Health anxiety is crippling!

[Cheesestring19]

I’m a mum to 6 beautiful children. Iv never been one with anxiety issues or mental health problems. That all changed in 2020 when Covid hit. Since then it’s basically taken over my life. Every little thing is cancer. Just typing the word makes me want to throw up. Well it’s not just me I worry about how. It’s my children. Currently going through it now with my 3.5 year old. He’s a bundle of energy that eats and drinks well and nothing sticks out that he’s “poorly”. He has fiery red hair and pale milky skin (my first red flag) this past month he’s had a right snotty nose. He’s at preschool and apparently it’s been making its rounds. The thing that’s worrying me is every now again especially if he’s sitting or eating or talking he does this deep breath like he’s air hungry if that makes sense. Not when he’s running or playing or anything. Then last night I noticed him snoring and breathing through his mouth. At parents evening I was told he has a lisp and can stutter a bit. My oldest was similiar and we fount out he had enlarged adenoids. So logical I’d be straight to thinking that. But no. Unfortunately my brain has shifted to worse case scenario and he’s basically dying as horrible as it sounds. Iv tried therapy although it was over Microsoft teams as was during covid. Medication scares the life out of me. It’s like my brain is split in 2 and both sides are in a constant battle with each other about logic and not. My other son had a swollen lymph node before Christmas and I swear as soon as I could I had to leave the room and deep breath because I wanted to throw up and couldn’t breath. I don’t know why this had happened to me as I honestly was grand before but now it just won’t shift!

Hey, I totally understand how you feel. I go through waves of intense health anxiety often about cancer, social media doesn't help as I seem to get constantly bombarded with news stories about it. I go through bad spells of general anxiety(I have ocd also), in one just now, sertaline has greatly helped me. I was terrified to take it at first but it really does help. Trying to talk as much as I can. I had therapy last year that also helped. Don't suffer in silence, I think health anxiety is incredibly common and can be managed. Being a mum you always are going to worry but you can find techniques to get it under control xx

Your brain IS split in two. There's the logical, rational part that knows there's nothing serious wrong and then there's the emotional part which is running round in circles constantly screaming 'fire!'

Covid showed you – all of us – that there are things that we can't control and, with all the responsibility you have, that was a very scary notion. But think about it; a vaccine was found and the threat passed. Humans are incredibly good at finding solutions, at coping and at dealing with whatever life throws at us.

So instead of panicking at the 'what if's', starting thinking about the 'how I managed before' when something challenged you.

One is conjecture, the other is fact.