I am 22, Physically drained and unwell every year due to anxiety

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Every year for 3 years now at around this time anxiety attacks me physically in different part of my body & gives my symptoms of a serious illness. In the first year, it was shooting pains in my ribs & blurred vision. Second year I had wobbly legs constantly for around two months. Now I have unfamiliar pains in my head & pins and needle sensations traveling through my body- each year these symptoms are accompanied with fatigue, adrenaline waves that bring on sweaty palms, tinnitus & a constant general worry about everything, so I probably won't bother wasting the doctors time this year. I have never known anyone to suffer with stress and anxiety in the way I do? Does any of my symptoms relate to anyone? 

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    Hello Katie, I am very familiar with health anxiety - it is debilitating just like a real illness. I suggest that you stick to one doctor, whom I you trust, ideally a general practitioner, and you schedule to see him/her to discuss your concerns. Reading stuff on the internet is generally a bad idea since it feeds our anxiety even more. If you have particular concerns, it's best to discuss them with your doctor directly. You may even consider getting yourself a therapist, with a medical background, so that he can serve as your guide and can help you navigate through the meddley of your bodily symptoms and concerns. Seeing a therapist once a week would give you an opportunity to "postpone" the worrying somewhat - you'd have scheduled a time when you will deal with it, which will liberate you from having to think about it all the time. Even you will entrust yourself in the care of a general practitioner, then discuss with him/her how often you should come and see them - perhaps once a month? Once again this would give you the discipline NOT to think about your health all the time but to have a designated time for it before and during your appointment. This is a cognitive behavioural method to combat the obsessive rumination that anxious people suffer from. You need to train your mind and your body to relax as much as you can - there are many ways to do that, just look for what suits you best (meditation, relaxation tenchnique, distraction, craniosacral therapy, doing activities which fully absorb you, joga, socializing, etc etc). There are books you can read on the subject - and they are helpful. Last but not least, you also need to take care of your body: eat well, sleep enough, exercise. The classic stuff. You may want to discuss your health issues with a nutritionist - it might be that you need to tweak your diet. Some of your symptoms MAY be related to nuritional deficiencies. Perhaps you need to supplement with magnesium (pins and needles, tinnitus). Again, get a professional to help you on this front. Most importantly, bear in mind that 1. the body has an innate self-healing capacity 2. chronic stress (produced by chronic anxiety) does not provide optimal climate for the body to operate in 3. by reducing stress, you are giving your body the possibility to restore itself to health 4. people with chronic health anxiety and pains and aches can develop "central sensitization" ...  their central nervous system is affected to the point where it will continue to fire off signals of pain and discomfort without any damage in tissues or other pathology ... Your best bet is to work on calming that central nervous system ... by symply doing what feels good. Massage, walk in the park, cuddling your pets, reading engaging books, drawing, painting, writing, baking cakes, going for a run, etc

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