I'm terrifeid of dying 7 have convinced myslef of al sorts of things - can someone come & give me slap or at least a virtual hug - please?!

[littleweed]

To all purposes life is good. I have 2 children that I adore & all i can think about - pretty much daily is how much I love them & couldn't bear to have to leave them. I am menopausal so probably very hormonal almost permanemtly but I am sure that I have some sort of cancer. Can I ask my GP for a MRI scan - would that determine things once & for all? I am scared to talk to anyone in real life in case they laugh at me.

You certainly do not deserve to be laughed at.

I doubt your GP, even if sympathetic, would manage to get you a full body MRI scan. And even then wouldn't your mind find something else to worry about? Plus no not all cancers would show up.

Try to talk to someone in real life, a close friend or your GP. If it bothers you this much it needs to be taken seriously.

Wish I had more practical advice.

littleweed - so sorry for you . Is there any particular reason/symptom which makes you think you may be ill? Or is it just a fear of cancer maybe?

btw - I occasionally get thoughts that about what would happen if I were to get ill/die etc. I think they are pretty common amongst mothers as we love so deeply that it scares us

Hello littleweed - you have health anxiety - it's surprisingly common (I suffer with it at times too). Any little symptom can be blown up out of all proportion and I have in the past convinced myself I am dying.

At present I am well over the issue but will never say I am cured. You probably don't need me to tell you that the issue is not about your health but about other things in your life. For me it was about a failing marriage and a fear that my life would never change for the better.

The other issue as cruisemum says is that we always worry about the future if we were not here for our children (I do it more when I am anxious about other things).

Two websites which might help are:

www.nomorepanic.co.uk

This has a message forum with various boards one of which is health anxiety. Well worth looking at as people understand and are supportive.

The other site is:

www.livinglifetothefull.co.uk (or could be .com)

This is an online CBT course which was funded by NHS Scotland. It's totally free to register and use and I found it really useful for looking at my cycle of thinking as I tend to catastrophise situations - hence a headache when I am feeling stress becomes a brain tumour in my mind and then the thoughts and feelings become all encompassing until I cannot get rid of them. Just understanding that cycle of thinking helped me.

Hope that helps a bit

I agree with jolly pirate I have found those websites helpful too.

Another one is MoodGym - an australian site giving a free course of on-line CBT. Very helpful indeed. Also great that it's free considering sessions with a therapist are about £85 an hour

Hope you feel better soon xx