Hypochondriacs: you are not alone

I'm in the UK James and don't suffer from hypochondria.

How about putting an ad in your local library or local paper? I think what you are planning to do is a great idea and I wish you and your group a lot of luck with it.

James York said:

That is actaully a great idea! I think I'll do that. Thanks for your input, cheers

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Hey, you're welcome, James. I'm sure the library would love to help you out. I think apart from the net, the library would be a good place to look for any type of support group.

I am suffering from health anxiety from more than a year, trying to get rid of it.

James York said:

Hi all,

Just posting to let y'all know a bit about myself. I am a 22 year old full-blown hypochondriac with a great life and it's falling down like a house of cards.

I write this at 5am because I can't sleep and am desperate for support. Growing up I was normal until I hit about age 15 and started worrying constantly. I am now constantly worried about diseases, the "C" word, germs, being poisened, etc. My anxiety is through the roof. If I didnt have Obamacare I'd be in heavy medical debt. I've tried counselors, pyschotherapists, Alcoholics Anonymous, anti depressants... NOTHING WORKED.

I am looking to find a small group of friends who are willing to attempt an idea to recover from this disease of hypochondria. We would support each other in our recovery: check in regularly, phone calls, texts, etc

Contact me if you're interested!

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hi
Nil here
suffering because of health anxiety.
how to contact you ?

Nil said:

hi
Nil here
suffering because of health anxiety.
how to contact you ?

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Hi Nil and welcome to our community. You can chat on here on any of the threads and even create a thread, or you can send a member a private message, that is the only way to contact anyone on here. Perhaps you could post a thread in 'Symptoms' and tell us about how your health anxiety affects you. I look forward to reading your posts.

James York said:

Hi all,

Just posting to let y'all know a bit about myself. I am a 22 year old full-blown hypochondriac with a great life and it's falling down like a house of cards.

I write this at 5am because I can't sleep and am desperate for support. Growing up I was normal until I hit about age 15 and started worrying constantly. I am now constantly worried about diseases, the "C" word, germs, being poisened, etc. My anxiety is through the roof. If I didnt have Obamacare I'd be in heavy medical debt. I've tried counselors, pyschotherapists, Alcoholics Anonymous, anti depressants... NOTHING WORKED.

I am looking to find a small group of friends who are willing to attempt an idea to recover from this disease of hypochondria. We would support each other in our recovery: check in regularly, phone calls, texts, etc

Contact me if you're interested!

Click to expand...

I am full-blown hypochondriac as well...started at around your age...I am now 58 (fortunately I haven't had it the whole time...comes in episodes. E-mail me Rgreif59@gmail.com

James York said:

Hi all,

Just posting to let y'all know a bit about myself. I am a 22 year old full-blown hypochondriac with a great life and it's falling down like a house of cards.

I write this at 5am because I can't sleep and am desperate for support. Growing up I was normal until I hit about age 15 and started worrying constantly. I am now constantly worried about diseases, the "C" word, germs, being poisened, etc. My anxiety is through the roof. If I didnt have Obamacare I'd be in heavy medical debt. I've tried counselors, pyschotherapists, Alcoholics Anonymous, anti depressants... NOTHING WORKED.

I am looking to find a small group of friends who are willing to attempt an idea to recover from this disease of hypochondria. We would support each other in our recovery: check in regularly, phone calls, texts, etc

Contact me if you're interested!

Click to expand...

Hi buddy, i relate to being blighted by health anxiety for many years. Would love to be free of it. Tim my email is timnickoll@hotmail.com

Hi - I am a 28 year old male I also suffered from Hypochondria for about 6 months and I occasionally still get symptoms so I completely understand what is going on with you. The most important advice I can give you is to not look up your symptoms online and never take advice over anyone over the internet regardless whether they say they are a medical professional or not. Any "medical" forum / website can match your symptoms and make you believe that you have any sort of illness. Believe me, when I was in my worst phase, I was convinced almost daily that I had a different illness and I was driving myself and those around me mad with constant questions and worries. Now that I do not look up my symptoms online I am in a much better place. Secondly, I would advise you to talk to as many people as you can about your anxiety. I am an open person so I understand it is not easy for everyone however I made sure that everyone around me was aware of my anxiety (girlfriend, friends, family, colleagues etc) and although not everyone reacts in the way you want. In my worst phase, aside from constantly researching new illnesses online, I was visiting doctors non stop (often for the same reason and just for reassurance), undergoing blood tests, MRI scans, CT Scans, Echo cardiograms etc and each time my results were completely fine. I also suffered from insomnia and all the physical symptoms anxiety comes with (inner tremors, dizziness, balance issues etc). I was offered medication from my gp which I was not interested in taking and instead I decided that going to a therapist was extremely useful. I would suggest that therapy might not be for everyone however it is a good starting point. I am in a very good place now, almost back to where I wanted to be. If you can avoid the internet / symptom checkers this would be a really good starting point. If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.

Nil said:

hi
Nil here
suffering because of health anxiety.
how to contact you ?

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Hi Nil
Understand where you are coming from all the way. My email: Rgreif59@gmail.com

Chris Lewis said:

Hi - I am a 28 year old male I also suffered from Hypochondria for about 6 months and I occasionally still get symptoms so I completely understand what is going on with you. The most important advice I can give you is to not look up your symptoms online and never take advice over anyone over the internet regardless whether they say they are a medical professional or not. Any "medical" forum / website can match your symptoms and make you believe that you have any sort of illness. Believe me, when I was in my worst phase, I was convinced almost daily that I had a different illness and I was driving myself and those around me mad with constant questions and worries. Now that I do not look up my symptoms online I am in a much better place. Secondly, I would advise you to talk to as many people as you can about your anxiety. I am an open person so I understand it is not easy for everyone however I made sure that everyone around me was aware of my anxiety (girlfriend, friends, family, colleagues etc) and although not everyone reacts in the way you want. In my worst phase, aside from constantly researching new illnesses online, I was visiting doctors non stop (often for the same reason and just for reassurance), undergoing blood tests, MRI scans, CT Scans, Echo cardiograms etc and each time my results were completely fine. I also suffered from insomnia and all the physical symptoms anxiety comes with (inner tremors, dizziness, balance issues etc). I was offered medication from my gp which I was not interested in taking and instead I decided that going to a therapist was extremely useful. I would suggest that therapy might not be for everyone however it is a good starting point. I am in a very good place now, almost back to where I wanted to be. If you can avoid the internet / symptom checkers this would be a really good starting point. If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.

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Chris:
I am in that place now of the frequent doctor visits, often too for the same thing. Maybe go a day or two, then find something else that could be cancer or will give me food poisoning, etc. I have started therapy - mindfulness techniques are what she is suggesting. I am on anti-anxiety med which at least takes the edge off. I also have depression with this, and some days I just don't even want to get going, but force myself, and once I do I am better off for it. Yeah, Dr. Google needs to be avoided.

Richard,

I completely understand where you are at but the most important thing you must do is not visit the doctors constantly or read online. I can relate to the worries you might get and how it is very difficult to not want to go to the doctor but believe me once you start stopping yourself from calling the doctor / visiting the doctor this in itself is progress. If you want further help send me your email address and happy to advise further.

Rgreif59@gmail.com. pls email me

Hi all, here because I feel like I’m at my wits end with health anxiety. I’m a 33 year old male with an amazing job, and wonderful life except this anxiety issue that, for the past year has slowly been taking over my life. Umm not sure when or what happened that made this issue. But it has really controlled my life. Even when we were in Thailand for vacation, I was so convinced that I had blood clots from the long flight, I couldn’t even relax and enjoy myself. Right now, I’m convinced I have some neurological disease from my flu shot. It’s absolutley horrible. I had an MRI yesterday and I’m awaiting the results. Every test I’ve ever taken has came back normal. I’m obsessed with checking my temperature and blood pressure. I’m not sure what to do, but knowing other ms are out there having the same issue helps.

anxietyinSF said:

Hi all, here because I feel like I’m at my wits end with health anxiety. I’m a 33 year old male with an amazing job, and wonderful life except this anxiety issue that, for the past year has slowly been taking over my life. Umm not sure when or what happened that made this issue. But it has really controlled my life. Even when we were in Thailand for vacation, I was so convinced that I had blood clots from the long flight, I couldn’t even relax and enjoy myself. Right now, I’m convinced I have some neurological disease from my flu shot. It’s absolutley horrible. I had an MRI yesterday and I’m awaiting the results. Every test I’ve ever taken has came back normal. I’m obsessed with checking my temperature and blood pressure. I’m not sure what to do, but knowing other ms are out there having the same issue helps.

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The thing to do is to not think about it. be strong and as soon as that kind of thought comes into your head, dismiss it and put a different thought there. Easy to say I know, yet hard to do. Perhaps counselling might help. Still, try to stop checking yourself all the time, and ignore the 'Google Doctor.'

Hi,

I completely understand where you are coming from as I have been there myself. As previously discussed, I can only advise what helped me however this might not work for everyone. All my medical tests also came back completely normal. I think with time if you practise the correct steps you can help yourself. I would definitely refrain from taking your temperature / checking your blood pressure so regularly. Every time you want to do this - do something that will distract you. Also, please avoid reading anything online about your symptoms - this was the worst thing for me as I kept convincing myself that I had different medical conditions. I know how easy it is to google something but honestly distract yourself each time you want to do this. Please if you can listen to this as this was vital in helping me. Let me know if you would like further help.

Hello all,

I write this at nearly 5am after lying awake for 4 hours worrying that I'm dying...and I'm sick of this feeling! I'm a 32yo female, and have been suffering from health anxiety for about 7 years. Now that I have young children, I feel like it's become even worse as I am so afraid of dying and leaving them without a mother/not getting to watch them grow up.

I'm seeking a community of like-minded individuals who understand where I'm coming from. My husband, though generally supportive, has a very different outlook on life (he says that he doesn't worry about dying as he's not able to control it - oh to be so free!), and says if I do have any disease, it's "worry cancer". He does listen to me when I initially describe my symptoms, but I can tell that he gets annoyed after hearing the same thing a couple of times. This has caused me to feel like a burden and even worry that I'm negatively affecting our marriage.

My current fear is that I have some kind of ovarian/cervical cancer. I have an ultrasound scheduled for today but I am so nervous about receiving the results. If they were to come back positive I'd be absolutely devastated, and I don't know if I'm strong enough to fight it. I frequently hear that people with a positive attitude have a better change of survival, and if that's the case, I should start picking out my plot right now because I know that I'd be depressed for whatever time I have left.

Once this is over (with hopefully negative results), I do want to start looking into a psychologist and/or anti-anxiety medication. Has anyone done either (or both) of these things, and what are your results?

Thanks for reading my rant. Stay sane

Rinka said:

Hi @ItsAllinMyHead? Welcome to our forum and community.
I’m am convinced that you will find like minded spirits here
Health anxiety the worst kind of anxiety, from my point of few. It can be crippling and has the ability to burden relationships.
I wonder how your scan went? Do you have any results? Have you ever had a smear test? That usually shows cervical abnormalities. I have had one done, when I was scared about this kind of cancer an it was negative.
Also please don’t forget that that percentage of women with ovarian cyst is very high (not sure about the figures though). They can be kept under control with weight loss and sugar intake reduction.
I have been diagnosed with it myself and it kept me awake a lot of nights.
I hope everything goes well and that the results are negative.

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Hi @Rinka,

Thanks so much for the warm welcome! I totally agree - health anxiety is the worst! While I sympathize with people suffering from any kind of anxiety, I must say we HA sufferers really have a rough go of it -- it can completely consume your thoughts at all hours of your day, and then (as an added bonus) keep you up at night.

I've had the cervical smear just under a year ago (last February), and that came back normal. So of course my thought is that like 2 weeks after I had the smear, the cancer started forming and I've been living with undetected cervical cancer for close to a year now (Irrational, I know...or is it!?)

I actually did get my ultrasound results back today and the news is mixed. Your intuition was spot on - the doctor said I do have a cyst on my left ovary (and the left side is where I was having the pain), but then she said "I'm not completely sure that the cyst is what's causing your pain." (!?!?!) She suggested either waiting to see if the symptoms resolved on their own (ha! like a person with health anxiety would ever say yes to that!) or to proceed with another ultrasound and/or a CT scan. If the next round of imaging doesn't turn up anything, she suggested seeing a GI specialist. I messaged her back and asked her if the ultrasounds that I got would have shown if I had any ovarian/cervical/other cancer -- which is my main worry -- and I also asked what led her to believe that the pain was not caused by the cyst. (I kind of don't want to know the answer to those questions now that I think about it!). I'm definitely going to go for the 2nd round of imaging, and just trying to stay positive in the meantime. I feel like if there was anything on the scans that she was worried about, she would have come out and said it, so I'm holding on to that thin strand of sanity until it can be confirmed where this pain is coming from.

Thanks for your concern regarding my tests. It feels so nice to be able to talk it out with people who understand where I'm coming from I hope all is well with you, as well!