Health Anxiety: Convinced One Calf is Bigger Than the Other
Posted , 4 users are following.
I know I have major health anxiety. I have a laundry list of bizarre symptoms that just about covers every conceivable thing that could happen to someone with health anxiety. But recently I've started fixating on something else: the size of my legs, specifically my calves.
I'm convinced that my right one is significantly bigger than my left. I can flex it more. It does visually seem bigger. My mind can't stop thinking about it. I have all these bizarre hypotheses about it. Does my left, smaller calf have some sort of atrophy? is the right, bigger one swelling from a blood clot or tumor?
Anyone else get fixated on things like this? I'm right-side dominant, so I feel like it could very well be just that. But you know how it is...hard to not assume the worst.
1 like, 4 replies
jan34534 vanessavee
Edited
it is normal and very common for one calf to be larger than the other. Most people actually have that. That can even occur in arms and thighs and even eyes as well. You were overthinking this. The cure for that is to stay busy!
fixating on anything for too long is a complete waste of time. our bodies are not perfectly symmetrical. It doesn’t sound like you’re having any weird symptoms. So in that case, get busy with other things and enjoy life!
vanessavee jan34534
Posted
Thank you!! you're probably correct.
I've been bogged down with so many other weird sensations (pains, twitching, tingling, numbness), that this is just yet another point of fixation. but man it sucks!
sasical72 vanessavee
Edited
I have terrible health anxiety and jump from illness to illness not only on a daily basis but sometimes even on an hourly basis. So as you can imagine I have covered practically everything including....drum roll...the one calf bigger than the other.
I could honestly have sworn on the bible that it was quite a lot bigger and then I (yes, I know) took a tape mesure and they measured almost the same.
With health anxiety our eyes see things that are not real and that if they are, have perfectly normal explanation.
I'm sure you're fine x
vanessavee sasical72
Edited
Thank you so much for this response! It sounds like we've been through a similar gauntlet. It's the worst! I've done the tape measuring, too, hahaha. And heaven forbid, they were about 1.5 millimeters different.
I've spent months diagnosing myself with just about every conceivable thing. These days it's the neurological ones that stay in my mind the longest.
It's good to know that I'm not alone. But I certainly wish we could all get to a better place.