So Tired of Being a Hypochondriac

**THANK YOU I AM DEFINITELY GONNA LOOK AT THOSE SITES....AND THANK YOU FOR ALL BEING HERE AND TALKING TO ME...IM GLAD I HAVE SOMEONE TO TALK TO.....BUT YEAH IM PROBABLY GONNA TALK TO MY DOCTOR about GETTING BACK ON TO PAXIL AGAIN....IT DID HELP BETTER THAN CELEXA.....BUT I DONT KNOW...HOPEFULLY SOMETHING HELPS...**



**BUT YEAH I DEFINITELY NEED SOMETHING TO HELP ME...CAUSE THIS JUST TAKING OVER MY LIFE HAS TO STOP...ITS BEEN ALMOST 8YRS NOW....I KNOW ITS NOT AS LONG AS MOST BUT I WANT TO STOP IT WHILE ITS STILL EARLY!!! I CANT LIVE MY WHOLE LIFE LIKE THIS....JUST THINKING about THAT IS SCARY SO I GOTTA DO SOMETHING....***



**BUT IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ELSE PLEASE WRITE ME AGAIN AND LET ME KNOW...I WILL BE ON HERE AFTER WORK AND EVERYDAY...LETTING YOU KNOW ANYTHING NEW about WHATS GOING ON...AND I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO TALK TO EVERYONE about WHAT YOUR ALL GOING THROUGH SO IF YOU NEED ANYONE TO TALK TO ILL BE HERE AS WELL!!! DEFINITELY!!! THANK YOU ALL AGAIN...IM SOO HAPPY I FOUND THIS SITE...IT MAKES ME FEEL A LITTLE BIT BETTER...THANK YOU!!!***

Dear Brittney,

I am so sorry your going through all of this but you have come to the right place to find a place to talk about your fears and your problems.

You may have health anxiety, but it feels more to me like you have what is referred to as some anticipatory anxiety.  Your worried about the what if's and then you start thinking your "crazy"  I promise your not "crazy".  OK. 

Common Anticipatory Anxiety Reactions include :

Feelings: anxious, fearful, angry, confused, hopeless, losing control, numb, sad, moody, irritable, guilty. Excessive, ongoing worry and tension.

Behaviors: withdrawal from others or activities, disrupted routines, startle reactions, easily crying

Cognitions: preoccupation with possibility of trauma, concentration difficulties, self-doubt, worry, indecisiveness, memory difficulties

Physical complaints: muscle tension, headaches, gastric distress, sleep and appetite changes, fatigue

Talking usually helps. Share your feelings with friends, family, on here are all good ways to work through the anxiety.

Relaxation techniques: Try deep breathing, muscle relaxation, visualization (imagining peaceful scenes), and/or listening to soothing music.

Realistic self-talk: While we can't always control what happens to us, we can always control what we say to ourselves. It's important to keep things in perspective. Talk to yourself in reasonable ways. Ask yourself "how likely is my fear?" Remind yourself that you have coped before during other challenging times. Don't just dwell on the negative but consciously look for things you can appreciate every day.

I know you said the waiting list for an appointment for the Pdoc is long but you can usually find a therapist to start working with on a one one one fairly quickly.  Talk with your PCP about recommending someone.

We are here for you and we do not judge so keep postins.  I welcomed you in your other thread but hey kiddo, welcome again.

Remember I am not a professional. 
Hugs

Kitt

 

Hey everyone...sorry for the caps its a habit...um but yeah today i felt really horrible at work..i started to get dizzy and light headed and ended up goin to the hospital!!! i had a bad headache....they did a cat scan and told me everything is okay so it makes me feel better at least about that..


but i just cant stand having to go to the hospital all the time, when i feel something....but yeah i need a psychiatrist.....i called and made an appointment so ill be goin on the weekend....



cause yeah i definitely have to do something...coming here was the first step...and this is helping alot right now....talking to others that have the same problem!!! makes me feel better having people to talk to!! thank you all so very much!!

Brittney,

I'm glad the hospital visit gave you some relief for a while. There have been times when I've been at the ER more nights a week than I've been home. It stinks!

Seeing a psychiatrist or therapist is a good way to start fighting your health anxiety in a new way. I'm glad you've got an appointment coming up so soon. Having to wait a long time for doctors' appointments or medical tests is definitely one of my health anxiety buttons. Bleah!

So hang in there, and let us know how things go with your doctor this weekend!

percycat

Brittney,
I just wanted to say I can identiyfy with you 100%
I too have had a phobia that at every turn I am going to die. I have had it since I was too young to even understand what death was. I was able to calm the thoughts when I had a therapist who taught me to control my thinking. She helped me see that my fears were not rational and that I could control them if I worked hard at it.
I have been very careful to keep it under wraps because I started suffering from alot of pain and I didnt want my Dr's to think it was all in my head. It wasnt, but of course in the back of my mind I feared it could be. Just last night I accedently swallowed some listerine mouth wash and thought the chemicals in it would interact with the chemicals in my pain medication and I was going to die from it. I worked myself up so much that my husband had to call the emergency room just to show me that I was going to be okay.
I understand how difficult and scary it can be and how much time it can take up in your day. But a therapist can do wonders.
I know I should obviously go back and see mine. And I will.
But please dont think because my painic came back that they can only help you while your seeing them and when you stop the phobias will just come back. I was able to control the obsessive thoughts for a very long time afterwards, even without medication. But I got sick and thats what tipped off my panic. It is possible to get better and it feels great not to have your life center around the possibility of dying.
I justed wanted to say I'm thinking of you and know that you will be able to conqour this.
Freya

Freya,

What a great success story! You give hope to the rest of us.

Welcome to HealingWell!

percycat

Hi Brittney,

I will try to catch up here as you have had wonderful response from our great members.  I am concerned that you walked to the hospital and I am hoping that someone was with you and also someone brought you home.  A negative CT Scan is a good thing.  Try to pull up that thought when your starting to worry about your dizzy spells.

Do you have a history of migraine headaches as they can present in many ways and you don't realize what is going on.

My daughter had atypical migraines, she would feel anxious and then she had trouble with talking.  Her thoughts came out garbled and made no sense.  As a Mother my first thought was she was having a stroke................yup that old anxiety we Mom's go through thinking the worst right away.  Her CT Scan and other tests came back ok and she was dx as atypical migraines.

It is so sweet that your boyfriend is so caring and even talked to his own Mom about you.  You are lucky to have each other.

You posted: and tonight still isnt over....Ya know its so horrible having to think about that....just sitting here worrying about the next day and what im gonna fear next....

This is a good example of anticipatory anxiety. Can you kick this kind of thinking to the curb and leave it there?

I am so happy talking to us helps you and please know you are family here now...................we are here for you so keep posting and know we care.  :)

Hugs to you sweetie,
Kitt

Hey Kitt....Thank you for your concern...Actually I didnt have anyone with me when I walked there because my friend had to stay at work...and I didnt have a ride but it all turned out okay...Um but I did get out of the hospital in time for my friend to come pick me up cause she was just getting out of work...So I was at the hospital for exactly 3hrs....Which isnt bad considering I go to the hospital alot and usually its like 6hrs or more.....

 

 

 

But yeah a negative CT scan is definitely good....And I will think of that everytime I get a headache or a dizzy spell for a while...But you know me...after its been a while Ill think that something is wrong again....But yeah they ask me all the time when I go to the hospital if I was ever diagnosed with migraines and ya know Ive actually never been diagnosed with that....So I dont know....

 

 

 

And yeah its good to have my boyfriend to be here for me....I mean it did scare me when he told me that cause then I got thoughts in my head about why I was all pale when I was sleeping...Soo....but he is good....he always sits in the hospital with me everytime I go through a panic attack....So he is good...

 

 

 

And about that antisipatory anxiety...I dont know if I can kick this thinking to the curb....Its always too hard!!!.....But yeah I do feel better talking to you all....Knowing I have people here that understand what I go through makes me feel better....Its easy to talk to you all cause you all understand me....And you understand exactly what I am feeling.....Thank You and get back to me soon...Ill check in later...Sincerely Brittney

Brittney
I know you can kick most of it to the curb in fact I am very positive you can

Look at the resources up top that has Wen's Name on the end click on there and check the
Cognitive behavioural Thread...........I have been doing this and many others have HAD great success with it



LYN

Brittney,

Bravo to you for fighting down the anxiety about your dizziness today! That's a real success, and I know how tough it can be. Just take it one day at a time; congratulate yourself when you can beat down your health worries even for a bit, and be patient with yourself on those occasions when you can't.

percycat

Hey Everyone Brittney here....Well I have a story for you.....This weekend was such a horrible weekend for me....OMG it was just horrible.....I mean it was supposed to be a fun and great weekend cause I just got paid and I was supposed to go out and have a little bit of fun ya know.....Well....

 

 

 

I dont understand what happend....I dont understand why it came out of no where....I felt sooo great all day Friday....Work was great and ya know it was Friday....I was happy....Well after I get off work I go shopping and Im still feeling great but when I get home I sit to relax and watch a movie and the worst headache Ive ever had in my life just came outta no where....It pounded the entire back of my head and into my neck....I couldnt sleep....And I was scared....I mean it felt like my head was gonna explode and I just kept thinking (Aneyurism)....

 

 

 

But I ended up going to the hospital after a horrible night of sleeping and waking up over and over again with this pain....They did another head CT scan on me just to make sure the other doctors didnt miss anything and they also did blood work....EVERYTHING came back normal....While I was there they hooked me up to an IV and gave me medicine to help with the nausea....And they gave me this stuff called Dalotted....which felt great and helped with my headache for about an hour and then it was back again...Which I didnt understand usually when the hospital gives me something my headaches go away and stay away so I didnt understand why it wasnt going away....So they send me home with the worst headache ever still and tell me to follow up with my doctor Monday....

 

 

 

They send me home with Viciodin....Which would have definitely helped usually with the pain but I didnt understand I would take one and my headache would go away and come back within a few hours......So I had the same headache from Friday 10pm all the way through today Sunday.......It was scaring me cause it wouldnt go away no matter what I would do....I still dont understand why this happend to me.....Everything came back normal at the doctors and my weekend was just the worst ever.....It was such horrible pain......I cant describe the pain it was unbareable........Couldnt stop crying and kept getting nauseated from the pain.....But right now its gone...But just the scary thought of it coming back again is scaring me cause it hurted soo bad....I couldnt deal with the pain...I wouldnt wish this kinda pain on anyone it was so bad....

 

 

 

I hope no one ever has to go through this pain like I did...And Im just scared it will be back tonight....So pray it just stays away....Im scared of what it is caused by....There has to be something...it lasted almost 3 days now.....Well Ill be back later...How was everyone elses weekends???? Sincerely Brittney

Brittney...I am so sorry you had such a bad weekend. I really hope that your feeling a little better this morning. It sounds so much like a migrain and vicoden can actually make it worse and leave it lingering longer. You should defenitly try and follow up with your doc if you can, I'm sure they can give you something that will help incase it comes back. I know they can hurt so so bad and leave you feeling like it cant possibly be just a headache. You know what helps me when I get one and think its an anurism(I cant spell) I think to myslef... if it's really an anurism I wouldnt even have the time to think it was because there just that fast. I dont know if that helps or if it will make it worse for you, it just seems to help me when I get really bad pains in my head.

I also had a horrible weekend. I've always had this thing since I was younger of being afraid to go to sleep when no one else is awake because if something happens to me either in my sleep or just in general, no one would be awake to help me, especially in the dark(yikes!!!) I used to take ambien which was really a great help, but I cant take them with my pain meds and for the past week I havent been able to go to sleep until it starts to get light out. It doesnt have to be complete daylight, just a little bit. I dont even know why that is because no one is up at 5am anyaway, maybe the things I'm afraid of just dont seem as frightning during the day.

Lately I've been waking myself with crying, theres no tears just the sounds of myself sobbing and I cant figure out why. And then on Sat night, I woke up with my heart racing so fast I thought I was having a heart attack. I guess I must have had a panic attack in my sleep, but of course that has not helped convince myself it wasnt something more. I wish I could take something to get to sleep but with my pain meds I cant take my ambien or klonopin any more. I've tried a few other medicines and natural remedies but nothing seems to work and I'm usually fine during the day. Its only the night that seems to set off my panic when its time to go to bed or when I have to be alone in the dark.

I'm just so frustrated. I dont know what I can do. I havent slept more than eight hours combined since friday night. Last night I jumped up from my sleep almost every hour(I'm not sure my cat will ever sleep with me again, I scared the heck out of her!)

Wow, I didnt mean to go into all of that. It must be the sleep deprevation! I'm sure I'll figure out something to help.
But anyhow, Brittney I really hope your feeling better and that your able to follow up with your doc so that they can give you something incase it happens again(Caffine can help on occassion with headaches and migrains too) I hope your head feels as light as a cloud today!
Your in my thoughts
(((((hugs)))))
Freya