Dealing with Health Anxiety

[kathleen2]

Health anxiety is something Paxil Progress sees all the time. SSRI withdrawal produces physical symptoms that can contribute to anxiety, both in those who were anxious pre-SSRI and those who've never experienced it before.

Health anxiety does not mean it's "all in your head." Rather, it involves excessive response to *real* symptoms. This is frustrating because the body--whether one has taken an SSRI or not--is ALWAYS symptomatic. If any of us were to "scan" our bodies from head to toe right now, we would discover real aches and pains. Without anxiety, these are just aches and pains. For those with health anxiety, such molehills become mountains.

Health Anxiety involves the same cognitive habits and behaviours as other forms of anxiety (such as GAD, phobias, and panic).

One common behaviour is avoidance--a person who has health anxiety about their heart will avoid elevating their heart rate, for example. A person who fears muscular diseases will avoid exercising their muscles. The irony is that those without health anxiety know that physical stimulation is how a body's made healthy, just as mental stimulation builds a stronger brain. But through avoidance, health anxiety, like other forms of anxiety, can lead to agoraphobia as the sufferer's world narrows and narrows; a person with health anxiety can literally become housebound and even bed-bound, because the very act of moving through the world produces physical sensations which they then pathologize.

Another common behaviour is information-seeking. Health anxiety sufferers are master googlers.

A third behaviour is reassurance-seeking. This involves asking others if one is okay, what they think of X symptom, etcetera. While this sounds natural, the difficulty with sufferers of health anxiety is that reassurance-seeking never works, or only works temporarily, because the core belief--that the body is uncertain and unsafe--remains. So a reassurance-seeker may ask the same questions over and over, and/or ask the same question of many different people. Classically, when that line of information-seeking and reassurance-seeking exhausts itself, the worry will transfer to another symptom, and the quest for a new diagnosis begins.

A fourth behaviour is rumination, or worry, which can take the form of analyzing/figuring out. A health anxiety sufferer is capable of thinking about their bodies every waking minute. (By contrast, think of people you've known with serious illnessses who aren't anxious by nature--they're often capable of thinking of other things even in the midst of their illness. Which is amazing to us champion worriers).

A fifth behavior involves doctors' visits and medical tests. A person without health anxiety will experience a symptom, perhaps go see a doctor, get a prognosis and move on. A person with health anxiety will struggle with doctors' visits because again, uncertainty and the core belief of the body as unreliable threat lingers and, like panic sufferers, the health anxiety sufferer will say "What if..." Unsatisfied, they will likely move from test to test, symptom to symptom, specialist to specialist, diagnosis to diagnosis.

A sixth behaviour involves scanning or "checking." While most of us don't spent much time thinking about something like our heart rate (unless we're at the gym trying to raise it!)--in fact, many of us likely don't even know what average heart rate is, or what blood pressure or cholesterol or other blood test #s mean--a person with health anxiety will self-monitor. Unfortunately, focusing on the body has the unfortunate result of manifesting real effects--worry about the heart, and heart rate goes up--thus perpetuating the cycle.

There's only so much a message board can do for someone with health anxiety. Mercifully, there are therapists who specialize in it. Here's a helpful link:

http://www.tcd.ie/Student_Counsellin...%20Anxiety.pdf

[julieannboo]

i am glad that you have posted about health anixety - thank you Kathleen x

i have had it for two years - after i got an infection due to swimming.

i have self diagnosed myself with every illness going!

i saw a professional about it - they helped me try to see things in a more logical way.

i have been better since this May but it still crops up every so often.

Google is one of the worst things ever for health anxiety sufferers!

it is a bi*ch - the anixety and fear are horrible.

[newbegining]

Hi this is my first post but felt this important enough to be my first . Health anxiety is awful its time consuming to I find that using the internet to look up symptoms can always make things look the worst i.e a rash can be thought of as meningitus a headache can be a tumor. Health anxiety works with what knowledge we may know and ideas from hospital dramas and blows it out of proportion.

However there is a silver lining we are intune with our bodies and are not affraid to ask a dr about things. Ive had a few tests done in the past few years and that has helped me as I can look back and go oh ok ive had ecgs and ive had xrays etc.

If we as anxiety sufferers have to worry about something then atleast we worry about something that is so important. I think everyone worries about health to some extreme just we are more sensitive about our health and are somehow on a higher alert.

[iwanttobefree]

Thank you so much for this post. This is actually the first time I post on here. It was extremely comforting to read about health anxiety. I am a 24 year old female and recently stopped using paxil after only three months of treatment for an anxiety disorder. I was always against anti-depressants, but was so distraught that I didn't have any other option than to jump onto the paxil wagon in desperation. The reason why I decided to interrupt my treatment (6 months-1 year) early was because the cons outweighed the pros. On the drug, my phobias subsided, and in effect my anxiety improved, but I found myself depressed at random times during my day and full of side effects. I started on 20 mgs, but the dose was too strong, so my doctor cut down the dose to 10 mgs. Finally, two week before my third months, I decided to cut down to 5 mg and wean myself of paxil for good. Although, my time with paxil was relatively short, I still experienced withdrawal and continue to experience it. I've been paxil free for three weeks and it's been a bumpy road, but i'd rather not be dependent on any drug and recover on my own. Most recently, I've experienced every single symptom of health anxiety and it is to some degree the worst feeling ever. I was so concerned that my palpitations were really a life-threatening heart condition and was mad at the doctor I consulted because he treated me like I was crazy, saying it was all due to anxiety. He was right and I was wrong! Upon reading this, I felt relieved to know that there are many people out there that feel the same way I do. Last night was the first night I went to bed not scared of going to sleep. I wasn't scared that I was going to die for the first time in months!

I am not alone fighting the battle! I cannot let paxil or anxiety get the best out of me..This too shall pass

[patti826]

This is soooooooooooooo me ! Since stopping Paxil 7 months ago, I feel every one of the symptoms listed - mostly that I can't get a deep breath and will never feel better. I am hoping with more time passing, that this will NOT become a lifelong issue.

[Backtopaxil]

This has got to be one of the best post I have read. Simple but to the point.

I have HIV and even though my viral load is undetectable and cell counts normal I look for any ache and relate to my condition.

Then "if" there is a condition the first thing to blame is...you guessed it HIV or the meds I take. So it never ends.

If one takes a look at Paxil "side effect list"...it points t every single disease mankind has ever experienced. ( diarrhea...constipation....muscle twitches ...you name it).

A friend of mine once told me that in the investigational studies prior to drug approval, if ONE patient reports a symptom, then it has to be recorded and presented to the FDA. So there you go.

[scotty]

Originally Posted by Backtopaxil

A friend of mine once told me that in the investigational studies prior to drug approval, if ONE patient reports a symptom, then it has to be recorded and presented to the FDA. So there you go.

Exactly right. So if someone has the flu/hangnail/kidney stone, while in a study, it gets reported.

[rangerNY]

Originally Posted by scotty

So if someone has the flu/hangnail/kidney stone, while in a study, it gets reported.

And if someone spontaneously combusts or turns purple and grows a second head, then the study is deemed "flawed", is immediately terminated, and nothing is ever reported to anyone.

[faithful4]

Loved this post, I think most of my medical woes have been due to hormonal issues which have maifested into Health Anxiety. I have hasamoto's and they want to take out my thyroid but it is producing enough thyroid hormone at the moment so why mess with it but could that be causing all the other health issues Iam having? Seems like this all started when I was diganosed 16 years ago with the hasamoto's. I was hospitalized for tachycardia in Sept of 2011 was told my plumbing is fine just an electrical glitch but they found I am anemic so on goes the test to figure that one out. I do have high BP and have been trying to get that medication adjusted so I don't feel like crap. I am depressed and lonely in a house full of people, obsessed with my BP and heart rate, I still force myself to go to the gym and work out but it is hard to make myself do that which is very unusual for me since in general I am a very active person. Could all this be due to not taking any aniexty meds since May of 2011 ( I do take one half of a .5 clonaazpam when desparate about 1x a month) Not sure if this is the place to post this but thought I would give it a try. Thanks for the great info!

[wanting2quit]

I had to giggle through this post, because I saw myself in every aspect! I used to be exactly this way, especially during times of anxiety.

My husband would always sigh and say lovingly "here we go... it's time to do the system check!" He would say that because during a panic attack, I would pull out my thermometer, my blood pressure cuff, and take my pulse!

Now though, I can feel usually feel when it is a panic attack. To make sure, I take my pulse, and if it is high, it confirms that yes, it's another panic attack, but I'll live through it!

I still have a big issue with avoidance though. Going to the dentist gives me a panic attack, and I haven't been in two years. Oops. I better go before my teeth fall out!

[snostorm]

This is a tremendous post. It is health anxiety which IMO is a major reason why I have failed 3 times to successfully withdraw from Paxil. I'm am ibs sufferer and I have diagnosed myself with everything from carcinoid tumors to celiacs disease.paxil for me seems to help with ibs. When I wean it flares more often and the symptoms become worse. Inevitably I drive my self and everyone around me insane and go back on my 20 mg.. It's a viscous cycle.im down to 10 mg and am suffering with cramps gas and bloating.