hypochondria/ cardiophobia solutions?

hi, I'm 14 and I've honestly worried about getting diseases ever since i was little. I would always think i had a brain tumor or disease or parasite or heart attack but as i got older and went into middle school my worrying for disease went down. Now i'm a freshman in high school and over the summer going into freshman year my worrying about disease has been worse than it's ever been. My mom has chronic anxiety and on my dad side there is ocd. A few months ago i started getting heart palpitations which were initially caused i think by drinking a red bull ( which i don't drink caffeine anymore) by they kept happening again and again due to anxiety I'm pretty sure. I went to the doctors and got a EKG and everything was normal, however ever since then i have also been worrying about my hearts health. I get the palpitations very rarely now but when i do i get extremely anxious from them. I also worry all the time about having a major disease, and then when i do get the flu or a common cold i blow it out of proportion and think i'm going to die. Do you know any ways to help me deal with my hypochondria? I worry all the time about my health and have had panic attacks from thinking i have a certain disease or illness, and then when i go the doctors its very hard for me to believe they are telling the truth and i am fine.

[ReaLifEntreprenuer]

I am the EXACT same way, except for I am 26 years old... You have to realize that Doctors do what they do because they have went to school for an extremely long time. They are very well educated and experienced on looking at test results, evaluating problems, and know exactly what to look for and where.

So, if your doctor assures you that there is nothing to worry about- 99.9% of the time there IS NOTHING to worry about. Second guessing your doctor will only cause more anxiety and more issues. Try your best to just ignore those negative thoughts and trust the PROFESSIONAL at what he does best.

Remember- You would never tell a mechanic what methods to use to fix your car would you? No. You would just tell him, "Just fix it!".... The same goes for your Doctor. Don't tell him HOW to do his job, or WHAT to do, just ask him the prognosis- "Am I going to be ok? Is anything Going on?"  and when he says NO- JUST TRUST IT.

Believe me when I say this, but you will regret all not having that time back that you spent worrying, being paranoid, scared, researching diseases, and wasting away.... I can tell you from experience- I am 25 and have had CHRONIC, and I MEAANNN CHRONNNIC panic/anxiety and health anxiety since I was a toddler.

When most kids were out playing football in the yard, I would be the one sitting in the living room watching TV because I was afraid I would run too hard and blow out a vital vein or something...

Heart palpitations are very normal in people of ALL ages and even MORE SO in people with anxiety and panic issues. When palpatations arise, just simply close your eyes, take a deeeeep breath in while TIGHTENING every last inch of every muscle in your entire body all the way up to your jaw muscles and eyelids, and then let it ALLLLL out and slowly let your muscles all go back to being very loose... This is what helped me when I would worry about heart palpitations.

I hope this helps! Take Care :)

[dolphin8808]

I have lived with health anxiety for YEARS. I have been scared of Cancer, Heart, disease, eye twitches, bone aches. You name, I thought I had it.  I have been to many specialist but the one that helped the most is my therapist and psychiatrist. Also having a wonderful primary care doc that will listen to my complaints and help ease my fears.

You are young and healthy, you just have to get your anxiety under control. Hypochondria is a form of OCD and anxiety. But you don't have to suffer there are many ways to deal.

Do you see someone about it?

[sam27390]

Thank you! And not really I talk to it about my mom and it usually helps but then every few months my anxiety just basically boils over and I get super anxious