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[Mojo61]

Does anyone else suffer from this debilitating condition? Before the menopause I was always very level headed and didn't panic if I found a mole or had a pain in my stomach, but now it seems every little twinge, every freckle, every tiny sniffle or cough and I convince myself I'm dying of some incurable illness and I get more and more worked up until I'm just a sweaty ball of anxiety. It is horrible and I wish I knew how to stop it and become rational again 

[Justjules]

Me!! Crippled by it. Read the health anxiety threads on here    terrible affliction.

[coldethyl]

Join the club. I'm currently about to die of some terrible undiagnosed ailment - it's a different one from last week !! I try and distract myself which does help but I find that once you put one thing to bed, another " scary symptom" pops up to grab your attention.

[Mojo61]

It is truly awful isn't it? I wonder why this happens to us during the menopause?

And to top it all off my poor neighbour has just been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and he's only 58. Such a lovely man, never smoked, life just isn't fair. Trouble is, every time I think of him or see him it makes me feel so anxious and I don't want to be like that, I want to support him. 😢

[Justjules]

Yes, and not many people realise how it ruins your enjoyment of life. I believe it's the loss of oestrogen that triggers it in meno age but I've had HA most of my life but never this bad. What are you taking for it or doing about it?

[Urbanchick]

I am currently paranoid I'm going to lose my front teeth due to strange sensitivity pains in teeth for two days.  Already planning how to live with dentures.   My HA goes in waves, just had three months 'off' and thought I was cured, but now realise it was only because I had no aches, pains or odd symptoms.    I was relatively sane about my health until two years ago - now I'm a bit of a nutter...

Running helps.

[Mojo61]

I'm having CBT and am on a low dose of citalopram (10mg) but haven't been taking those for very long.

The thing is, I know I'm being irrational but I just can't seem to stop the awful thoughts from entering my head.

[Justjules]

I'm on 20mg of Citalopram since two weeks ago but have been on and off it for years. Had CBT but it didn't do much. I am waiting for the miracle cure! We just have to try and reverse our thinking until it becomes a habit that the brain accepts. It's so hard though.

[Melly]

Yes, I am on this HA train, too.  I currently take paroxetine to try and help combat it.  Also mindfulness and exercise. 

It just seems every time I get myself calmed and rational again over what I think are symptoms of a fatal illness, then new symptoms appear to take their place! Right now it's a burning feeling in my tummy.  It's probably related to acid reflux but my brain doesn't want to listen.

It does help to know there are others out there..but still I want off!!

[booboo]

Melly  YES!  I suffer chronically & its the worst debilitating feeling.. I go thru periods where I cant enjoy life atall because I am constantly fearing/thinking bad stuff related to health and imagine the worst scenarios ...Its bloody hell & no joke ... I have been on citalopram for sev years and I exercise and eat healthy and try to do what I can to get out of it - but there are days/weeks when I awake and that awful feeling of anx is in the pit of my stomach again and stuff just goes around and around in my head.... Then when I read or hear of people with illnesses I feel the panic rising ....To make it worse I have picked up the worst head cold that I can remember having in years - and just feel so low....

[Mojo61]

I had to go and see my doctor this morning as I've been bleeding quite badly on the continuous HRT she prescribed me in February. I couldn't sleep at all last night as I was dreading the appointment so much, and it was at 8am and mornings are absolutely dreadful for me!

By the time I got there I was a shaking, sweating, nauseated ball of anxiety and I honestly thought I was going to pass out in the waiting room because in my mind I was adamant that I must have either cervical or ovarian cancer and was thinking what will happen to my son if I die, how will he cope?

She said it was normal with continuous HRT and swapped me onto a sequential regime. I asked her what about the scan to rule out anything sinister and she said no need, she wasn't concerned at all as I'd had no problems at all before starting the HRT.

It has taken me until now to calm down a bit, I could actually feel the adrenaline racing through my body and it just wouldn't stop. It must take hours for the nervous system to recover after something like that and I absolutely hate it because I know I'm doing it to myself and that I'm being irrational, but I just can't seem to stop the panic and worry.

[booboo]

Mojo sorry meant to say mojo and not melly in my last last post.
I do exactly the same - work myself up into a frenzy imagining the worst.... I had a full hysterectomy 18 months ago, but I still suffer will all sorts of health fears - it seems if not one thing then another & I thought it was just me...At least we know we are not alone with all this on here - it does not stop the fears unfortunately, but at least we can have some empathy from others here

[dangermouse]

Even though I know how to treat health anxiety, if it wasn't my job then I too think I would be suffering.

It's the perfect storm as you have adrenaline pumping out due to hormonal imbalance plus scary physical symptoms.

You can't rationalise your adrenaline away (although I have used hypnosis to lower bp before so I may actually test it!) but you can rationalise your perception of your physical symptoms. I guess that is the line that those with peri/meno with or without health anxiety falls.

If you think that if you go for a run your heart will beat very fast but you don't actually feel panicked. However, tachycardia or palpitations from hormones can be at a much lower rate but they can bring on severe panic!

The anxiety will lower when you truly believe the symptoms are harmless, or at worst, a concern to keep an eye on. This comes from a rational amount of research, hearing others' stories and any necessary testing to rule out more serious problems which doctors are more likely to be switched on about.

Then it's easier to ride out the adrenaline surges just like recovering from a run but for a longer time.

Accepting we can never catch every little neuron change in order to be 100% healthy can give us the freedom to just let it all go. Trying to do the impossible is bound to stress us out, right?

Allowing our minds to be unblocked from worst case scenario tracking means we will be better prepared if we ever need to be. Even people who go through terrible things in life, get through and come out the other end possibly even stronger and more appreciative.

Why should life be easy? Where's the excitement then!

[CLKD]

   UrbanChick!

Emitophobia has plagued me from an early age  ..........

[riversong]

Count me in.

I had a hysterectomy on March 23rd, one week later I was getting major pain in the middle of my stomach that radiates to my back. I went to the emergency department and they wanted to rule post op complications. They did a ct scan with contrast and it showed that my common duct and pancreas duct are both dilated and my liver enzymes are all high, and I don't drink or smoke. Sent me home because there was no post op complications. They did mention the dilations and said to get a ultrasound in a non emergent setting.

I came home and googled it, not a good idea, everything i read on it states "double duct sign" is a high marker for pancreatic cancer. Now I am convinced I have cancer. But I am sure if they suspected that then they would have kept me in and ran a slue of tests.

Btw, I did get the ultrasound and they weren't able to view the head of my pancreas, now i have the wait to see a gastroenterologist and they said that could take up to six months.