Health Anxiety Struggle - Me Too!

[TrisTrip]

You’re preaching to choir sister. I SO KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!

I’m having a bad day today (lots of symptoms) and the devil on my shoulder is telling me I have all sorts of deadly illnesses – JVCD, MS, ALS, Parkinson’s (don’t look any of these up – I FORBID YOU!)

It’s a constant struggle for me now though I’ve never had this health anxiety before; it’s all new to me.

It sounds like you’ve been going through this a while with different self dx.

This board is a great place to get reassurance and I’ll give you some now.

You’re not dying, you’re fine. I’ve read your previous posts and your fine except for twitching and such. Trust me, trust your doctor.

Anytime you need support – Login


Hope you start feeling better

- Jeff

 

[EyeoftheWild]

Missy, do you recall the feeling you had before when you got caught in the rain, without your rain gear? At first there is the, "Oh crap," and then at some point of saturation you just don't worry about it. Well, you are at that point with bfs. It has rained twitches, and tremors, etc and now it is time to just not worry. You are soaked with bfs!! The sun will come out from time to time, and dry out the sx, and then they might come back for another soaking.

I like the rain sometimes, especially cold rain on a warmish day...it makes me feel alive. I like the wind for the same reason. The twitches used to make me feel alive too, the kind of alive you notice when it has rained hard, and then the sun poked it's head out. Have you ever noticed how everything just frigging glistens...OMG, it is amazing.

Capture that feeling, deny the worry its place and bully your way to feeling good. It works, I know, for I have done it.

You guys are too special, too intelligent, too well, to spend another day in worry about bullcrap ALS or fooking MS or any other ridiculous initial you can dream up. The forum may even be exacerbating your anxiety, if so, you might consider leaving the forum for a time. Just as birds must leave the nest eventually and try their own wings, so too must we get on with the daring to live.

Your life is a miracle, let that be your mantra.

Basso

 

[bloodynightguru]

I've had a brain tumor, MS, ALS, breast cancer, a stroke, a heart attack, bladder cancer, etc.......I too hear a sympton and guess what, I begin to exhibit those symptons....I can't talk to anyone about an illness without asking, "what were your symptons" and the second I ask that question, my mind wanders and within a day or so....I begin to feel them....When I had my ALS scare...it was around the time a friend of mine was diagnosed with MS and she was telling me all of her symptons......I began to feel the same things she had and therefore convinced myself I also had it.

I've been this way my whole life and will probably never change.....For me, knowing I'm not the only loon out there makes me feel better....At least we're here to support each others lunacy.....

 

[Daimelu]

This whole thing started for me after hearing a lot about MS on TV and hearing of a patient in my office being diagnosed with it. I saw a program on MS on Larry Kind Live adn then 43RichyThe43rd Pryor passed away so it was in the news again. I researched it online for the heck of it- simply because I was interested and health issues never worried me before. A week later I too started to experience all kinds of strange symptoms and read more on MS and wham. 6 months later Im still having symptoms.

I never really had health anxiety before this. And now I worry about everything...

I did read a really good book on this topic called "Phantom Illness" and i would definately recommend it to anyone here suffering from health anxiety

 

[rawjenniferlawrenc]

totally agree with all that conversion disorder stuff. it is funny how most people on this forum have experienced the exact same symptoms at some point, how most people have had some degree of stress/anxiety of some kind before all these involuntary movements, and, most importantly, how basically everyone has been told "THERE IS NOTHING PHYSICALLY WRONG WITH YOU" by countless waves of doctors and neurologists.

the only thing to contend with, in that case, are the annoying symptoms themselves. they still bother me greatly, especally the larger jerks and starts, but i think i am slowly managing to convince myself that maybe -just *maybe* - i'm not terminally ill, and it is all just some <b>really</b> annoying post-viral-and/or-stress pain in the anus. because, from what i gather, no-one on this board has ever found out they have some god-awful fatal condition. and that includes you )

p.s. EyeoftheWild - nice metaphor. i'm an English student and i give it the thumbs up.