Too scared to sleep-someone help please :(

[Katiej36]

Actually becoming ill is making my health anxiety flare up so much more! I have a sore throat and am in pain when swallowing making me scared to swallow at all, have managed to contract conjunctivitis for the first time in my life which started in one eye but has now spread to the other.. Have some more back pain and am still worrying about potentially having kidney problems despite showing no symptoms (although my urine was cloudy once..maybe due to intercourse? And leg aches that subsided) I looked in my bathroom mirror after waking up about half an hour ago and found I looked very pale in the face, This had me worried and now I am scared to fall back asleep :( I made myself a lemsip but I'm too scared to drink it invade my kidneys aren't working and can't filter out the paracetamol..am I being silly? I'm just so scared for my health .

Grateful for any replies, thank you 😔x

[SeaJay]

Actually becoming ill is making my health anxiety flare up so much more! I have a sore throat and am in pain when swallowing making me scared to swallow at all, have managed to contract conjunctivitis for the first time in my life which started in one eye but has now spread to the other.. Have some more back pain and am still worrying about potentially having kidney problems despite showing no symptoms (although my urine was cloudy once..maybe due to intercourse? And leg aches that subsided) I looked in my bathroom mirror after waking up about half an hour ago and found I looked very pale in the face, This had me worried and now I am scared to fall back asleep :( I made myself a lemsip but I'm too scared to drink it invade my kidneys aren't working and can't filter out the paracetamol..am I being silly? I'm just so scared for my health .

Grateful for any replies, thank you ��x
It's totally understandable that you're anxiety has flared up because you are ill (that's what you fear). What's not so easy to recognise (because of your anxious state of mind) is that because your anxiety has flared up, it's interfering with your rational thinking processes. Perfect example of a vicious circle:

I fear getting ill and this makes me anxious
Because I'm currently ill this makes me doubly anxious
Because I'm doubly anxious I fear I'm really going to get ill
Because I'm doubly anxious about fearing I'm really going to get ill my anxiety has trebled! <--- And at this point your rational thinking will be a mess.

Anxiety looks for the worst case scenario and it likes to keep our minds locked into that. That's what anxiety does; makes us worry to the point we can't think rationally.

Sounds to me that you've been unlucky in contracting a sore throat and conjunctivitis. As for back pain, that could be anything and if you're worried, just make an appointment to see the doctor. I'm betting though that it's because when you have a sore throat; it's not just your throat that feels ill when you have a sore throat, it can affect your entire body.

Cloudy urine could be down to a lot of things and they don't have to have anything to do with your kidneys. When you're ill, you tend to dehydrate, if you run a temperature, that too can affect your urine. I've eaten beetroot before now and seen my urine turn a little reddish in colour. My urine goes through many variations of colour and cloudiness during the day, and more so when I'm not well. For peace of mind though (for you - not because I think anything is seriously wrong with your back), make an appointment and see your doctor. That's the first bit of advice anyone would say; go see the doctor because he/she knows best and that's the responsible thing to do.

The reason you're looking pale is because you're ill with a sore throat (not forgetting your conjunctivitis). When we're ill we can look red (flushed), pale, green, blue, yellow, basically all colours.