Somethimes you just feel poorly and it's real.

[CeeCeeCee]

I know HA sufferers are obviously highly aware and super sensitive to a lot of body issues, health problems and symptoms. I have been on here my self for several issues, all real and unpleasant, but all non sinister. It doesn't mean it isn't real pain, illness, just that we worry more about it than most. If I have no symptoms I have no panic or worry. I have had a tummy problem for several weeks, I have been to docs, he said probably IBS as I suffer from that. My symptoms are different now, diarrhoea and cramping tummy pains, also uncomfortable feeling in my back. I am taking Lanzoprazole an Buscopan to help the symptoms. I go from being scared to panic to being calmer. I just wonder if anyone has the same thing that comes and goes but 'THIS TIME' it's 'DEFINITELY' something bad? Thoughts on IBS especially?

[GoWhiteSox]

i think you make a very good point...it is very important to remember that most pain is caused by something that will not kill you...however if you are in pain then you are in pain and that in itself is enough to make you anxious and reduce your quality of life..

for me personally i fear chronic painful illness more than terminal illness..i know thats kind of crazy but hey some people are deathly afraid of clowns..we all fear what we fear and sometimes theres no explaining it :-)

[CeeCeeCee]

Yes, it can't just be ignored but we must try to manage it and think logically. It's ok me saying that but doing it is another thing. I'm really worrying at the moment, just so sick of IBS and tummy problems and feeling poorly :-(

[blondie47]

To me that is the worst part of HA, is knowing when it's real and when it isn't.

Personally, everytime I have worried myself sick over something, it's not amounted to anything. The Hollywood images I have in my mind of figuring out I have some horrific fatal disease have not come to fruition, thank God.

However, I have had cancer, and when that happened it was caught in an incidental way. I had always thought if I ever got a cancer diagnosis I would fall apart, but I'm happy to say when it was the real thing, that was not the case. I handled it quite calmly, considering. I think for those of us with HA the thing we fear the most is the unknown. Something lurking in our bodies that we haven't yet identified.

I think we need to take it on a case by case basis. My rule of thumb is if something is bothering me, and doesn't seem like an emergency in nature (for instance, heart attack symptoms), then I wait two weeks. If it's still bothering me after 2 weeks I make an appointment to see a doctor. For me the hard part is seeing a doctor, I have a great fear of going to the doctor and probably always will. But I know from experience going takes the load off - even the one time when the news was bad, it was easier knowing, than being in limbo.

So try to take it easy and just breathe your way through it. If it's still bothering you after x amount of time, see your doctor for reassurance. As the person above me said, most times our pains are not serious. And the mind has the amazing ability to create so many issues when under stress, especially as it pertains to digestion.

Good luck!

[CeeCeeCee]

I agree, case by case is best, then it isn't so boggling in your mind. I sometimes feel ok if I have no pain then I remember about it and get anxious again. I think you're right it's a fear of the unknown. I also think with me it's a fear of the actual feeling of fear I feel when the scary unknown raises it's head and the horrible possibilities that prevail in my head. I see into the future and it totally terrifies me that I think won't be here. I have had some great help on this site, including from countrygirl who has helped me see there are many symptoms that my IBS could cause, and to look at what might be the cause of some of them in my diet. Thanks all, it helps to read your comments :-)