Health Anxiety - Worrying Causing Symptoms

[oli99]

Hi there,

This is my first post on No More Panic - I often come here to read about others experiencing similar things to me, whether it be symptoms, or specific worries.

I got diagnosed with Health Anxiety about two years ago now, and I'm currently going through a bit of a rough patch with it (again...)

At the moment for me, I'm worried about Acid Reflux/Heartburn, as after doing the dreaded thing and googling about it, I've found out all about Barrett's esophagus.
I wondered whether anyone else with HA experience things where if for whatever reason you're focused on a particular illness at one point, and the more you think on it, the worse your symptoms get. I know that anxiety causes physical symptoms, of course. I'm just curious as to whether anyone else gets this - worsened symptoms based on worrying about a particular illness.

Apologies if the post doesn't make much sense - I'm not sure how to explain exactly what I'm asking to be perfectly honest.

Thanks,
Oli

[JimBee]

Hi Oli,


This sounds a lot my my own experience of health anxiety. I had a bad time of it late 2017/early 2018. A painful sensation in the esophagus when eating, combined with some unexpected weight loss was enough to trigger in my mind the conviction that I had esophageal cancer.


I went through weeks of hell, and kept looking for reassurance online which only led me to an ever longer list of symptoms all of which I seemed to be developing.
I plagued friends and family with my fears, got my girlfriend really upset, and had several trips to my GP as new symptoms came up. As far as I was concerned it was all real. I felt physically dreadful, was hyper aware of swallowing and digestion, and was utterly convinced that I was going to die.


But when my blood tests came back clean and a gastroscopy showed some irritation on my esophagus and duodenum, but several biopsies from the sites were clear, the symptoms melted away within a day. I can still remember the huge sense of relief, but I was struck by how the 'real' symptoms just vanished. I had utterly convinced myself that I was in the grip of a serious illness and my mind had made the signs manifest themselves physically.


One of the things I learned from this is that I have to be very vigilant about my health anxiety. In fact I could almost say that HA is the real illness that I developed over the course of those awful weeks. I'd never been through anything like that before, never much of a worrier about my health, but now I can feel panic arising at the slightest provocation.

Right now I've had a slightly sore throat for a couple of days, and I've lost count of how many times the voice of panic has whispered 'throat cancer' in my ear. I'm still learning how to deal with episodes like this. Stoic philosophy has helped me, but I think it's something that everyone has to find their own way of dealing with. You say you were diagnosed with HA two years ago. Were you given any strategies for coping with it?


Jim

[Fitzkissa]

Thank you Jim for sharing that! I am going through something similar. Many people just don't understand how we can get so worked up to the point that we actually instigate issues, but it all seems so very real at the time! You gave me hope.