Tired of fighting Health Anxiety

[SianF9]

Does anyone else feel the same?

I am trying so hard to break the cycle of negative thoughts it's draining me, I'm reading books on how to break the cycle and what tips to do but then I worry because I'm focusing on it so much it's always at the forefront of my mind....I don't know what to do for the best.

I've had CBT which has helped but I want rid of this awful mental torture. I'm not sure how much / what else I can do as I have tried everything, it seems to play up more when I'm tired, I'm tired each day, I have a good diet and sleep routine, I'm convinced it's because subconsciously I'm always aware the Health Anxiety is in the background.

Can anyone recommend anything that's worked for them? I don't feel like I'm living anymore.

I can't help but my sister is going through the same at the moment so I'm interested in replies as I would really like to help her 💔 she is paying for private therapy at the moment but has only recently started.

"At last a life, anxiety and panic free" by Paul David.

Talks about how he spent years trying to prevent or get rid of anxiety. It was only when he accepted his anxiety and did the stuff anyway that his anxiety dissipated.

Therapy does help, when I did mine I had to do a lot of work outside of the therapy sessions too...I thought of it as a tool box, the therapy is one tool and exposure therapy, relaxation techniques etc are the other tools. I feel for your sister as it's a horrible thing to have. I've done a lot of work and I'd say I'm 60-70 percent better but it still lingers around. Lots of love to your sister ♥️

I agree with this.

You have to face it. You have to accept you have it and will always struggle. Once you accept it and learn to live with it rather than banishing it, you'll find the therapy tools really seem to help more.

As someone with health anxiety, this is the key.

Thank you, I will look this up 😊

You have to accept you have it and will always struggle.

Really? With all due respect that's...incorrect.

@SianF9 can you remember when this started and why? Anxiety is an emotion and it's role is to warn us of possible dangers however it can be triggered, or heightened by issues that do not need to worry you. This CAN be fixed, despite what PP believe.

No idea where it came from, I had a period of being very low when I was made redundant a few years ago and wasn't taking care of my health, I started worrying about my health over 2years ago and was googling constantly about cancer symptoms etc and had a panic attack, since then I've had health anxiety. I never had any anxiety before this, although I do remember when I was in my teens I went to the doctor as I couldn't catch my breath but I can't recall what I was anxious about. My mum is a worrier and my dad always used to have a medical book when I was younger and used to go through it if any one of us in the family had any illnesses so it probably stems from that?

My mum is a worrier and my dad always used to have a medical book when I was younger and used to go through it if any one of us in the family had any illnesses so it probably stems from that

Most probably. Put those role models (that's not meant unkindly, they would have most likely picked up that behaviour as being normal from their own parents) alongside your redundancy and health fears and all of a sudden there's a big red buzzer in your mind going off at the slightest chance of their being something wrong with you - because that is the worst thing that can happen to you. If this resonates please have a read of my AMA on remedial hypnosis.

Once you accept it and learn to live and work with it, you'll find ways around it. You'll begin to live a different life rather than fighting it constantly. Things will begin to ease once you accept it.

You won't always live with it because you find the tools to fight it after acceptance but you have to accept that it's real and you can work with it first.

It's the premise to fighting anything. Being where you are. Accepting it. Learning to work with it rather than against it. Addiction works much the same. If you don't lean in to the fact you're an addict and you'll always be an addict, it's very easy to relapse when you're clean of the addiction. You've always got to recognise that it can come back at any time and you're moving differently knowing and accepting that fact.

@VelvetWildflower - is this your experience or do you work in the area?

Mine was also an unwelcome present from my mother.

The things I've found most helpful are

1. Exercise

2. ACT therapy (which is, very simplistically, learning to get on with your life despite the thoughts) - especially learning to label the fears. As one example - when you have that panicky fear about cancer you say in your mind "I'm having the thought that cancer would be very unpleasant". It doesn't sound like it should work but it does! Over time the horrible thoughts start to lose their power.

3. Remembering that the media can be very unhelpful in the way it encourages anxiety over health and illness. Someone once said "when did a soap opera character ever have a chest pain that turned out to be indigestion or a pulled muscle".

Hypnotherapy. It genuinely saved my life from severe OCD and health anxiety.

This is very true! The Media has a lot to answer for, will look at ACT as I've never heard of it. I was lucky and had CBT with my work, most therapy/ hypnotherapy these days are so expensive and people can't afford it and just suffer.

Was it a specific type of hypnotherapy?

Hi, I also suffer with health anxiety, I have done for years. My is mainly around breast and bowel cancer. I have had CBT which worked for a while but I seem to have slipped back into my old ways. My monthly breast check is due next week and I am always really bad around that time. I have had a FIT test which was negative so I am trying to use that as a positive.

My best friends partner died suddenly the Saturday after Christmas, no warning just gone and I was very much of the thoughts we have to live life and enjoy every day as we just don't know what going to happen. Also, My dad was killed In a RTC back in 2023, he was just driving back from work which he had done numerous time but this time he never made it. I had the exact same thought pattern then but I am now back at square one panicking about having cancer and for someone reason I am always going to die, I can never think that with all the modern medicine I could be cured. It's draining, I'm constantly exhausted and just wish I could lead a normal life.

Keep going everyone we got this

I do three things. One is keep a diary of symptoms, my worries and what they turned out to be. None of my worst fears have materialised. Two is that I give myself five minutes to tell dp what I am worried about. Three is that I take 30mg duloxetine every other day and it works miracles for me. I will never stop taking it. Turned off the health anxiety tap for me.

Would recommend CBT, Hypnotherapy, Silent Counselling etc. Different techniques work better on some than others. Find the one that is most effective for you and go from there. It will help avoid the dreaded AD meds which will only mask the issue.

Came on to say this. Hypnotherapy is amazing for health anxiety x