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Transferring health anxiety onto loved ones?

Posted , 4 users are following.

starling62
starling62

Can anyone relate to this? I have had health anxiety for years...like others on here every symptom inevitably leads to fears of cancer or other dread disease. I try to avoid Dr Google but is hard.  Having recently had some bloods and a colonoscopy as my IBS symptoms were off the scale things have settled for my own fears with the reassurance that all was well.  However I have now become obsessed with my husband's health. I find myself obsessing about his bowel and general health.  He is a sensible person and very balanced about his health.  He doesn't like going to see a GP like many men but is not so blasé he would ignore a potentially serious symptom so he finds my obsessiveness irritating.  I feel like I have just transferred my worries by projecting my HA onto him.  The constant worrying is just wearing me down.

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • jmcg2014
    jmcg2014 starling62

    Posted

    Yes I've done the same kind of thing. Treating the root anxiety with therapy or meds is the only way to go. You can't treat the health anxiety directly as is a symptom of anxiety in general. Agreed its very wearing
  • cathy83427
    cathy83427 starling62

    Posted

    Hi Starling62,

    Just wondering how bad your IBS got. I have extreme health aniexty and am convinced there is something terribly wrong. There is not a day goes by that I don't have some kind of pain, stomach pain, gas, headache back pain pelvic pain, ear pain, and the list goes on. I have had blood work done and all ok, i wnt to doc and she examined me and though all was fine. I had an endoscopy done last Nov and all showed ok, but with all the stomach pain, I'm so worried. I also worry about everyones elses health too and think I am driving everyone crazy including myself. Just wondered if your symptoms went off the wall when you worried.

    Thanks and take care

    • starling62
      starling62 cathy83427

      Posted

      Hi Cathy..oh yes all my IBS symptoms, primarily chronic constipation, are all a million times worse when I am stressed. Like you I have had endoscopies and colonoscopies as well as ultrasound scans.  All revealed nothing, except to confirm IBS. The rational part of me knows that with all these tests and lack of genuine alert symptoms like blood in stool or weight loss that it is highly unlikely I have a life threatening illness!  But the irrational mind is powerful.  Anxiety itself causes all the symptoms you describe.   I did do a short CBT course recommended by GP a few years ago for stress and I think jmcg2014 is right I need to go back and revisit that or try something similar again to try and break the cycle. It did help but you forget the techniques and before you know you are back to square one.  I really really really want to avoid drug therapy if I can. I just feel that I get myself in a place where I can trust I am healthy but I transfer my fear of illness onto my hubby or another family member. :-(.  I'm sure we can beat this or at least hold at bay...not giving up!
  • cathy83427
    cathy83427 starling62

    Posted

    Hi again,

    Thanks for replying to my post. I wonder if sometimes I am going to lose my mind over all the stress the pain brings. I also have no blood inmy stool and I am not losing weight, but it worries me when i am in pain daly and can't seem to have a good day without worry. Yes we can both beat this! Hang in and let me know hoiw you are doing.

  • jendba
    jendba starling62

    Posted

    Hi. I am kinda the same. I worry too much about things in the future. My partner has health problems and I worry more about him than he does.

    This is going to sound really weird and silly but for some weird reason every morning while in the shower, I start thinking about My Gran's  Lung Cancer and how I hope that the radiotherapy will definitely work for her. I'm starting to think about it more and more as well as other things and to top it off I also worry about my own financial problems as well as health problems. I am making myself ill by worrying so much.

    Some times my head turns it around, like I am hoping for bad things to happen so I have to reassure myself that I don't want things to go bad. I want everything to be great. 

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