Constant Fear of Health Problems

I know exaclty what you are going thru... I stumbled on this site cause I have a sore throat and I always thinks its cancer... I have constant panic attacks that I'm dieing and vist the Dr.s atleast twice a month. Nighttime for me is hell as well and its hard for me to sleep cause I"m always worrying.... Its sucks but I just wanted you to know your not alone...

Yeah, I've hypochondrisasis too! It's indeed very stressy en worrying. I've notably the fear to going blind. Or disabled.

It is, I think, the fear to lose controle, a lack of relativation, don't know.

I really believe there had to be something "trigger" that started you off on this road. Did you have someone close to you that passed on due to a fatal illness or a good friend. Usually, somewhere back of your mind, there has to be something that stuck there to cause you to have those feelings. If you could get back to what this was and meet that face to face, you may have a better chance in dealing with this.

mine are heart arrhythmia, heart attack, lung cancer, lymphoma, blood clot in the leg (PE), stroke! & My list goes on and on. when I start to fall asleep I wake up trembling. I live in constant fear (especially at night) that i WILL drop dead any second. Afraid to go to sleep and have my daughter find me dead in the morning. I have vividly imagined my funeral a million times. I had been beating this up until recently. when my grampa suddenly fell dead at gramma's feet then a month later my beloved six year old cat died suddenly in the night. Before that I hadn't had a panic/anxiety attack in almost a year! now they go on for hours at a time and I almost never stop shaking and anticipating death (which seems seconds away)! But one of my problems is I'm too afraid (and too poor!) to go to the doctor. If I could only have all those different tests you've had I think I'd feel so much better. I'm sorry they haven't helped to reassure you! But I'm in the same boat with you and it sucks to be us!!!

Hello Everyone,

I also am a hypercondriac. I have the fear of dying constantly. My worse fear is that I am going to have a Heart Attack and drop dead. Every little ache an pain I worry about and think the worse.

I had an echo stress cardiogram done, my Cardiologist told me that my chances of having a Heart Attack in the next 10 years is less then 1%. I also had EKG's done, and my Cardiac Enzymes check and everything is normal. My BP is 120/80, my total Cholesterol is 182 with the bad LDL at 100 and the good at 62, but I still worry.
I have been on Lexapro 10mg daily, I also take Adivan only when I need too.

The 2 hospitals that I been too know my name. That is how many times I have been there. Now that's pathetic.

I did not have any issues in my adolesent, teen or adult life. My girlfriend did pass away 2 years ago of breast cancer but that does not scare me.

I just hear of too many stories of young adults my age taking massavie heart attacks and dying who are in great shape, they eat well , exercise daily, are not stressed out. That is what is scary.

I am 42 years old, my doctor assures me that I am healthy and that I am not going to take a heart attack, but I still think the opposite of what he says. My only health issue is that I am about 50lbs. overweight. I am 5'6" and weigh 236lbs.

So I know exacty what everyone is going through.

Kathy

This is very tough to go through. I am going through the same thing right now.

I was set off by my mother having a cancer scare. Then I thought I had Appendicitis because of stomach pain, then I thought I had testicular cancer because of a vein, then I thought I had lung cancer because of slight blood in sinus's, then I thought I had brain cancer, then als.

On and on. This has all happened over 2 months. I have resumed my therapy with my CBT guy and also take a small dosage of xanax when needed.

Anyways, sometimes we need others help. I suggest CBT/exercise.

Also, big tip: DON'T LOOK UP SYMPTOMS ON THE INTERNET.

Worst thing I ever did. now any and all symptoms I have I can relate to something horrible.

Why is it that everything is scarier at night. I have suddenly become a big hypochondriac within the last year or two and I notice every little thing that goes on with my body. I have now become agoraphobic and am afraid to go too far from home. I have been trying to practice and go places that would make me uncomfortable so I can slowly get more used to it and hopefully get over it, but I am supposed to go camping this weekend at the beach about an hour and a half from my house and am a super nervous, but for some reason the part that terrifies me and sends me into a total panic attack is sleeping there. I have done a day trip a couple of other times and been ok and I went on the camping trip last year and I was fine during the day, but once it was nighttime and I was supposed to go to bed, I spent the whole night panicking, I couldn't sleep and was terrified that if I closed my eyes I would never wake up again. I don't know what that is about.

I also worry a lot about health issues, most of the time to unreasonably extreme measures. If I have a headache that doesn't go away or does respond to aspirin? Must be a tumor. Headache that's a little over to one side? Tumor. Pain in the back of my neck or in my shoulder? Tumor. Pupils 'seem' to be a tiny bit uneven? Tumor. Can't breathe right? Embolism. Nausea? Tumor, or pregnancy. Period doesn't come right exactly when I expect it to? Pregnancy. Yes, pregnancy would be a very very bad thing to happen in my life.

Over the last year and a half (about), I've developed odd physical symptoms that have no explanation. Tension headaches that have never ever gone away and that often travel down the sides of my head and into my cheeks. Breathing problems that make me feel short of breath all the time. And, most recently, very very slight feelings of dizziness. It's not vertigo, but just the kind of light dizzines that makes you give your head a quick shake to clear your head.

My first thought? I have a brain tumor or some sort of brain infection. Even though I'm only 20, have never had any neurological problems and have no family history of neurological problems, I am scared I have something fatally wrong with me. My breahting problems used to be worse, to the point where I forced myself to stay awake until I couldn't stand it anymore. I could only sleep when I was so exhausted that I said to myself, "I'm scared I'm going to die, but I'm too tired to care".

There are other things that cause me stress, but potential health issues are the main cause. And I am also one of those people who researches their symptoms on the internet, and I go into panic mode if I search "headache" and one of the results is "Symptoms of Brain Tumor".

I've had many tests done to find out the causes of this stuff. I've had asthma testing done and got negative results. I had a CAT scan of my chest done when the breathing problems started so bloot clots could be ruled out and the results came back normal. I've been put on a few antibiotics because my doctor can't see me but probably wants to shut me up by telling me it's a sinus infection and prescribing me stuff, none of which has helped. My lungs sound healthy, my oxygen levels are always at least at 97 percent, I have no chest pain at all, my vision, coordination, and memomry are fine, I'm not throwing up......and yet, I'm still scared to death I have something very wrong with me.

The thing is no one I know has ever died or been ill with something very bad. But all it takes is reading one story about one person who had a brain tumor and only one symptom to scare me into thinking, "What if that's what's happening to ME?"

I worry basically about darn near everything, not just health problems. If I don't see or hear from my best friend (with whom I spend lots of time) at least once a day, I worry. If I don't hear from my boyfriend for a few days, I'm worried something happened to him. If I think one of my cats feels a little ligher, I'm worried she's sick. If I have school or work deadlines hanging over my head, I worry. I worry during finals week. I get anxious about going home for my breaks because my mother's boyfriend just LOVES to tell me what I need to do with my life and no matter how many times I say I don't want to hear it, he just kees on preaching. I can't even be intimate with my boyfriend without worrying - I'm always scared I'm going to get pregnant even though we protect ourselves and there's a Planned Parenthood near where I live that I could visit to deal with a pregnancy. I worry about my grades because all my life if I didn't get good grades, I would get bloody screamed at by my mother and even though I'm an adult now, I still have nervous breakdowns if I get anything lower than a B. I worry if I miss class, even if it's for legitimate reasons. I worry when I forget to do an assignment. I worry when I don't have enough money for food. I worry that I eat too much.

In a nutshell, I worry about everything. I think I'd make a psychiatrist's head exlpode.