Mental Health Can we talk about Health Anxiety?

[mal3volent]

I suspect many of us suffer from it.

How do you guys cope?

 

[VerbalTruist]

I suspect many of us suffer from it.

How do you guys cope?

Not very well TBH. I find that it's very situational. Honestly, I find that if the health issue has me solidly home bound going outside is good for my overall mental state. "Touch grass" is a good solution for a lot of things, I think.

 

[jasperkent]

I take vitamins and hope for the best.

 

[mal3volent]

so if you guys are obsessing over your heart, kidney stone, or a brain tumor or something .... how do you get yourselves out? Besides actually walking outside, as vt suggested.

 

[PtahTek]

Yeah as I age it gets worse (the anxiety). Teeth breaking off, more downtime with back issues and the ever recurring morning sickness. Bothersome.
Mostly I ignore it until it passes or kills me. Obviously it all passed so far.
Docs are a joke, imo. They slingin pills of all shapes and sizes without so much as a physical being performed. Wonder how that works....

 

[mal3volent]

Yeah as I age it gets worse (the anxiety) Teeth breaking off, more downtime with back issues and the ever recurring morning sickness. Bothersome.
Mostly I ignore it until it passes or kills me. Obviously it all passed so far.
Docs are a joke, imo. They slingin pills of all shapes and sizes without so much as a physical being performed. Wonder how that works....

Do you obsessively google your symptoms and shit? It makes my anxiety so much worse when I start doing that.

Yesterday I was trying to diagnose my abdomen pain and ended up throwing up. But I think it was anxiety nausea not what I was looking up. Lol fml.

 

[nznity]

I suspect many of us suffer from it.

How do you guys cope?

U referring to GAD?

 

[mal3volent]

U referring to GAD?

yeah, I mean it's definitely a part of my GAD. But just to narrow it down to the habits and thoughts specific to health anxiety.

 

[nznity]

Anxiety is very subjective tbh. Idk, I'm benzo'd the fuck out 24/7 so I haven't had a panic attack in years.

 

[mal3volent]

Anxiety is very subjective tbh. Idk, I'm benzo'd the fuck out 24/7 so I haven't had a panic attack in years.

Illness anxiety disorder - Symptoms and causes

www.mayoclinic.org

Illness anxiety disorder, sometimes called hypochondriasis or health anxiety, is worrying excessively that you are or may become seriously ill. You may have no physical symptoms. Or you may believe that normal body sensations or minor symptoms are signs of severe illness, even though a thorough medical exam doesn't reveal a serious medical condition.

You may experience extreme anxiety that body sensations, such as muscle twitching or fatigue, are associated with a specific, serious illness. This excessive anxiety — rather than the physical symptom itself — results in severe distress that can disrupt your life.

Illness anxiety disorder is a long-term condition that can fluctuate in severity. It may increase with age or during times of stress. But psychological counseling (psychotherapy) and sometimes medication can help ease your worries.

Signs and symptoms may include:

• Being preoccupied with having or getting a serious disease or health condition
• Worrying that minor symptoms or body sensations mean you have a serious illness
• Being easily alarmed about your health status
• Finding little or no reassurance from doctor visits or negative test results
• Worrying excessively about a specific medical condition or your risk of developing a medical condition because it runs in your family
• Having so much distress about possible illnesses that it's hard for you to function
• Repeatedly checking your body for signs of illness or disease
• Frequently making medical appointments for reassurance — or avoiding medical care for fear of being diagnosed with a serious illness
• Avoiding people, places or activities for fear of health risks
• Constantly talking about your health and possible illnesses
• Frequently searching the internet for causes of symptoms or possible illnesses

 

[VerbalTruist]

Do you obsessively google your symptoms and shit? It makes my anxiety so much worse when I start doing that.

Yesterday I was trying to diagnose my abdomen pain and ended up throwing up. But I think it was anxiety nausea not what I was looking up. Lol fml.

Stay off the internet. When my MIL got cancer my wife insisted that we not Google the potential end result. Which of course I did, bc... I was curious. The fact that she's alive and healthy with what she had and it's been a year or so is fucking amazing. Basically a miracle.

 

[nznity]

yeah, I mean it's definitely a part of my GAD. But just to narrow it down to the habits and thoughts specific to health anxiety.

U know I wasn't that much of an anxious person until I started using IV drugs and cocaine. The immediate reward the syringe delivers into your brain fucks up the relation between the natural endogenous gratification and the time it takes to acquire it. When you get back to reality after being zonked out consistently for months or even years at a time, turns you into a lunatic. I became a fking RL CARTMAN when he wants something and yelks "MAAAAAAAHMMMM" to instantly get whst he desires. I wanted everything, RITE NOW. My brain entirely forgot that waiting was a thing lol. So I started getting anxious all the time, became irritable easily, frustrated, I'd sweat for the most banal stuff I.e waiting for the bus, waiting for the time to eat, etc. I increased my cigarette intake by 2fold during this time to 25-30 cigarettes a day. It took me 2 more rehab stints, 1 psyvh ward stint of 45 days and a lil bit of CBT to re-learn to wait for things. Over the course of 5 years I've lowered my cigarette intake to 1-3 cigs a day, my tolerance to everyday situations has increased considerably. But.......the pandemic and the accident I had was too much for me so I had to start using benzos everyday to balance things out. I can say I've stabilized my anxiety(in my case was for those type of things, those were my triggers), we are all different, that's all I can share about my specific case.
Kudos

 

[AbbeyLee]

I check my blood glucose (I'm diabetic needing insulin) and my temperature. I have a blood pressure machine but that resulted in me calling the paramedics one day because it was too high and of course I panicked and the vicious cycle began. They used their machine and it was fine, they said those things need to be recalibrated all the time. So I just don't use it. If my blood sugar and temp are ok, I feel reassured.

I try to NEVER google. You will keep googling until you end up being told to go to Emergency ASAP and/or that you might have cancer.

I think about this show I saw on Binge called "1000lb Sisters" One sister was around 300lbs and the other 700lbs. That made me think about how strong the human body actually is. Our society creates so much fear around everything. I mean cigarette packets here have huge pictures of half dead people on them with gigantic messages about how smoking causes blah blah blah. I end up with anxiety overload and just have to start praying lol.

 

[PtahTek]

Do you obsessively google your symptoms and shit?

No, brother. I have years ago but these days I really dont care. It is bothersome as when a piece of a tooth breaks off for a while my toungue get cut when chewing anything chewy.
Sick is just sick... everything just sucks ass til it passes.
Resign ation helps but not the type to go with the "is what it is" thing. I feel every problem has a solution. My not be pretty and may be elusive and difficult to find that answer but its there somewhere.

 

[nznity]

I check my blood glucose (I'm diabetic needing insulin) and my temperature. I have a blood pressure machine but that resulted in me calling the paramedics one day because it was too high and of course I panicked and the vicious cycle began. They used their machine and it was fine, they said those things need to be recalibrated all the time. So I just don't use it. If my blood sugar and temp are ok, I feel reassured.

I try to NEVER google. You will keep googling until you end up being told to go to Emergency ASAP and/or that you might have cancer.

I think about this show I saw on Binge called "1000lb Sisters" One sister was around 300lbs and the other 700lbs. That made me think about how strong the human body actually is. Our society creates so much fear around everything. I mean cigarette packets here have huge pictures of half dead people on them with gigantic messages about how smoking causes blah blah blah. I end up with anxiety overload and just have to start praying lol.

I want the 700lb lassie's #, u got it? ☺☺

 

[Jabberwocky]

i ignore it until i can't. i just assume everything is fucked really.

thinking about it is overwhelming, just one thing in isolation that i haven't had any issues with recently is my bones. at 20 i had a DEXA scan that showed osteoporosis in my spine and osteopenia everywhere else. at 24 i had restored enough weight for long enough that my spine was down to osteopenia and some of my body was in the normal range. i have had a few short relapses into full blown AN since then, and 6 years on heroin. there is nothing i can do about my bones so what's the point in getting a scan? i know what a broken back does to someone as my granny had one.

since i started recovery i've started tackling some small bits, got genetic testing done and my teeth sorted. tried to get diagnosis for lung issues to no avail but am managing them.

gotta say, covid did not help this situation. i've had 2 rounds of post viral fatigue and the prospect of long covd was terrifying.

what i do do, is try to look after my health. i've struggled with a mild relapse into eating disordered behaviour and i drink too much. but i get my 5+ a day, i get enough exercise, look after my mental health. all we can do is know that regardless of what we done in the past, we are living a better lifestyle now.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I think about this show I saw on Binge called "1000lb Sisters" One sister was around 300lbs and the other 700lbs. That made me think about how strong the human body actually is. Our society creates so much fear around everything. I mean cigarette packets here have huge pictures of half dead people on them with gigantic messages about how smoking causes blah blah blah. I end up with anxiety overload and just have to start praying lol.

i'm addicted to reacts about obese people and read kiwi farms threads about them and people with munchausens. i'm spiritually sick. its not good for me, but i somehow can't stop. i just find it fascinating.

the body is amazingly strong, i've never been hugely overweight but i've had blood pressure so low that drs weren't sure why i wasn't in a coma- though a later dr was like 'oh we see anorexics like that all the time' so i don't think it was actually that exceptional- and i was standing up and walking around. we can push ourselves to insane levels if we want to. racks up damage though if you trust yout bodies resilience for too long instead of looking after it. i try to be thankful for the amazing engineering feats we live in now instead of taking it for granted then going to war with it when it doesn't do what i want it to.

 

[AbbeyLee]

i'm spiritually sick.

I think we all are!!

 

[Larimar]

My anxiety is about money mostly . Always behind on bills , worrying about the electric getting turned off, keeping the mortgage , my kids constantly needing this or that , we owe the irs …. It’s just all so heavy sometimes .

 

[Eligiu]

I honestly think a lot of you guys in America suffer from health anxiety due to the fact that getting anything checked out is such a hard thing to justify with the associated cost.

If you have to see a dentist, a podiatrist, a neurologist and an optometrist all at once I don't even want to know what that would set you back. And the fact that you guys can't possibly do it without A) forcing yourselves into debt or B) paying through the roof for insurance really contributes to the issue.

That, as well as the fact that simply seeing a primary health physician is another cost you don't need so understandably you don't get things checked out when you first notice something amiss.

I wish I could offer some kind of solution but in my country people tend to not really stress about this as much due to having a robust public system which can tackle most people's issues, even if there are long wait times. Seeing a GP is free or low cost for everyone, unless you pay for a premium appointment after hours.

I just hope those of you who live in the US eventually get the healthcare that you deserve to have so that you don't have to deal with choosing to address a health concern or putting food on your table/paying for a prescription you need for another medical issue.