anyone successfully given up Dr Google?

[sunnysideup05]

I have health anxiety - I'd be the first to admit it. It's probably always been there but has been exacerbated by actual health conditions experienced both by me and my youngest DD (5yo). Neither is serious but both are long-standing things that need to be 'kept an eye on', which means annual checks up and reviews. In any case, I feel like health anxiety has become this enormous part of my life and I spend so much time on Dr Google - for the smallest of symptoms, it's always worst case scenario and I'm exhausting myself. The problem is, I keep searching to look for reassurance. If I do get it, the reassurance lasts for a few minutes and then I'm back at it. I know about so many potential symptoms, diseases and conditions now that I feel I have done irreversible damage to my mental health. I have tried to stop in the past but it hasn't worked - new worry, new symptom, rush to Dr Google, waste a morning, get stuck in a horrendous anxiety spiral. So, my question is: has anyone successfully given up Dr Google? If so, how? And has it changed your quality of life?! One of the things holding me back is my health anxiety, i.e the belief that if I don't research a concerning symptom then I will miss something horrendous.

Yes. I spent hours and hours and hours googling when my DH was ill. This went on for maybe 3 years while he was continually misdiagnosed. Then when he was in ICU (and diagnosed correctly) I spent hours googling the stats and his chances of recovery etc. He recovered well, came out of hospital and then died suddenly and unexpectedly 3 weeks later. I realised that all my googling was completely pointless and had made no difference. All it did was waste my time - time I could have spent with him or on building myself up. I'm not suggesting for a moment that you or your daughter are going to die but just saying that all my googling made absolutely no difference and yours won't either.

Thank you @peachgreen - those are very, very wise words and I'm so sorry to hear about your DH.

My GP told me that I can google, but only the nhs websites and no others.
I set myself a challenge where I go a whole day without googling full stop.

that's a good idea! Have you stuck to it? Has it helped?

Oh yes! You are not alone 😊

I am terrible for this!! But if it wasn't there I don't know how I'd feed my anxiety to get control over a given situation. Sometimes it gives me that sense. I know it's false and just a vicious circle, but still...

I need to do this. I'm out of control at the moment 😔

I managed to stop, I've always been terrible for it but when my DD was born (now 3.5) I was constantly doing it, to the point I was having panic attacks and waking up all night to research more, reassure myself and then read something else that sent me into a frenzy. I felt totally out of control.

I had to ban it completely. Every time I felt like doing it, which was often, I forced myself to do something else. It worked, it didn't actually take that long in the end! It did also make me feel 100% better.

I still get the health anxiety feelings and urge to start researching them occasionally but I know it's a slippery slope so I make myself stop.

Good luck

We have a lovely welcoming thread about HA in the mental health topic if anyone would like to join us.
Can't promise we don't Google but we do give each other a gentle elbow josh if we manage not to

Absolutely. And I can’t seem to not google.
2 years ago, I was diagnosed with CFS/ME only at the age of 25. Mild, I was given amitriptyline and told because I was so young I would be ok.
I am ok, I have bad days, bad weeks but some good too.
At the start of December I was getting random pains under my breast/rib cage slightly to the side. (I think that’s the organ)🤦🏻‍♀️ They wasn’t terrible pains, just niggles every so often, sent my anxiety through the roof.
They disappeared after 2-3 weeks. I got them again on Christmas Day evening after dinner my anxiety was terrible I took myself to bed.
Then disappeared again, and they are back today.
I have been to the doctors, I was given lansoprazole for acid reflux which I do have. But it hasn’t helped.

I keep telling myself it can’t be serious or it would be bad, and the pain would always be there.
But I still google... yet google rarely even gives me answers or it gives me multiple and I still don’t know which one it is😤