Health Anxiety has reached new heights. Give me ANY advice.

[HoarseStallion]

Hello, everyone!

I’ve suffered from health anxiety before but it usually resolves.  I’ve noticed that I’ll have a legit ache or pain, and then it goes out of control from there.  But that doesn’t change the fact that my initial symptom is prompted before the anxiety.

About 3 months ago I began to be awoken by lower back pain.  Pain was enough to wake me up.  Had no idea what it meant but didn’t take it seriously enough as to Google it.  Discussed it with coworkers that mentioned kidney stones, and that was enough for me.  Next thing you know I’m drinking apple cider vinegar, and dropping coffee.

Now, work has been stressful at the start of it.  I work in an office so sitting for long periods of time.  And when I get home I do the same thing.  My BMI is borderline normal.

Weeks go on, and I feel lower back pain in the morning but it doesn’t wake me up.  Usually clears up as the day continues but there were a few times where it lasted the day.  I also noticed I was having panic attacks around 4:00pm every day.  That’s 30 minutes before my lunch break at work.

Finally, 3 weeks ago it began to wake me up again.  Consistently at 5:30am.  And that’s when it all began to spiral out of control.  Why?  Because this is when I began to seriously google this.  

“Lower back pain is usually not a reason for concern but if it doesn’t get better with rest, is severe enough to wake you up, and subsides as the day goes on, seek immediate medical attention.” - Pretty Much Every Google Site

Abdominal pains is also something I’ve been dealing with for the past 3 weeks.  Various locations and varying degrees of pain.

I’m fearing ankylosing spondylitis, arthritis, lymphoma, and ulcerative colitis.

This is all making me cranky around the family.  Any sudden noise or disturbance is making me jump.  I only find somewhat of a comfort by just surfing the web.  Trying to desperately dismiss my symptoms as something less severe.  

Now I’m checking my lymph nodes on the neck.  The right side of my neck, underneath my jaw is a little plump when compared to the right hand side.  Anyone know any benign reasons for this.

Have felt some rib pains, especially in the lower rib, and chest pains.

I am trying to break this cycle but... am genuinely afraid.  This is worse than any other health anxiety I’ve felt in the past.

Any suggestions or advice for me?  I’m in a house full of people but still feel so lonely.

[joseph89jack]

Your multiple symptoms make me personally feel that your manifestations’ are causally related to your anxiety issues. Traditional sciences like Ayurveda, homeopathy, etc, state that when your body terrain is out of whack, it manifests in different ways.  I believe meditation and yoga can do you a world of good. Moreover, you can try natural herbs, homeopathic tinctures and nutraceutical combinations that regulate your immune functions. As an immune system overdrive, anxious feelings, etc can lead to autoimmune disorders like ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.

[Paxiled]

Stay off the Google if you don't have a diagnosis from a professional.  It will drive you nuts and you won't learn a thing about what you might or might not have.  Lower back pain is very common, but the treatment of it is usually physical therapy.  You stretch some, strengthen some, but you don't rest completely, you need to move so things don't tighten up.  This is why you get professional help if something physiological is bothering you enough to keep you from sleeping.  When you don't do that, you're avoiding, a sign of anxiety disorder.  

[HoarseStallion]

Thank you for your responses.  They’ve helped.  I MAY actually consider a puppy believe it or not.

So, I said I’ve been afraid of Ankylosing Spondylitis, right?  One of the symptoms is red eyes and eye pain.  I woke up with both eyes being red.  

But anyway, I sit down and decide to watch a comedy to relax.  Put Shallow Hal on.  Next thing you know... it’s that scene where he pretends to get conjunctivitis to avoid seeing Mary and that threw me into a panic.

So then I say, “Enough with the TV” and go to my normal routine of putting the hot shower on and laying on the bathroom floor, surfing the web.  Except this time I start playing a game on my phone based off of Jurassic World.  Long story short, I earn a new dinosaur... a ANKYLOSAURUS!!   ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?

And that then SERIOUSLY threw me off.  Now I’m off to work and soooo exhausted.

[AnxiousNoMore]

You are interpreting everything you encounter as a health risk. There are thousands of human diseases so disease is inevitable in the long run -  which makes it necessary for those who don't suffer from hypochondria to approach life in a way that doesn't even consider future diseases.
Maybe get a dog from the pound (where they are on death row unless someone adopts them) to make sure you can commit to it before thinking it will solve your viewpoint issue. You can take that puppy back if being a dog owner doesn't work out, otherwise consider that you might end up with 2 problems.

You can read books dealing with hypochondria to see if they help, if therapy is too expensive.

[Kitty359]

I have anxiety and back problems. I was bedridden for several months from a herniated disk, but even after surgery my anxiety wouldn't let me get back to "normal". It wasn't until I adopted a dog that I was able to start getting back on track. A dog may not be the best option for everyone, but some sort of close companion (person or animal) that you can rely on any time of day or night to help calm you and cuddle (cuddling releases oxytocin that helps reduce pain as well as elevating mood).

[specialmom]

Is this post about your anxiety or your back pain.  Hard to tell.  You do seem overly anxious but it is prudent to look into a pain we have.  Kidneys stones would not be what I go to as that is all the time pain and you were able to go to work and be fine.  Sounds more to do with  musculoskeletal.  Which is really common  and can be painful enough to wake you up at times.  Did you take some ibuprofen or something to relieve it and did that help?  Anyway you can ponder all you want but as to the root of the pain, that does nothing to understand it.  Go to a doctor for that.  

For the anxiety issue of taking a bad couple of days of a back ache and then general back tension that is pretty common and turning it into major illness in your head, that's anxiety.  When at the doctor, talk first about the symptoms you are having and second about the anxiety and that your mind takes it too far.  Might be time to seek either therapy or medication to work on the anxiety.  When we have health anxiety as well, keep in mind that we tend to hyperfocus and every ache and pain is intensified.  

So, time for the doctor to intervene. good luck