How to manage Health Anxiety - any advice please?
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hi all
It would be great if someone who's been through similar experiences could offer me some advice? It's the first time I've ever posted.
To give you some background:
I've always been a confident, reliable and organised person, though I guess I've been generally a bit of a worrier. However I was always able to let go of worrisome things in the past. The pandemic seems to have pushed my worries over the top and caused me to focus more and more on how my body was feeling. Over the last six months I've had numerous blood tests, urine tests, ultrasounds, x rays, MRI and endoscopy to try to determine why i was having stomach burning and other sensations.
I'm pleased to say all the tests have been clear, so that should have been the end of my worry but for some reason I continued to obsess about whether the doctors might have missed something.
I started being unable to sleep so my doctor prescribed Mirtazapine which was ok for sleep but gave me horrible side effects. I came off those after six weeks. I changed my doctor recently as he was difficult to contact and switched to a bigger practice.
In the meantime I applied for CBT which I started doing a couple of weeks ago. It's ok but online and at the moment I'm not sure how valuable it's going to be to control my anxiety going forward?
My new doctor is nice and while waiting for the CBT to start, suggested I take Zoloft, but once again, I couldn't cope with the side effects and they made me feel much worse.
The crunch came when I realised how much my worries about my health were affecting my family and I was determined to take control of the situation. I booked a private appointment with a psychiatrist which was fine, however the things she suggested I do to help myself - mindfulness, meditation, healthy eating etc I had already started doing anyway. I've also consulted a nutritionist to improve my diet, although it was always pretty good, and she's suggested a dairy and gluten free diet which I'm currently doing.
The reason for my post today is - I KNOW I'm well but how can I make my brain believe it, as it's giving me horrible bodily sensations? I can cope with having a numb/tingly foot, leg pain, tingly tongue etc but over the last couple of weeks I've woken up in the night two or three times with a terrible burning chest which has taken hours to subside. It's been really worrying me but having been to A&E on several occasions and had ECGs and blood tests they say everything's fine.
How can I break this cycle? I just want to be the person I used to be and be there for my family who need me. Thanks for listening.
1 like, 6 replies
LG53
Edited
Can anyone tell me - if you get pins and needles/numbness when you have anxiety, how long does it take to resolve when you stop feeling anxious? Do the nerves get disturbed like when you cut your hand and nerve endings get damaged, but gradually heal over time? In other words, is it a physical or a mental process that you go through? Thanks everyone
Jackie1959 LG53
Posted
pins and needles/numbness is usually the result of a panic attack. I'm also on the NHS list for cbt, will also be online. I paid for private counselling, but just go over and over the same things....but at least it was face to face.
LG53 Jackie1959
Edited
thanks. i thought as much re the CBT. unfortunately the pins and needles/numbness in my right leg seems to be fairly constant at the moment. however i've also just been told i've got osteoporosis so it might also be sciactica caused by that too. thanks for your advice.
Jackie1959 LG53
Posted
Thanks for your reply, take care, happy to chat, anytime 💕