New to forum - health related anxiety

Hello all.

I have been lurking on the forum for a few days and decided to post now because I am having a very difficult time.

I am 36 years old and have been treated for anxiety since 2010 when my panic attacks became more frequent and intense. I take Mirtazapine daily and have Xanax for those extra bad days.

Most of my anxiety is health-related, so when I am doing well - I am we'll. No real anxiety.

Every headache is an aneurysm, every bruise that takes a while to go away is leukemia, pain in my leg is a blood clot, pain in my jaw is a heart attack, etc., etc. also, I am emetophobic (terrified of vomiting).

Well... Last week I started with awful heart palpitations. I always got them once in a while, but these were much more frequent. So that sent my anxiety into overdrive. I seemed to convince myself I was dying and ended up in the ER on Saturday. I was diagnosed with PVC and told to follow up with my doctor. (I will post more about this in the "heart" section).

But now that my body is "off", my anxiety will not go away. I am a dancer and just got back from class and am freaking out that because I am tired, something is horribly wrong with me.

I have researched trying accupuncture and wonder if anyone here has tried it and how it worked for you.

Hi LB1976,

Welcome to the A/P. I am sorry to hear of your anxiety struggles and worries regarding your health.

Since you have been reading up here...you no doubt already know that you are not alone in dealing with this issue!

Health anxiety is a common theme around here for sure!

I found that therapy, specifically CBT, really helped me in managing my fear (and subsequent panic issue) regarding being/getting ill.

If you can, I highly recommend looking into this treatment option.

If this is not something that you can do at this time...there are other self-help ideas in our Resource Guide here that can help. We have book recommendations on the subject of health anxiety. These are CBT based, and could help to get you started on recovering from many of your fears. The breathing and relaxation (video links) exercises are also powerful tools. They will help to lower your overall stress levels that feed into anxiety and worry.

The PVC's will most likely turn out to be of the benign type that accompany anxiety. Follow up with your doctor for sure, but try not to get worked up about them. I, as well as many members here deal with them.:)

Keep posting with us as well. We are here for eachother to listen and care.! Support really helps!

Scaredy Cat

Thank you for the replies, Scaredy Cat and Jocipher.

It is comforting to know I am not alone and that I have somewhere I can go for support.