Has anyone ever had symptoms of chronic health issues but struggling to get a diagnose? If so, how can you balance the anxiety and the perfectionism of needing to know with also the real normal anxiety of needing to know.
Yes and yes. I ask myself, “is knowing this information right now going to make any difference?” “Am I trying to learn this information because it is necessary for my wellbeing or to make my anxiety go away?” Often, the answer is, no, I don’t need to know it now, and yes I’m just trying to reduce my anxiety. But sometimes I’m like, no, this is important that I find this out because whether I find this out has a real impact on my health. And then I only find out as much as I need to know before shutting it down so I don’t spiral into researching for hours. Take serious health concerns seriously, but don’t feed the OCD monster.
@adtappsy Thanks. This is a possible chronic illness that is serious. Even when I’m “relaxed” and distracted the symptoms show up, it’s hard to not think about the issue. Although I am doing all I can. I do frequently make the mistake of endless research.
@adtappsy I guess you’re right, currently, I know all I need to do and am doing all I can do.
@Baby J I get it with the endless research. My anxiety was actually causing my physical pain, but I had no idea and all of the doctors said I was healthy and there was nothing wrong with me, which made it worse, obviously. I’m sorry you’re dealing with that, though :/ Like I said, take serious concerns seriously, but unless you also have some other diagnosis that would lead you to hallucinations or delusional thinking, I have faith that you can determine when you are actually finding something out you need to find out and when it’s just the fear of uncertainty. Also, don’t try not to think about it. The brain doesn’t understand negative commands. If you say, “don’t think about this” all your brain is going to hear is “think about this.” Either intentionally focus on something else or intentionally focus on the pain/condition. Idk if you’re familiar or interested in meditation, but when I was in the worst of my pain and it was keeping me from sleeping, I did a guided meditation, but instead of blocking everything out except my breathing, I blocked everything out except my pain. I focused solely on how it hurt for an extended period of time and I learned two things. 1. My pain was almost shy of being watched. Idk how to explain that but there was a degree to which I felt self-conscious, but as my pain. Idk. It’s weird, but I felt it. And 2., pain cannot remain as it is. It can get worse and it can get better, but it cannot stay the same. I started to feel it like ocean waves, coming in and going out. It didn’t fix how I was feeling, but it changed how I felt about how I was feeling and that moved me closer to feeling better. Cuz with pain, there’s the actual pain, but then there’s the fear and hurt in your mind surrounding the pain and how you are viewing it. That’s where you can make a difference
@adtappsy I appreciate the advice
@Baby J Hope it helps! I know it’s not easy, but from one stranger to another, I’m rooting for you.
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