Constant checking

[Steven]

Does anyone have any tips to avoid constant checking of physical symptoms? I often wake up and immediately start checking for various things and this often persists throughout the day. I can’t think of any good examples right now but I’m sure anyone with health anxiety knows what I’m talking about. With the human body being so complex it seems we can always find little things out of the ordinary on any given day that are likely harmless but it’s so hard to avoid the constant checking. Any tips would be appreciated.

 

[Rinka]

Does anyone have any tips to avoid constant checking of physical symptoms? I often wake up and immediately start checking for various things and this often persists throughout the day. I can’t think of any good examples right now but I’m sure anyone with health anxiety knows what I’m talking about. With the human body being so complex it seems we can always find little things out of the ordinary on any given day that are likely harmless but it’s so hard to avoid the constant checking. Any tips would be appreciated.

Hi @Steven what you are describing sounds like ocd coupled with health anxiety.
Sadly I don’t have any tips at the moment, but maybe googling tips for how deal with OCD might bring some good results.

 

[Steven]

Thanks for the reply! I do suffer from OCD as well as health anxiety, which is a tough combo lol.

 

[Kelculator]

Health anxiety actually has something to do with OCD, because of the constant checking you mentioned, a common thing we folks do. I can imagine it is tough for you as you have OCD as well.
I wish I would have some concrete advice for you, however I don't. Checking for symptoms is a natural thing to do when you're anxious about your health. I believe there are two main ways to deal with this-- Preventing constant checking, or allowing constant checking but being able to tell yourself they aren't warnings of serious diseases.
For the first one, I am not sure how I stopped constantly checking for symptoms, as I used to do it all the time. I think with your anxiety being relieved, such recovery comes naturally. Are you receiving help from professionals on the problem of anxiety? Being less anxious as a whole may help relieve the problem.
For the second one... I find it helpful to schedule a time for myself to check my body for symptoms and being invested in getting to know what caused them. The time may be 15 to 30 minutes, it varies. But outside of that time I am not allowed to check for symptoms as I have a life to live and things to get done. It may also help to actually get to know more about the diseases you fear, as anxiety is also created by not knowing the truth and exaggerating it by imagination and hypothesis without evidence.
I hope these helps, and i'll try to think of more concrete solutions to help you with this, as I am not too sure about these myself. Good luck!

 

[Richard G]

Does anyone have any tips to avoid constant checking of physical symptoms? I often wake up and immediately start checking for various things and this often persists throughout the day. I can’t think of any good examples right now but I’m sure anyone with health anxiety knows what I’m talking about. With the human body being so complex it seems we can always find little things out of the ordinary on any given day that are likely harmless but it’s so hard to avoid the constant checking. Any tips would be appreciated.

I have this problem as part of my health anxiety...it is an OCD behavior I'm told...like checking lymph nodes, skin for bumps, etc. I have to tell myself I get my regular physicals, blood work has been good, I see the dentist, I get my skin checked regularly (skin cancer is in my family) and everything has checked ok and your body will let you know if something is seriously wrong.

 

[Joelle]

I can relate to constantly monitoring your health. I can be fine for a long time but one thing gets my attention and I am looking up WebMD and convinced I have whatever the worst thing is on the page. Currently, I am scared to death of MS. I had tingling in my fingers that of course wasn't carpal tunnel but MS. Then I felt burning sensations under my skin. All went away but then I felt something else...and something else. Right now, my left eye feels really weird. Vision is the same...but it feels weird...like my lid is heavy or something. So, of course that is me thinking I have MS. Because diseases wait until you read about them to show their symptoms, right? lol. I can laugh but I still harbor a lot of fear. I keep thinking that no one can go through life without ever detecting they have a serious illness so eventually it will show itself and I won't have to guess. Any feeling I don't recognize is causing me concern. I notice every little tingle right now. I am under a great deal of stress and my sinuses are acting up. So, I am sure I am fine. But my mind likes to scare me. When I keep checking myself for symptoms, I try to just tell myself to shut up and do something productive. I try to get involved in work or tell myself that no matter what I don't get out of functioning to the best of my ability so I will just do that until I can't. Sometimes that helps...but the sooner I break the thought process the better. If I allow myself to spend too much time checking or obsessing then that will be my whole day. I try to disrupt the thought process.

 

[EscheLava]

Kelculator has a great strategy--limiting the amount of time spent checking physical symptoms. I do something similar--I only check physical symptoms on the first day of each month. It takes a lot of self-control to wait that long in between self checks, but the more practice I have waiting, the easier it gets. Hopefully giving yourself a defined timeframe can help you too!