stomach and acid problems

Forgot to mention my doc thinks theres nothing wrong with and shes only givin me the scan to put my mind at rest

Hi simon, I am 29 years old, for the past 4 months I have suffered almost non stop with mild/annoying discomforts of my stomach, upper and lower abdoman, along with toilet issues, mainly constipation....and I have been at my wits end with Health Anxiety....all starting when I had a really bad bacterial infection....at the hospital, I had an Ultrasound - convinced they would see something, they saw nothing other than the bacterial infection had caused some inflammations.....but I was fine, also blood tests that took hours and everything  came back fine. Then went to the doctors several times, had more blood tests and physical exams of my stomach....my doctors has stated so many times that "there is absolutely no doubt in her mind that I have anything wrong with me" that "she isn't even worried about me developing anything from these symptoms" that "these are anxiety/IBS" and since I have gone to the doctors again and again including a hosptial appointment for an endoscopy...guess what....the endoscopy showed absolutely nothing wrong with my stomach....not even the smallest of things.....so to answer yout question, yes, this can be really bad health anxiety...because when we have health anxiety, we become hypersensitive to our bodies and especially the gut....I have IBS and Health Anxiety and my symptoms that are nothing more than annoying and irritating cause my mind to go crazy with fear of what it its something more....but this is a common question we ask ourselves with health anxiety....best to accept your doctors diagnosis....once you do, no matter what the pain is or discomfort is, you know deep down, despite all our fears that you are safe and healthy....

Remember, a fearful thought is nothing more than that....a thought...it is not reality, doctors give us reality with real physical tests and they have had years of study and knowledge compared to our thoughts

And also, it could be possible your symptoms are IBS...a very common digestive disfunction that I have, not pleasant but not threatening just uncomfortable.

How many times will you go to the doctor or hospital and how many tests and blood tests before you are convinced that there really is nothing wrong with you? You must have cost the NHS hundreds, if not thousands of pounds with all the tests and medication you've had but no amount of reassurance helps.  I get really frustrated at the number of messages on the anxiety board from people who never believe anything they're told but, I have to say it, wallow in their anxiety, Google the slightest niggling pain and read everyone's messages about their anxiety symptoms which only fuels their own anxiety.  STOP!  Think about the fact that something you're eating may be the cause of your bloating, do you drink milk, (well known for bloating)  Do you drink lots of fizzy drinks? Do you have the pains ALL the time or only when you think about them?  It could just be diet related but your overactive imagination is telling you it's something sinister but, as you've been told many times, it's anxiety.  Don't you realise that the mere fact of being anxious and stressed is more likely to kill you than all the niggling pains you get.  I have had my share of anxiety but NOTHING like what I've read on here.  I got fed up with it making me worry about things and so I recorded myself giving myself a really good telling off, asking myself what I had to be worried about and listing all the good things that happen to me so now, instead of dreading anything that caused me anxiety, I look forward to doing it and the anxiety disappeared.  I'd let it spoil my life for many years but not any more so you should look at your problem from another side.  You've been told, many times, that there's NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU, you've had plenty of tests to show that THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU. If everyone dashed off to the doctor or hospital every time they felt a little pain or twinge the system would collapse. Think yourself very luck that you HAVEN'T got anything wrong with you.  My friend is in hospital at the moment after having an operation for bowel cancer, there are people with REAL things wrong with them, you, on the other hand, have been assured that there's nothing wrong with you, you must accept that.

You obviously didn't take in what I said in my previous message, I said that I had had my share of anxiety.  I worried about going somewhere new, I worried about meeting people, I worried that my headache was a brain tumour or my indigestion was cancer, I worried that I had a bad heart and even though I have ACTUALLY been diagnosed with a heart murmur and always have abnormal ECGs I don't continually worry about those things.  I have diabetes where I have to inject myself four times a day, there is heart disease on both sides of my family, and I've had plenty of hospital tests that I have really worried about but I WILL NOT let any of those facts totally ruin my life.  OK, so I probably will die earlier than I would if I didn't have those things but what time I have left I've realised will be wasted if I spend all my time worrying myself into an even earlier grave by every little ache and pain I get.  So, all you people who suffer from health anxiety, I'm sure all your feelings are totally real but are you just going to let them ruin all your lives by not believing anything that you are told my doctors?  Go on Googling your symptoms and reading all the messages from other people with health anxiety and live in your own little anxious worlds for the rest of your lives OR you could say to yourself "I've been told there's nothing wrong with me and I will NOT let my thoughts and fears rule and ruin the rest of my life". 

But does it really help for everyone to keep saying "There, there" and talking about what each other is feeling as this must just add to the anxious feelings not help people to overcome them?  If you are always having your fears reinforced by what other people have or are experiencing then this can't be good for anyone, surely?  Instead of being sympathetic  in a "there, there" way what's wrong with saying that you've been told there's nothing wrong with you so why make your life a misery by dwelling on every ache and pain?   Why not wake up one morning and tell yourself that you will NOT be controlled by your anxiety, that you will try your very best to get through the day by putting any thoughts about your health to the back of your mind and see what happens.