Does anyone have health anxiety fears around heart attacks, strokes, seizures, etc. basically fear of passing out or dying suddenly? Do you get physical symptoms such as headaches, chest pains m, lightheadedness etc? What has helped you?
Struggling with this so bad today. Don’t want to trigger you with the one I’m struggling with but I feel you. It’s hard. Try to stay off of Google, try not to seek reassurance (I did both today and shouldn’t have)
I just want to go have everything checked out. But I’ve already had some visits in the last month and a half. So I’m really just trying to sit with it. But it feels like new symptoms just keep popping up. Hopefully it gets better for you soon.
I used to have these particular health anxieties (only in the middle of the night for some reason) then have panic attacks. The panic symptoms only lead me to believe those anxieties were true so it was this awful feedback loop. I started taking Gabapentin and it’s made the panic way less frequent though
Yes the panic is the worse. All the symptoms get elevated. Good that you found something that works.
Health anxiety, and Health OCD is very common. Anxiety can produce a lot of physical sensations that mimic serious health complications (chest pain, dizziness, etc.). If you have no underlying health conditions and no history of heart issues I would recommend resisting compulsions or reassurance seeking. Instead practice sitting with the discomfort by saying things such as "I may or may not being having health complications". I would also highly recommend you get connected with an anxiety and OCD specialist to help develop a more detailed plan. You are stronger than the fear!
The physical sensations leave so much doubt. Thanks for the advice. I will look into therapy as soon as I’m able to.
Those 3 things exactly as my top concerns and then a few others. I found that sometimes getting new blood work or lab results from a yearly physical could make the fear worse for me. It could also sometimes make it better. It was crazy to me to see anxiety elicit responses from both ends of the the spectrum. What a liar it can be! Once I knew I wasn't at any risk I found various interoceptive exercises useful for me to get more comfortable with the discomfort I'd feel in my body. I was so hyper aware of sensations the littlest things could set me off on a worry path that wasn't helpful. Interoceptives help habituate me to those more. They sucked but they were worth it. Over time and with practice I've been able to tolerate a ton more and the worry is much less frequent and totally manageable.
Never heard of introceptives before. Will research it. The bloodwork will work for a while until new symptoms develop. Then a new fear will start, causing panic, then even more symptoms. Glad you found something that helped you.
7 years ago I was a raging drug addict. I took any and all kinds of drugs without second thought of consequences. When I had my first child it’s like a switch flipped in my brain. Within her first 6 months of life I had over 12 visits to the ER. I was (still am) constantly afraid of developing a life threatening disease / illness or having a sudden health event (stroke / heart attack / heart failure / brain tumor / cancer ) develop. I’ve seen over 10 Specialist from autoimmune, heart, eyes, neurology , stomach , skin, etc. I’ve got a seemingly well bill of health but I become so hyper aware of every small change within my body. It’s. Constant state of fear and anxiety. Headache = likely tumor / aneurysm , small pain in chest or arm = heart problems , mild cold = covid or some rare disease , etc. Lately, my heart has been my fixation. I was having tachycardia going to the ER 2x a week. EKGs normal, 24hr monitor normal, X-RAY normal. Shortly after I notice my resting heart rate went down as low as 50bpm. I looked through my history over the months and that seems pretty normal for me I just hadn’t noticed before. Now I’ve been worried about my heart for weeks even tho my dr says I’m okay. It’s exhausting to be afraid of sickness and death 24/7. When I get focused on these thoughts it pulls me away from my kids and husband and daily tasks. I either full blown panic or shut down in fear. Anyone else relate? What helps you? I don’t want to rely on medications as I have so many adverse reactions to the 10+ I’ve tried! - oh year here’s another one - I’m afraid of allergic reactions as well I CONSTANTLY fear I will have an allergic reaction to medications / foods or over dose on things like Tylenol and Ibuprofen or mix meds and have reactions.
I have a overwhelming feeling of death I have been dealing with the fear of a heart attack or a brain aneurysm even tho I’m in perfect health, it never goes away, does anyone have tips on how to deal with this?
So I’ve been suffering with intense health anxiety for a few years now, and just recently I learned it may be caused by OCD. It’s to the point where every time I get a headache I start to freak out, scared that I could be having an aneurysm. I am far too worried about having a stroke or heart attack for being 21. I can’t even enjoy a casual, relaxing hot shower anymore. I have to slowly increase the temperature when getting in and slowly decrease the shower while getting out because I am afraid that any drastic temperature change can give me a heart attack. I know deep down that these fears are illogical, but no matter how often I get them they still feel just as real every time. I try to reason with myself, but every time I feel mild discomfort in my body I can’t help but freak out. I am so tired of checking my face in the mirror for symptoms of stroke every time I get a headache or feel a weird sensation in my body. Every other day of the week I force myself to stay awake for a certain period of time because I’m scared if I go to sleep I won’t wake up. I get hymnic jerks every single night (where you jolt awake when drifting to sleep) because my brain is so occupied with making sure I’m staying alive that it jolts me awake because my body is trying to sleep while my mind stays awake. It’s so difficult for me to pay attention during lectures because I get so caught up in my health anxiety that I’m focusing on grounding techniques in order to keep myself from hyperventilating. I spend more time making sure I can understand the words my professor is saying to make sure I’m not having a stroke than actually paying attention to the lectures. Another thing I struggle with is having to count my medication every time before I take it to make sure I didn’t accidentally take two or more doses, even if I KNOW I only took one. I have to count them anyways otherwise my mind will convince me I overdosed. It will not stop until I count my medication and make sure I didn’t overdose. It’s honestly so tiring, and the sad part is that my health anxiety has actually gotten better. It was even worse before now, and everything I’ve listed is stuff that I still do. Does anyone else have this struggle? Because it feels so isolating and makes me feel like I’m going crazy.
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