing you can do but I can’t help it.

I’ve always been a worrier and always think the worst but my dad passed away suddenly at the beginning of the year and since then it’s just getting worse and worse. I just have this feeling of dread that something bad is going to happen and it’s really starting to affect my life. I don’t know what to do.

can anyone offer any advice? Anyone the same?

I’ve always been a worrier and always think the worst but my dad passed away suddenly at the beginning of the year

I'm sorry to hear about your dad. When you say you've "always" been a worrier, can you remember when that started? Was there anyone in your family who was the same?

I'm sorry to hear you are struggling with this OP. I've had this and lots of other catastrophic thinking. Be reassured it's not uncommon and it is treatable. And probably not surprising given whats happened to your family this year. I've found a really good therapist that has helped me learn why I think like that and how to manage it. Its not disappeared but I can recognise it and usually stop it before it escalates. So don't despair, you can feel better.

I used to lie in bed and cry because I worried about my parents dying or that we’d all die in a house fire and I was about 5/6 then. That’s my first memory of really worrying. I’m not aware of anyone else in the family being the same.

I’ve suffered on and off. Have you thought about CBT?

Although you may not remember, those thoughts came from somewhere. Until the age of about 10 we don't have the capacity for rational thought but we learn faster in that first decade of life than at any other time. So we hear, watch, absorb and try to figure out stuff without any real understanding or limits - it's a major design flaw!! So you may have overheard a conversation about a house fire, or watched the news or a TV programme which stuck in your mind. As a consequence you may have taken on the role of the worrier, in the mistaken belief that worrying about stuff actually stops it happening.

Yes this is me and feel exactly the same. I have also been a worrier generally through life but I'd say my health anxiety has got significantly worse over the last few years. It consumed my thoughts all day every day. Sadly the doctors don't take it seriously and also means that don't take my actually real health problems seriously as they think it's made up. But in fairness, I am struggling most days to differentiate between normal aches and pain and something more as I actually cannot trust my mind at the minute. So though I have no advice, you are not alone. I am taking comfort in the fact that I've spoke to people who've have been like this and got better so I am hoping I can CBT my way out of it at some point!

I also have health anxiety and have been on and off citalopram over the years. I find that I'm fine for a little while, then suddenly become obsessed with checking my body and symptoms, which I then self diagnose. It's just awful.
Maybe go to your doctors and talk things over with them. My doctor was amazing and so supportive.

I can really hear how tough this has been for you. Health anxiety can feel so overwhelming, especially when it starts affecting your everyday life and your family. The constant worry, the dread, and all the “what ifs” that’s a lot to carry. You’ve been through so much already, especially after losing your dad, and it’s no wonder that those feelings have gotten stronger since then.
But the fact that you’re reaching out and sharing this shows so much strength. You’re doing more than you might realize just by facing these fears and caring deeply for your loved ones. Remember, you’re stronger than you think, even when it feels like these worries are too big. Talking with others who get it can be really comforting, and you don’t have to go through it alone. You’ve got this, one step at a time.