Health Anxiety - Anxiety Message Board

supermom3 · 11-19-2007, 08:56 PM

Hi all!

Does anyone here suffer from health anxiety (or maybe hypochondria?) - I go in phases where I'm fine for a few days or maybe even weeks, and then I start stressing about "what if I have cancer (my current cancer anxiety is breast cancer) and I don't know it?" - I get my mammograms, have my annual breast checks with my doc and do self-exams (probably too often!) - I was just wondering if anybody else deals with this?

thanks!

supermom3

mini59 · 11-19-2007, 11:53 PM

Oh my God, yes! When I went away to college, the overall anxiety became insane- one my biggest worries was my health....and death. A headache became a brain tumor, a few skipped beats of my heart signaled impending heart attack...you name it. My first ever panic attack occured in high school health class. We were looking at gory pics of car crashes and I suddenly felt the walls closing in, my heart racing, sweating....I didn't know what the heck was going on but I thought I was about to drop dead. A little while after that, I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. This explained my "speedy" feeling and weight loss and just general basket casedness. Once the hyperthyroidism was treated and gone, I was still left with panic attacks and anxiety.

So long story not so short, hypochondria is DEFINITELY a symptom of our anxiety disorders! You are far from alone!

K.

supermom3 · 11-20-2007, 08:00 AM

thanks!

supermom3

Angel31 · 11-20-2007, 08:26 AM

Hello-
I totally understand what you mean by 'phases'... I go through this myself. I think for me, I get more frustrated because my health insurance is not very good, and I don't get paid that much. I just don't see a way out of it until I finish grad school (which will be three plus years, since I want to continue working full-time). So, I get bad anxiety because I want to have some things checked out and tested, but I can't really afford to, and thus feel guilty no matter what I do! It's a vicious cycle...

On the other hand, I tend to worry about my parents' health much more than my own. I really rely on their support, and wonder what the heck I'm going to do when that time comes (and how I'm ever going to be able to handle it.) Anxiety is such an awful thing...it makes you suffer before an event ever occurs.