Health Anxiety

Hi Rachel 

Thanks for your response, what physical symptoms do you experience if you don't mind me asking?. 

I have had every physical symptom you could imagine.

Stomach problems

shackiness

sweating

tremors that only rffect one side of my body

dizzy

nauses

chest pains

arm pains

numbness and tingeling in different parts of my body

twitching

bad headaches

vision problems

shortness of breath

fast heart rate

you name it I have had it. ive been to the hospital because I thought I was having a stroke one time. then because I thought I was Having a heart attach, I went for stomach pains because I thought I had colon cancer then it was appendacitis and then I thought I had a bad gulbladder. I have thought that I had ALS,MS,gillians barre syndrome. pulmonery embolisms anything you can imagine that my physcial symptoms remotly resemble I have had it, I even have feelings being detached,racing thought, weird things that go threw my head for no apparent reason which lead me to believe I was going crazy and suffering from a more severe mental condition.which my phyciatrist reassures me it nothing more then anxiety.one thing my therapist recommended me to do that does help some what is to write in a journal ever time i feel something is wrong and then read it out loud. when you verbalize the feelings out loud its a way of telling your brain yes I feel this but its nothing more then anxiety. the thing with anxiety is that we become very hypersensitive to everything that is going on in are body so something as simple as a little cramp intensafies and we be leave its life threatening..

 

I have in the few weeks since being diagnosed with anxiety had alot of symptoms as well but right now is horrible I am staying so bloated my stomach is rumbling alot  im getting pains and burning in my stomach and some in my side and then the reflux that burns my chest and makes it hirt and comes up into my throat have u had any of that b4 idk if I have something else wrong with me or if its just anxiety or if my meds are making my stomach do all that

I'm 37 and had my first panic attack and was rush to the ER the thought of having a heart attack 5 months ago and I quit smoking and coffee (cold turkey) at the same time, since then my life was never the same again, I always feel crap and sick.

I started google searching for my symptoms that time and what I can't understand is why everyday I have a new symptoms, my symptoms gets more intense at night, I'm going crazy, I'm not rich to visit the hosptal everytime and still have the fear of having another panic attack and made me agoraphobia.

I never thought there was a health anxiety till i bump into this thread

and your right a simple twitch on my shoulder or any part of my body triggers my anxiety.

Half of it I believe my symptoms are from anxiety and the other half from my nicotine withdrawal, lung cancer and maybe heart disease.

After 2-3 months I'm so tired of monitoring my body for signs all day and fighting  my symptoms with just walking and deep breathing (no drugs, no one to talk to about that will understand), the physical and mental stress is too much and stress makes it worse it drains me, there are days I feel normal again but that's just for a day an lucky if its for 2 days and then BOOM hell its back again with new friends.

I have all your symptoms but I just want to know if your symptoms are constant all day?, do you have sleeping problems like waking up every 2-3 hrs and sometimes feeling trembling inside (not visible) and your hands/forearms feels very cold to the point you can't feel them anymore? do you also felt the numbness and tingling in your breastbone, jaw and back? how does your anxiety signs before it gets more intense? I'm asking you this coz most of the time when i wake up I feel ok mental and physical, I can do just about anything but when the sun is coming down 5-7pm I start to feel weird followed up by slight worry then everything will start by upset stomach, tight chest,  both arms begins to feel cold, lightheadedness.

When these feelings starts I begin to walk around the house while breathing deep&slowly and it stops but the weird feeling is there in the background, I also don't feel it much when reading or writing something at the forums like what Im doing at this moment, but sometimes shots of dizzy spell and headaches random hits me.

Hi there Jeromy--

I am late to this forum as it seems everyone was talking about 9 months ago. I'm sure you aren't still feeling exactly like this; however, in case you are or in case it helps anyone else, I have some recommendations...

I do have health anxiety and today I have found so much comfort in realizing that other people completely understand and have overcome! I don't want to be ruled by this but it is significantly affecting my life right now.

I do also have stomach issues apart from anxiety--I've had a couple of bouts with diverticulitis and such. What has helped me a lot with stomach upset is 2 things. 1. Dill pickle juice. It's excellent for acid reflux. 2. Peppermint oil. I mix it evenly with coconut oil and rub it all over my stomach. It helps a lot! It's not a cure all but it has been wonderful for me.

Must agree with cnh on this one. I have never tried dill pickle juice but I have tried peppermint oil (I use it on its own by applying it to my skin) - I swear by it and have been using it for stomach pain related to stress or IBS for years now! 

Good thinking cnh! Hope you are doing ok yourself

Agirl x

Hi I was just wondering how things turned out ? I've had the same thing and seeing your post has put me at ease at bit! I got rushed in to hospital with a fast heart beat in 2011 I was a postman. Since then I have suffered the odd panic attack thinking that any moment I'm going to drop down dead! These feeling were pure hell but I got a Fitbit give up smoking and coffee , I don't drink much beer now either , I'm still trying to lose weight as I think it will help me! But I got over the panic attacks of dread but now I mace mild panics but they last hours I feel I've got something wrong here there everywhere, but since I went to hospital I have a fear of going to the doctors which makes things 100 times worse! Silly symptoms I could get checked out but won't . To be fair the panic attacks of dread seem better sometimes than what I feel now as this can drag on and on , I'm ok for a few days then it comes back but it's always on my mind . What help did you get and did it help? I hate the thought of being on meds for years to recover but this may be my only hope

I have had the same experiences. I was rushed to the ER several times bofore somone told me I was having an anxiety attack.  My family thought Iwas crazy. I thought that I was going crazy. panic attacks are physically and mentally mind blowing  Anyway, I went on Adavan 1 MLG. 3 times a day for ever. Well my daughter is an open heart surgery nurse ( the worst) and she talked me into stop taking my meds....Do not listen to google or anone else.  I had a panic attack so bad, my husband was caring me into the ER. He finally gets it. My doctor ask me why I stopped taking my meds and I told him. He told me my daughter was not a doctor, and that I had serious anxiety issues. He made me feel like a normal person .  After my husband was diagnosed with cancer a few months back, the anxiety level has increase. I am on  zoloft lose dose  and the adavan as needed. Today I feel all tingliy and tight chested, tingling in my arms and legs, and hard to breath. Anxiety......is just that, and once you get it it never goes away. Yes I feel different from everyone else, because no one understands, My husband does....and I love him for that.....but I feel so crappy the last two days......But , I ahve to work and pay for the cancer bills....I do nto have time to relax, I think that it was a sign form god that I found this website today......Good luck on the therapy and the hipnosis. Funny thing is that when I am with my grandkids and waling my dogs, and or reading a book, I am fine.......but right now I am taking my medicine followed by a doctor evaluation every three months. and I am hoping someday to be off the meds. but I do not see that happening. It is so isolating......

I'm glad to read that I'm not the only one who avoided the gym and exercise for fear of getting a heart attack. I really should try and overcome this.

I hope you have found a good doctor and he had put you on a good med plan. It weill control your life and it will take over your life. It physically will make you sick. I hope and pray you get some help. I did and that has been several years ago, Iam still on meds. I was having an issue with all this this summer, stopped taking my meds and thought I knew it all.....wrong.....BIg panic attack........My doctor told me that I haed an anxiety disorder and he has been treating me for several years and that I was not to be ashamed of it. People get a stigma attached to them for taking meds for anything mental. But my doctor told me what is the difference of diabetes, versu heart meds, people take that eveyday and people hold rallys for them.. Mental health is taboo and peopel who do not suffer from it do not and never will uinderstand....I am finally cool with that.  Does it make my symptons go away.  NO, but I do not feel like a loser anymore......

I should also use spell check

I think I'm going through this now. I had minor food poisoning recently and acid reflux. Since then, my appetite has been low and I've been very nervous about eating. It also doesn't help that my country is running campaigns in the media about eating healthily - nowadays, every time I eat fried food or chocolate or anything with sugar or mildly unhealthy, I become extremely guilty and worried that it'll be The One that tips me over into diabetes or heart disease. And then I worry that I'm developing anorexia because of this.