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Health Anxiety

Posted , 7 users are following.

shan17283
shan17283

With all of these terrible perimenopause symptoms, does anybody else freak out around annual exams? I have my annual mammogram/ultrasound tomorrow and I am in a panic they will find something wrong. It doesn't help that I have had two call backs in the past and two biopsies. Thankfully both were benign. I never used to worry about my health, but with all of these symptoms I feel there is only matter of time before they find something seriously wrong. I really hate this anxiety and health anxiety. It really isn't living when you spend every day worrying . Does anybody have any advice for something that helps with anxiety and health anxiety? I am a shell of the person I used to be

4 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • sara97862
    sara97862 shan17283

    Edited

    Hi Shan,

    I am so sorry you are going through this. Health Anxiety has definitely been one of my worst symptoms. It is a beast, and it is persistent.

    As a practical way to get through it in the moment, I like to ask myself a series of questions, to which I know the answer will be "Yes, I can do that". And if I need any special support for being able to answer 'yes', I take steps to line that up.

    Can I take my shower?

    Yes, but my brain will worry.

    Ok, can I play some music or youtube videos or calming meditations to distract myself to get through it?

    Yes, I can do that.

    Can I drive to the office?

    Yes, I can do that.

    Can I sit in the waiting room?

    Yes, if I take a good book and a bottle of water.

    I can do that.

    Can I do the weight and blood pressure with the nurse?

    Yes, I can do that.

    etc.

    You can do this, I know it. If I can do it, anyone can. I promise. I am no one special.

    Hugs to you,

    • shan17283
      shan17283 sara97862

      Edited

      thank you for the tips! When you feel so bad every day its hard to imagine they won't find something wrong

    • sara97862
      sara97862 shan17283

      Edited

      I was going to comment on that... if this is tmi, skip the below and just know that I understand completely, and I wish you the very best.

      I skipped a few periods in a row this Spring, was feeling better the farther away from the last bleed I went. Then had a bleed again in June... very light, but omg I have been an absolute mess most of the time since then.... migraines, body pain, crippling fatigue and anxiety.

      Having to use my own advice to even get out of bed and function some days, let alone make a trip outside the house.

      I have had visits to the gyn, neurologist and gp... a literal ton of bloodwork since then, and nothing shows up. (In a lot of ways my bloodwork is better than it was 3 years ago, when I went through a really bad spell).

      And yet, I still worry, because how can it be possible to feel so bad and not gave anything wrong?

  • kristio1985
    kristio1985 shan17283

    Edited

    Hi Shan,

    Sara said it perfectly. It is persistent. There is a post on this somewhere on here and they call it whitecoat syndrome.

    This was one of my worst symptoms and I would even cancel doctor appointments the day of if I was really having a hard time of it. I am post meno now but it was worse in peri. One day I was home alone and imagining about everything under the sun that could be wrong with me health wise and I went into full blown anxiety attack (this had been happening for a while) Suddenly (and for the first time) I told myself sternly to snap out of it, if things were really wrong for as long as I've thought about it, I would know it by now. Suddenly, I was tired of thinking about it, lol. But again-it is persistent.

    That day, I made a same day appointment with my general practitioner. I told him everything about my anxiety. He had me do a few labs at that visit and had the labs sent back to him asap-while I was still in the office, mind you- he said my FSH was high and that the more it creeps up, the closer I would be to menopause (progesterone was very low and estrogen high). His opinion was that the high FSH was triggering severe anxiety. He wrote me a prescription for anti-anxiety meds (xanax for day and clomazepan for night) and suggested for one week straight to take them, whether or not I was feeling anxious. His opinion was that I had worked myself into a non stop frenzy, that I was almost like in a constant loop of weird thoughts and it was affecting my day to day life. I had been prone to panic attacks before and he had prescribed the same meds before, so they weren't new to me but I had never taken them daily-just as needed, which was maybe one every month or so.

    I followed his advice and within a couple of days things calmed down significantly! Within a week I was taking them maybe once every 3 days, now its just as needed (I will usually take something about 30 minutes before a doctors appointment to this day) but he was right about taking it consistently for a week to help my nerves learn to stay calm. He also told me to get with my gyno to talk hormones and thats what I did as soon as my nerves calmed down.

    When I go to appointments now, I take ice water and I have a book on my phone called rewire your anxious brain that I will listen to in the waiting rooms. It is a calming book and talks about anxiety and catastrophizing situations in your mind. It has helped! I also did accupuncture. I still have panic attacks here and there and I have since my late 20's but the kind of anxiety that hits during peri & meno is tenfold! I hope this helps sister-we are all in it together! Sorry for the long post-but that's how I handled it. I think it may have been my worst symptom!

    • sara97862
      sara97862 kristio1985

      Edited

      Kristio,

      I read your post, and the tears started flowing. (They do that a lot lately, lol).

      You are so right, the peri/meno anxiety is a whole other level... I really connected with the idea that high FSH might be behind it... the body is trying so hard to be 'productive' and literally distressed over the fact that it can no longer function that way.

      Thank you for sharing,

      Sara

  • priya82066
    priya82066 shan17283

    Edited

    itotally get you, im the same. too much anxiety , for any appts and my heart starts racing it’s horrible. thinking only the worst, not able to open the test results, i ask my husband to read them and tell me. i keep aconite 200 homeopathy handy for my appts , it disippates the anxiety and bring heart beat back to normal,. such difficult times !

  • shan17283
    shan17283

    Posted

    Thank you all so much for the tips and advice!

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