Some one please help!!! I’m going insane, I'm utterly convinced that I have a brain tumour....I always have headaches and a host of other weird symptoms which I can only put down to a huge tumour nestled comfortably in my brain! I have mismatched pupils and I have seen an ophthalmologist about this and he gave me the all clear...he even specifically said I didn't have a brain tumour...this satisfied me for about two minutes. I had mono earlier this year and I am still feeling the effects of it...I was in bed for four months and it was my first experience of being really sick and I still have nightmares about it. I know that I am a very anxious person and being sick has made it about 10 times worse, I have always been a hypochondriac for as long as I can remember but knowing this doesn't make it any easier. The doctors I’m sure think I’m nuts...I guess I seem pretty highly strung to most people. I'm taking Prozac now but it hasn't helped the headaches and I am just as anxious as ever, my doctor has diagnosed me with chronic fatigue syndrome and they attribute the headaches and the other symptoms to that, I always feel like there is a vice squeezing my temples and I can hear a pulse in my head and neck when I sit down after having walked around. I just have this absolute certain feeling that I have a tumour; even if I had a scan I wouldn't be satisfied...has anyone ever felt like this? I mean I feel ABSOLUTELY convinced...I can't live like this!
I am so sorry to hear you are feeling so upset! <IMG SRC="http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/frown.gif">
I have been a hypochondriac for my entire life too! I have convinced my self I have had every disease in the book! Of course, I never had ANY of them! I could always match symptoms! It started in my teen years, and I'm pushing 40 now. I went to counceling early on and was able to control it for years. (It was there, but I was able to dismiss it.) Recently, however, I had a really bad spell. I am now on Zoloft, and am doing great. No worries at all! <IMG SRC="http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/biggrin.gif">
The best advise I can give you is to recognize it for what it is, do what you can to re-train your thoughts. Try relaxation techniques, read Dr. Claire Weekes books, and if you need to try different meds, so be it! You deserve to live life to the fullest. Worrying all the time, takes away from your happiness. Try not to dwell on the negatives, yet focus on the positives!
To quote Dr. Phil " You don't get to choose how you die, but you DO get to choose how you live"!
I hope you are feeling better soon!
Kim <IMG SRC="http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/heart.gif">
p.s. My excessive worying/anxiety caused many severe physical sypmtoms: Headaches, twitching, tingling, fatigue etc. Once I stopped worrying, they all went away! I'll bet you find this will be true for you too!<p>[This message has been edited by kim simone (edited 11-04-2002).]
I agree with everything Kim has said and I couldnt put it better.
I also had physical symptoms like most of us on here who thought they had something terrible wrong with them. If you have had checks by doctors and specialists and they say you are ok you HAVE TO ACCEPT this to be able to move on. As Kim said try Dr Claire Weekes books as she explain how and why this has happened to you and why you get physical symptoms.
How long have you been on the Prozac? it can take several weeks before you may feel any better, often you can feel worse at first because of side effects.
I do feel a little concerned that you said you still wouldnt believe that you didnt have a tumour even if you had a scan. YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE OK or you will get nowhere fast and perhaps that is why you still feel the same. Please dont get me wrong it is NOT easy, in fact it is very hard trying to forget something you believe in so strongly.
We are here for you, keep talking to us.
Hey guys,
Thanks so much for your replies! It's just so hard to try and talk myself out of this when i feel so strongly that i have it.I'm seeing a chronic fatigue specialist quite soon so i'm gonna tell him everything.I have been on prozac for about a month and a bit now i think, before that i was taking Aropax(paroxetine) and that seemed a bit more effective but when i came off it there were some trippy side effects.My mum tells me that she was just like me at this age and she said that she got a lot better by the time she was in her mid twenties...i can't wait that long! It seems that every week i have a new disease and i'm sure that my symptoms can fit loads of diseases but the one that i always return to is the tumor....i hate going to doctors because i feel like they think i'm crazy and no one really takes hypochondria that seriously...my friends all think it's kinda cute that i'm such a neurotic mess....anyway thank you so much for your suggestions, i have a relaxation book and i am in the process of trying out the stuff in there, i think i'll also have a look for the books you mentioned, it's good to know that i'm not the only one with these problems.... cheers
Your recognizing that you have Hypochondria is the first step in getting better! Keep focused on the fact that you CAN control those thoughts. Continue on the meds for a while longer, and hopefully they will give you the desired effect. If not, why not go back to the one that worked initially? Having Hypochondria makes one very aware of one's own body and function. We become hypersensative to everything going on within. You have to try to desensatize yourself. Relax, think positive, and above all remind yourself that you will be all right! You are not dying! You can control your thoughts. The mind is so powerful. Negative thoughts can make you weak and sick. Positive ones will make you strong and healthy.
<IMG SRC="http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/nono.gif"> Also, if you are anything like I was, you are going to the internet to self diagnose. Stay off the web when it comes to your health. Let the doctors handle that. You will no doubt drive yourself crazy matching symptoms. You will always be able to find a symptom that belongs to a terrible disease. Then you will fill yourself with more unnecessary worry. For your own sake, don't do this to yourself. I have vowed to never do this again. If it is something you do, Fight the urge!
Best Wishes!
Kim
<p>[This message has been edited by kim simone (edited 11-04-2002).]
Kim, I have done that too! I go on the web to find what I have!! No wonder my anxiety and panic and OCD about my health has gotten worse since I got my computer!! Seriously! I got it in Feb. 2002 and that's when I started "going downhill"! I think starting today I WILL TAKE YOUR ADVICE!! Thanks for making me think!!
Staying off the computer was one of the BEST things I have done for myself since I realized I had OCD. I was making myself soooo much worse by going to various sites and self diagnosing! I was literally fueling my anxiety! When I started having physical symptoms from anxiety (twitching) I used "twitching" as a key word in my search and it immediatly popped up an ALS site. ALS is terminal, and I was sure I only had a short time to live. I kept going to various ALS sites, and my fears got worse and worse and my symptoms got worse and worse because of my excessive worrying. <IMG SRC="http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/round.gif"> Once ALS was ruled out by my neurologist, and it was pointed out I had OCD, the symptoms stopped.
I saw first hand just how powerful your mind can be. Don't let this happen to you! Stay off the computer!
All MY Best!
Kim <IMG SRC="http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/heart.gif">
