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Hi there, I have to warn you that this is going to be the most idiotic thread. Actually I was reported for trolling on another board when I talked about my thoughts. Guess they are a bit crazy. So years ago I struggled with fears about the health and safety of my loved ones, but I got better. So. I am married now. DH has been diagnosed with combat PTSD but I am not sure if the diagnosis is an accurate one, because he is very different from other people with the same desease. For example: he shows no aggression, he never walked out on me and so on. He struggles with crowds, has insomnia and actually fears for the safety of his loved ones just like I used too. Actually I wondered if he has a bit of OCD. So I wasn‘t sure if the diagnosis was correct. Yesterday we met with his folks. And I noticed that his mother had a twitch of her hands. I never noticed that before. Well, my Dh has a light twitch of his face when he feels stressed and sometimes his hands tremble a bit... Well, suddenly I remembered how I did read a book about a family suffering from Chorea Huntington. A heritable but deadly condition. It starts with twitching and psychological problems and in the end sufferers become unable to move and die. I have been up all night, because one of our children was sick and woke every two hours and I have been reading about Chorea Huntington and there was one info that really shocked me. I learned that people with Chorea often gobble down their food... and dh does this too. He has great manners and was brought up to be polite but he eats as if we were going to steal his food. Nobody in his family has ever been diagnosed with Chorea Huntington, his mother’s parents both lived to their nineties and no sign of Chorea Huntington. BTW I also have „diagnosed“ dh with colon cancer this week and I think he really needs to see a doctor and hope I can make him, because I friend who is knowledgeable about medicine said he has something that should be checked plus colon cancer really runs in his family. This night he woke to (he has insomnia). Told him about my Huntington fear and I think he was a bit annoyed because I am already bothering him to see a doctor to get a check up if he has cancer... but he hugged me and told me how no one in his family ever suffered from Huntington. No idea, why I am suddenly so fearful again. I think it is good to continue to bother him to have himself checked for cancer but I should no bother him with my Huntington fears, should I. Tanks for reading. Merry Christmas!

Hi all! Yesterday night at around 11:50, I was bending down looking at the cats outside of my window, when I stood back up and banged my head on one of the ledges I have mounted on my wall. It was pretty hard, but I did not lose consciousness. I walked out of my room to talk to my mom and tell her what happened, and I noticed I was a little shaken up, and when I was trying to explain to her what happened it would take me a moment or two to gather my thoughts. Which I'm sure is completely natural, given I've just hit my precious head. I just recently lost a friend due to an unexpected health problem, and for someone with health anxiety, I have had the worst anxiety I have ever experienced since it happened. Last night after I hit my head I immediately ran to my phone to look up things on Google. Worst mistake ever. I read about Natasha Richardson and Billy Mays, so I sat there and cried and cried. But everything I was reading telling me things would be bad if I was nauseous (which I was, but I think my anxiety gave that to me), severe headache, dizziness, blurred vision, and other motor skill problems. I had none. I even googled, "I hit my head but show no signs of serious head injury, am I going to be okay?" The thing that was bothering me was the slight pressure, that I may be making up in my head, that I was feeling on the opposite side of my brain. I was so concerned because after I hit my head, I felt a lot of pressure on the right side of my head, when I initially hit my left. All throughout the day today the right side of my brain hurt, I don't know if it was because I slept on shitty pillows, or because I haven't eaten all day. But the fact that the opposite side hurt really scared me. I called a doctor today and spoke over the phone about what I'm feeling and I wanted to make sure everything was okay. You would think that a doctor's okay would make me feel better, but here I am, hours later, still on Google trying to solve my problems. I haven't been to the ER or urgent care to have my head examined, and I feel if I had gone things would have cleared, anxiety wise, by now. Almost 24 hours later, my head doesn't hurt but I do feel some pressure, could be because of my anxiety. But who knows. Does anyone have tips or similar stories to share so I don't feel so silly, or crazy? Thank you.

Good morning for the past several months I have been struggling with severe health anxiety. I have had anxiety my whole life but it comes in waves and each wave is a new obsession/topic that I become nervous about. This time, I believe I have some type of autoimmune disorder, like Lupus. My palms and feet are always sweaty and cold, my heart palpitates ALOT, and I just have a general feeling of being unwell, almost achy like the flu. My back hurts all the time. My hands tremor slightly and I get headaches when I think about it. I have been to a cardiologist and they said everything was fine. I recently went to my doctors and got a complete metabolic and blood count panel and everything is normal. I also got my thyroid checked. I'm just scared that they are missing something. I don't want to be one of those mystery diagnoses. Also, about 4 months ago I received my first dose of Gardisil. I did fine days after. But now the injection site is hurting. Is 4 months too late to see a reaction? I feel alone. Too many scattered thoughts and they are so overwhelming. Any reassurance??

Hi Everyone I have been struggling for the last 7 months with constant tingling/twitching/numbness on the left side of my face. I won't go through all the details here but I've had the all clear from Neurologists and am now seeing a Chiropractor as the only possible conclusion at this stage is that its caused by chronic muscle tension in my neck/shoulder/jaw area which is pinching the nerve. (its a daily battle to hold on to this belief and not worry its something worse!). I have been reading a lot about chronic muscle tension and its physical effects. I have a history with stress and anxiety and in the past 8 years have been dealing with fertility treatments and all the emotional baggage that comes with that. I often think Ive coped really well but after reading a lot about muscle tension caused by stress etc... I feel like my coping mechanisms may well have been storing all that emotional pain, stress and worry in my muscles and this facial thing is the tipping point for my body. The logical part of my brain screams yes to all of this- it makes so much sense. But when the tingling has been so constant and long lived, (and worse lately) its hard to focus on that theory and how I can fix it. I just want to start to feel better even it takes a good while to get sorted. If I could just feel some improvement, it would help me so much. I feel like I'm stuck in an infinite loop of: Emotional baggage/stress from life and Infertility in particular ---> chronic muscle tension/surpressed emotion in order to cope ---> Painful neck and shoulder----> CONSTANT tingling in face----> fear over why its tingling----> guilt over how the fear dominates me and makes it hard to do normal stuff (work is hard- I work for myself) ----> continued background IVF stuff ---> worry that my face requires medication to control----> fear and guilt that that medication will put an end to IVF treatment as I cant take it while trying to conceive----> and back round again!! So if muscle tension caused by all this stress is hopefully at the root of this, then I NEED to find a way to get my muscles out of their hypertonic state. This is more than "Take a nice hot bath". How do I deal with this? Practically and emotionally? Life is life, I cant remove infertility as a thing from my life experience. It is what it is and the only hope of having children is to keep going, see this through and even if it doesn't work, I know I can adopt. either way, its a battle that I have to endure. I cant avoid this. So how do I contend with life without sustaining and worsening my muscle tension? Im at a loss. Any ideas guys?

Came across this wonderful forum while doing research to calm my fears of cancer due to new unexplained symptoms. My first recollection of illness phobia came around 8 or 9 when a heart murmur was found during a physical. The doctor was suprised I even knew what it was, but such is the life of one in fear of disease. Fortunatley, no google at the time, but a very scary medical book was at my fingertips in the family library to research every ache, pain, or symptom. I have always jumped to the worst conclusions. Convinced in my imagination only, of course, I have had brain tumors, sinus cancer, lymphoma, leukemia, stomach cancer, mouth cancer, pancreatic cancer, melanoma, testicular cancer, colon cancer, bone cancer, eye cancer, and after marriage have transferred those beliefs onto my wife's various symptoms over the years. Ovarian, cervical, breast and secondary lung cancer, plus most of the above. None of these have yet come to fruition. As can be seen, one word reappears in all my anxieties - cancer, the word that leaves me lying in bed with overwhelming worry when I should be living life or being a strong husband when my wife is awaiting test results. So, here on the forum I'm hoping to find a place to share some of the ongoing struggle and help others through such shared experiences. Thanks, Hippo

Hello everyone. So, a little while after leaving the gym today the middle and outer part of the arch on my right foot started aching. I didn't think much of it until I got home and took my shoes off and it started hurting more and it would hurt a little but not too much to walk on that foot. My other foot feels fine and I didn't notice any pain while on the treadmill today. I'm just a little worried and I did a bad thing and looked online even though I've been doing good at staying away from Google. Of course I came across all the awful things that could be wrong with me and I convinced myself I'm going to have to have my foot amputated. I'm just scared and I guess I should mention that I did some feet stretches/yoga and it did make my foot feel better but not completely. I don't know if that says anything though.

Hi, when I first joined I made a post about my health anxiety and how my toes were numb after one of my long walks. I posted about how I went on Google and read about all these different horrible things that could be wrong with me and how I was so upset and anxious. Well, that was about 2 weeks ago and I was thinking that I must have damaged a nerve when I was walking and that's why my toes went numb. My toes are pretty much all better now and most of the feeling in them has returned so I'm guessing that must have been it because if it was something worse the feeling wouldn't have come back and my toes would have just gotten worse right? Well anyway, lately over the past few days I've been experiencing a few different things. I've been having some anxiety because of what I've been feeling but then I'm not sure if my anxiety is causing these things. First of all, I've been getting this warm sensation feeling under my skin mostly on my left arm and the calf on my right leg. It comes and goes throughout the day and also I've been feeling short of breath and feeling like I'm being suffocated almost. And lastly, a couple fingers but not all on my left hand have been hurting a little. Not all day just a little bit at some points during the day. I noticed they hurt most after I've been holding my cell phone for a long time though so that might just be why and it might not be anxiety related. I'm still a little new to anxiety and it can be overwhelming having all these different feelings and not knowing if they're caused by my anxiety. Has anyone else here felt these same things I'm feeling? Am I feeling these things because of my anxiety? I'm trying hard not to worry something is wrong with me since I am a big time hypochondriac. Any responses are appreciated.

Hello, I am 21 yrs old and over the past week I have felt a numbness on the bottoms of my toes and feet. At first I thought it was from walking long distances in my flip flops and putting extra pressure on my toes and feet since the numbness started happening shortly after one of my walks. I didn't worry too much about it but then when I was still feeling the numbness a second day I decided to look online to see if I could figure out why I was feeling this way. I started reading about all these awful things that could be wrong with me and I started feeling very scared and I have been searching online for hours and hours every day and becoming more and more scared. I have had mild anxiety in the past and have always been a hypochondriac and ever since I've started looking online I've felt constant anxiety and can't sleep at night because I will just worry and cry. I feel a tightness in my chest most of the time along with a lump in my throat and I feel bloated and have had an upset stomach now for the past couple days as my anxiety worsens. And now I feel a slight tingling in my calves which was worrying me but I read that was also a symptom of anxiety. I just feel anxious and worried all the time and I think because of my anxiety and the symptoms I'm feeling that could be because of my anxiety, I'm worrying even more that something is wrong with me. I just want to stop worrying and feel some relief and not be in a state of constant anxiety anymore. If anyone has any opinions, that would be helpful thank you. And I thought I should also add that there was one day that I stopped worrying so much that there was something wrong with me and my toes actually started feeling better so I don't know if some of this is in my head and I'm convincing myself that my toes are worse than they are.

Fellow sufferers, It is becoming increasingly obvious why we are suffering from this crappy anxiety. If we watch television, read the newspaper, or get on the internet, it is basically impossible to avoid being exposed to endless amounts of health information. We live in a society that is obsessed with some ideal of "physical well being" that creates the illusion that everyone MUST be 100% healthy at all times. Here in America, it is absolutely preposterous how many prescription drug commercials come on television. I have been watching Sunday morning programs today and have seen prescription drug ads for rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, fibromyalgia, and high cholesterol. Huge amounts of profits are obviously generated through the perceived "sickness" of many Americans. As one person put it, half of the ads on American TV are for fast food (which makes us sick) and the other half are for prescription drugs. Somebody is making piles of money from all of our "sickness." In reality, nearly everyone is "abnormal" at some level. I doubt that anyone is entirely healthy (or stays that way) if every single biomarker, hormone level, gene or whatnot is analyzed. And even if we are 100% healthy today, that means nothing about tomorrow. The truth is that we will all suffer and that we will all die. There is no getting around this fundamental fact. I think for myself and for perhaps many people on this board, we need to embrace this fundamental truth about existence. In the meantime, we should do whatever we can to take care of our bodies. We should eat lots of vegetables, avoid crap processed food, and see doctors once a year (or perhaps more if we have a chronic disease/condition). But we should also meditate daily on the fact that life and health are transitory and fragile and that suffering, disease, and ultimately death are universal. What do you all think?

Hi, Currently suffering from anxiety and OCD; preoccupied with a rare disease spread by mouse droppings that ruined my vacation in upstate new york; I'm convinced I was exposed; I also recently had bedbugs and became obsessed with the issue and fear of spreading, etc. I do have genuine health issues, a condition that is a precursor to cancer that I am screened for every six months. I am on medication (buspar) and have recently begun working with a cognitive behavioral therapist. One thing: I find it hard to discuss these issues. Its embarrassing and I feel stupid. Glad I found this place. Thanks.

So over the past couple of weeks I've been really worried about MS. The symptoms I've he are: - cold burning sensations in hand and face, almost like cold needles are pricking me. This is especially aggravated by the wind - feeling tired 24/7 - feeling more depressed than usual - frequent urge to urinate although I have just been. Almost like I never completely empty my bladder ( I also have to run to the toilet ) this one has been worrying me the most - after a hot bath I get tingly sensations all over back Please help or reply I am so scared my parents are away on holiday for a week and I have no one to talk too. I don't want to live like this ? Help

So I've had body wide twitching, convinced myself I had ALS or PD. I would sometimes twitch between my thumb and forefinger. But it woudl be every few minutes. Today it is like a heartbeat between my thumb and forefinger non-stop. It' not big pulsations but just enogh to see the skin move.It's not painful or stopping me from doing anything but it is somewhat unnverving. Has anyone had non-stop twitching in this area?

I started seeing a therapist in February when I was convinced I was soon going to be diagnosed with ALS. All the depression, lack of self-esteem and loss of interest in most of the things that made me happy compounded with twitching seemed to point that I was severely ill. I wasn't sleeping more than a couple hours a night, having night sweats etc. It helped a lot at first. The therapist helped me see that my childhood while stable and generally happy had some moments with my mom where she embarassed me, made me feel worthless and generally overreacted to normal "kid" things I would do. 6 months later I've hit a snag, my worries aren't about health so much as the feelings I've had for several years now. What if? Shoul've, could've would've. I know what's done is done, I see and know that but how do I find hope again, how do I learn to live with the fact the world is evil but I can still be ok? I've expressed the desire to develop techniques on relaxation, coping, resilience etc. But he feels talking is the best therapy. I also dread having to start over with a new therapist or is it time to see a psychiatrist? I've been feeling this way for close to 6 years and I hate it, I want to feel better but feel I may have come to the end of the road with this therapist. Furthermore we discussed a radio story about a young man who wanted to commit physician assisted s****de because of depression but the courts wouldn't allow it because of nothing being "physically" wrong with him. I brought it up but he went on to say he did believe there was a point where mental pain could be as bad if not worse than physical pain and that people should have a right to choose when they go if they can after therapy, medication etc. That really unsettled me. So here I am with a therapist who believes I may not get better? Should I find a new one? Talk to him again? Go see a psychiatrist?

This video helped me begin to understand that what I was going through could be attributed to anxiety. It's from Australia so some of the resources they talk about may not be available in the US. http://www.neurosymptoms.org/health-anxiety/4533283478

Dear Health Anxiety, I know you're trying to terrify me with thoughts of neuro-degenerative diseases, heart dysfunctions, and ovarian and/or cervical cancer based on my symptoms right now, but listen. I'm not going to consult "Doctor Google" for the foreseeable future. Hear me? No way, no how. Remember when we did this back in 2012 and I ended up believing my symptoms meant I had everything from ALS to a brain tumor to colon cancer? I even went to the hospital unemployed with just $100 to my name and was admitted for seven hours as I waited for results from five vials worth of various blood tests and a CT scan. And what was the diagnosis? Extreme health anxiety. The ER doctor even wrote me a script to get back on Fluoxetine, and they don't normally do that! (By the way, those unpaid medical bills are still on my credit report.) Instead, I will try to be at peace with the notion that despite what you insist, I actually feel mostly physically sound. And because I feel mostly physically sound (i.e., not in immediate danger), I will also try to accept that if anything serious actually is going on–such as DVT or MS or cancer or whathaveyou–it's already happening. And regardless of however terrified you try to make me, no amount of anxiety re: the possibilities will make me feel better OR make any health problems I may actually have go away. The only logical, helpful courses of action are to 1. schedule timely appointments with my various doctors and discuss my symptoms and concerns with them, and, 2. wait patiently for the appointments. Yes, yes, yes. I understand that Googling sometimes helps people find a diagnosis that their doctors miss. Yes, I completely get that you need reassurance, RIGHT NOW, on what the condition is/isn’t that my vague symptoms check off. Yes, I understand that some people do get the worst-case scenario too little too late. The funny thing is? I'm not a highly trained, knowledgeable, and experienced health professional. I didn't go to school to study the human body or its pathologies of diseases and conditions. (I went for Sociology... that degree that I'm not utilizing). AND I KNOW IT! I know I actually have little business seriously trying to reason, "ok, well symptoms 1+4.3+9+??? could probably... no, DEFINITELY = heart failure or cancer or neuro-degeneration." If you ever want to talk about Emile Durkheim's theory of social stratification or theories about Protestantism giving rise to Capitalist socio-economic structures, sure! Knock yourself out! But until then, please. Let's leave anything beyond run of the mill health issues to my doctors for now. However, I will thank you for doing what you thought was right. I know you ultimately mean me no harm, but what you're trying to make me feel right now is definitely NOT helping. Furthermore, the reassurance you think I'll get that will come with obsessively Googling symptoms and pathologies isn't going to help me either. In fact, I have years of experience that says it'll do the exact opposite: it’s ULTIMATELY NOT REASSURING TO SOMEONE WHO HAS A TENDENCY TO RUMINATE ON HEALTH PROBLEMS. (Yes, I also understand that it’s perfectly normal and healthy to be worry and scared. But it’s not normal to be petrified to the point where you can’t enjoy or live your life for weeks). So please. Just sit by and let me do my thing and my doctors their thing. I promise I'll acknowledge you, however, it won't be with charged reactions. It'll be more something like, "Oh hello there. I see you're back. I hear you loud and clear, and I know what you mean, but I'm not going to judge your words and am now going to let what you're saying float on by, now. If you're really adamant that I take you seriously, I've allotted some time later on for worrying. Meet me then!" Capiche? Best Regards, Me

Hey everyone. Names Jeff. 33 years old. Use to post my topics on AnxietyZone's forum but they got shut down in December. Looking for a new thread to help me from time to time and hopefully I can help others as well from my experience. Quick history about me. Was under severe stress, anxiety and depression for past couple years due to many hard life events that took place. Didn't manage my stress well with it all. On April 15th, I started developing a few weird symptoms. Over the course of the next 60 days, I developed 25 different neurological symptoms. I swear to you...I had so many physical symptoms. I was in and out of emergency rooms, countless doctor visits and testing including two neuro's, nautropaths and so on. All tests came back fine.. Except for some blood in my urine and slightly high RBC's. This fueled the fire of worry. But later tests showed everything clear and back in normal range. All doctors gave me the all clear. Total "episode" of this period of my life lasted 6 full months. It was the scariest 6 months of my entire life. A pure hell of worry. Doctors finally diagnosed me with BFS syndrome which I knew nothing about. I guess it's a benign condition and does not do any harm. However, the experience has given me one hell of a wake up call and has made me drastically changed my lifestyle. Better nutrition, better sleep, meditation, exercise, less alcohol etc. I've learned to manage stress better now and most symptoms have went completely away. I still get random twitching from time to time throughout my body in different parts. Still get dizzy spells. Weird bowel movements and so on. They really do come about when my stress is higher than usual but now that I know it's nothing serious, I don't let the fear take hold and the symptoms usually only last a few minutes when they do appear. I still struggle with health anxiety and fear one day soon I will get a nasty illness like MS or cancer. Mainly because I know 21 close people to me that have or have had a serious illness. All under 38 years old. Were talking, three people with MS (including my ex girlfriend), one with ALS, four with Stage 4 Cancers, one with Celiac disease, four with HIV, two with Crohns Disease, two with Diabetes, one with emphysema, one with a brain tumor and so on. Talking to my father, mother and other folks now in their late 60's about disease always leaves me uncomfortable. Mainly because they always emphasize how they never knew anyone that had serious illnesses when they were in their 30's like me. They always say "diseases were what old people got....not young kids. Somethings out of whack in today's culture. Young kids should not be getting such serious illnesses." Now maybe they just didn't have as many friends or acquaintances as I do. Haha. That is a possibility. But I have to admit...it does seem like I hear about someone knew getting diagnosed with an illness every month or so. Seems to be the norm the past year and a half for me. A few doctors have even said they've noticed a large increase the past five years of young folks getting really sick. Again, I just struggle from time to time and try not to wonder if it will be my time sooner than I expect. But luckily for the time being, doctors have given me the all clear and I feel good for the most part. Excited to be on this forum! Thanks for having me. Jeff Seattle, WA

So the last few days the area between my thumb and index finger had been twitching every 15-20 minutes. At first I ignored it but as it became more persistent I started to worry. Yesterday I went to a soccer game. Large crowds make me nervous so I could feel my senses a little heightened , heart beating a little faster etc. Lo and behold the twitching stopped during the game and I only have twitched once since yesterday around 6 pm. Its almost as if my nerves and feelings needed another outlet rather than focusing on the twitching in my hand. Crazy!

Has anyone dreamt about their disease? Like maybe you dream of having it or meeting people that do. I have dreamt that I'm working with people who have thw disease I fear. Last night I dreamt a man with the disease I fear visited my home. Has this happened to anyone?

I know I've been on here a lot lately, but it has helped tremendously with my current health anxiety struggles. I know that I am not alone and that so many of us with health anxiety find that we have a hard time resisting consulting Dr. Google, which inevitably will send us into death spirals of anxiety. As I've said in some prior comments, he (or maybe it's a she??) is nothing but a nasty, poorly trained and downright MEAN physician who should not be consulted!! That got me thinking....as we all know, our real life legit doctors take the Hippocratic Oath and pledge "FIRST, DO NO HARM". I think it's safe to say that Dr. Google certainly has not taken that oath, as that is all that he causes me and many of you.....HARM!! (He needs to have his license to practice revoked ?)

For my fellow sufferers of health anxiety: I was just thinking.... I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel that my life has been very blessed so far (yes, I've had the ups, downs, losses, and trying times like we all do, but I have a wonderful husband, kids, job, etc., etc.) -- yet I live in fear that the proverbial "other shoe is going to drop" at some point, and that I will be diagnosed with, or develop, all of these health conditions that I fear -- surely something is going to come along and derail me, since my life has been pretty darn good so far. But what if that other shoe has dropped already and it is in actuality the suffering I'm feeling from health anxiety right now??? Maybe (and most likely) it will never be the physical ailments and diseases that I fear so much -- this is it right now, the mental struggles with anxiety -- and this particular struggle is one that can be conquered!!

I've read a lot on this site in an effort to calm myself, so I figured I'd finally come and ask for advice. I'm a seventeen year-old girl (turning eighteen in two months) and I've had a really horrific past two weeks. I was in the ER 15 days ago for a migraine and concerns as to what could have been causing it. After diagnosing it as a complex migraine, the doctor seeing me gave me Compazine through an IV (with Benadryl) - and it was the most traumatizing experience of my life. I had a violent adverse reaction; heart pain, burning around my heart, excessive shaking and sweating, fear of death, immense panic. I've always been a shy and socially anxious person and I've been diagnosed with severe depression, but this is the first time I've ever experienced anxiety/panic attacks and their severe symptoms. Six hours after being sent home from the hospital following my Compazine experience, I suffered a panic attack immense enough to give me bodily tetany and make my arms, hands, legs, mouth, and hands seize up. I got the pins and needles sensation alongside that and feared the worst. My mom called an ambulance because we had no idea that kind of attack could occur and they calmed me down over the course of an hour. In the days following that incident, I had at least one severe and several-hour-long anxiety/panic attack per day to the point of it being debilitating and preventing me from focusing. I have had two periods of three days without attacks followed by another severe attack (the most recent being last night, I had chest tightness and really violent tremors for six hours, only calmed down and slept after taking Benadryl). I have been to the emergency room twice more; they once gave me Visatril through a pill and I had another adverse reaction, and one morning, they gave me Xanax to calm me down. To date, it is the only medically administered drug that has ever worked for me in this situation. I am at my wit's end. I have seen my parents' doctor and she prescribed me Zoloft/Sertraline at 25mg. I have not taken it yet because I have been on a myriad of medicines in the past couple of weeks and anxiety has brought out the full force of their side effects; I am scared to take it for that reason and I don't want to. My main issue is health anxiety. I have always had a slightly higher than normal pulse, so fear of a heart problem is massive. My symptoms brought on from anxiety/panic attacks have gradually ranged from chest tightness, excessive chest heaviness, chest pain on either the right or left side, neck tightness, left shoulderblade pain, pins and needles, shortness of breath, mid-back pressure, ear and head pressure, jaw and ear pain, excessive heart palpitations, violent tremors, paranoia, dizziness, hot breath, heartburn, acid reflux, disorientation, excessive weakness, cold sweats, flashes of heat on random patches of skin, fatigue, and insomnia. All of these things combined have made me terrified of heart trouble that could kill me. I've had two EKGs and a chest x-ray in my emergency room visits, and everything checked out normally, but I still am largely incapable of convincing myself that everything listed above is solely anxiety and not from a serious physical condition. Everyone on my dad's side suffers from a form of generalized anxiety, but I've never felt the side effects of it like I do now and I would do anything for it to stop. As a side note, I do take other medications (Loestrin, Curcumin, Benadryl, 5-htp, Magnesium) off and on for various reasons. The latter four are largely took for insomnia/anxiety related issues. I'm a night owl and it's impossible for me to go to bed before midnight. Is there any advice or help that can be offered to me in this situation? I want it to be over, and I don't know what to do with myself. I constantly fear something is wrong with me/that I am dying and I want it to end.

Hi everyone! It's been a long eight months since I last posted here, but I'm desperately in need of some reassurances from those who truly understand! I've had health anxiety my whole life but it has flared up tremendously since last year, partially due to my decision to wean off my antidepressant (big mistake!) and from what I believe are hormonal fluctuations due to perimenopause (just turned the big 5-0!) It all started last August when I saw an article on Facebook about a woman who had skin cancer....the article showed pictures of basal cell cancers and I started examining every inch of my body neurotically, realizing that I had similar looking spots on my face....full blown panic! Of course I immediately made an appointment with a dermatologist (I had actually had one the prior year for a full skin cancer screening), and was relieved to hear the growths were sebaceous hyperplasia (benign and common enlargement of sebaceous glands). I had a full skin exam and decided to have those spots removed with electrocautery. I felt relief for awhile and then mistakenly turned to Dr, Google who made reference to a very rare syndrome in which certain sebaceous growths (some say the hyperplasia is not included here) are markers for this genetic syndrome that predisposes you to colon and other cancers. Of course I frantically called my dermatologist to ask and was assured that hyperplasia is not a marker ( I went so far in my mind as to doubt whether the lesions removed were really hyperplasia and whether perhaps they had been misdiagnosed and really one of the other sebaceous growths that are associated with that rare syndrome). Then my fear turned to a mole on the back of my calf which I had since a teenager and which a prior Derm told me was fine. I had read online two years ago how moles can be removed with apple cider vinegar, and after being told it was normal, I applied it to the mole, it scabbed and fell off leaving pink skin. Fast forward a year and a half and my mind was in fear that somehow I could have caused damage and metastatic or cancerous changes. I found online doctors to whom I paid and posed the question and they assured me that was not a possibility. I asked my Derm to do a biopsy of the spot and it came back as a normal mole. I was better for a short period of time at the end of last year and then the anxiety flared again, yes --this is TMI but my stools started floating daily so I was convinced it was pancreatic cancer. So I went to a GI doctor who assured me I was fine...the good that came from it was that I scheduled and had my first routine colonoscopy which came back clean. There was also a visit to a colorectal surgeon because I had continuous pressure in my anal area...he checked it out and all was fine....some good came from that, as he removed an anal skin tag for me which I'd had for years. Of course, there was also a myriad of other doctor visits to allay my various fears along the way. I've also paid for online subscriptions to some health care question websites based in India where I've posed numerous questions to allay my fears -- I will say, the doctors there are legit and were incredibly reassuring. So, my latest is this....I requested my dermatologist to remove two bigger moles which I've had since I was a teenager....she actually decided to remove three, and the results of all three biopsies came back as mildly atypical, which completely freaked me out. The doctors office told me this is quite common and no further treatment is needed, other than to monitor the sites for repigmentation (just another thing to obsess over!). My anxiety is also totally heightened over skin issues because back in 2000 my primary care doctor removed about five pigmented lesions from my back by electrodessication and curettage without ever doing biopsies (he said they were normal and a Derm I saw a year prior said the same). When I see now how dermatologists biopsy all these lesions I began to worry incessantly that perhaps those lesions removed were dangerous and I'll never know? But again, I consulted with all of my real life doctors and the online doctors, all of whom assured me that if they had been cancerous there would have been obvious changes and regrowth over the past seventeen years. With my latest three moles being diagnosed as dysplastic I again made the mistake of googling and of course, ran across a familial genetic syndrome in which you have many atypical moles and melanoma in the family, and which practically guarantees that you will develop melanoma. My father was never diagnosed with melanoma and died of cardiac arrest, but he had many strange pigmented lesions on his back which resembled melanoma....seeing as I know for a fact he had them over twenty years, I guess it's safe to presume they were probably sebborheic keratosis, which can resemble melanoma. So again, my latest fear is of this atypical mole syndrome (I've had ten larger moles, all removed now, and about thirty five smaller moles/freckles -- yes, I've been counting!). I understand that people with that syndrome have HUNDREDS of moles, many of which are atypical, but my latest is that I cannot shake the fear that I am doomed to develop melanoma. i see my Derm every year for full screenings (I'm going to ask her to let me do it twice yearly) and I also just attended (and made my hubby come as well) two free skin cancer screenings at loca hospitals-- everything was fine. Deapite all of that, I'm still currently obsessing over skin cancer and can't seem to shake this fear (I'm currently switching my SSRI and meeting with a therapist as well)! I'm sorry this is so long winded, but I just needed to put all of this out there to people who truly understand!! Thanks for listening and any reassurances my friends!!

I am going to be honest. I have always had digestive issues. When I was young, I couldn't have orange juice or other acidic foods because it would wreack havoc on my stomach. At school I would avoid anything citric or sour. I remember thinking I don't want to leave the house because I might get diarrhea (that's how I would rationalize it). It got better the older I got but never really went away. About 10 years ago, I lost about 50 lbs and was able to keep it off for about 5 years. I started gradually gaining weight in 2011 but I also stopped exercising and watching what I ate. In late 2010, I started having weird digestive issues that leaned more toward constipation. They have come and gone. I will say I have Never gone to the bathroom feeling I need to go and then eventually can't go. One of my first experiences with HA happened when I googled my symptoms and Colon Cancer came up. Got over that but as the years have gone on the digestive issues haven't gone away. I can't do lots of dairy, spicy foods etc. I visited 2 primary care doctors who prescribed benefiber and Miralax. Both did nothing for me. Citrucel works though although I don't feel like I'm 100%. A gastroenterologist suggested I could have a colonoscopy if I wanted to but I decided against it since at the time I was told bleeding, sudden weight loss, being over 50 would be the main causes for concern. I was 25 at the time. 6years later things have improved as I've included vegetables but over the last few years I've gained an average of 5-6 pounds a year so I am almost back to where I was in high school which I must say I always trended on the heavier side. A while ago I read gradual weight gain can be a symtpom of colon cancer. I don't have a distended bowel or a hard abdomed. Should I be concerned? Logic tells me my age, bad digestive history, and the fact that I've had this 2nd round of digestive issues for close to 7 years should indicate i'm probably ok but you all know how anxiety is. Add to this when I started having theae issues I went through a terrible relationship. I still have emotional issues from it, was diagnosed with an embarrasing disease which luckily was cleared, up, issues with school etc and in general I still feel like a loser. Just as I felt I was turning a corner the fear of ALS came in and that rendered me null for several months. Now this colon cancer fear.

So everything was okay yesterday and was hoping for a good day today but things, took a sudden turn for the worse about 11 this morning . So I took a clonazepam and tried to nap . I woke up and started having worse anxiety as I was kinda asleep but not fully and feel like it made it worse . And I'm pretty sure I just pinched a nerve in me back because I have a sharp pain in my back that radiates to the front it's on the right side . Not really painful . Just occasionally when I take a deep breath . So naturally I'm like ahhhhh I'm gonna die . What's wrong . Is it a heart attack am I having a stroke . While I'm almost sure none of this is actually going on and it is in fact just a pinched nerve, any feedback would be greatly appreciated. And if you have followed my other post I suffer from health anxiety and always think something is wrong with me . I'm sorry and I hope I'm not bothering anybody .

okay, first off I would like to give a little background on myself . I am a male, 33 yrs old and have slightly high blood pressure usually around 135/98 ish in that neighborhood . But for the past few years I have suffered from anxiety and just recently it's turned to health anxiety . I've been to the ER 4 times and seen my GP countless times . They all say it's panic attacks and anxiety blah blah . But I can't help but feel like it's something more serious . Like I'm going to have a heart attack or stroke and anurysm or something major . I've even had stress test that cvs me back great the doctor said . Multiple EKGs and everything . I'm just so scared . The other day I slept funny and my back hurt and thought for sure I was having a heart attack and went straight to the ER . I guess typing this out has helped a little bit . Does anybody experience these feelings? Is this normal ? Could the doctors have missed something ? I can barely slee and when I do it's only for like an hour or two here and there . I always thing of the worst thing. I've completely changed my lifestyle quit smoking cigarettes, weed, started eating everything I can find that has low sodium and anything that lowers blood pressure from berry smoothies to spinach . Somebody please help ???