How to cope with health anxiety?

[Derek52299]

Does anyone know any ways of how to control health anxiety? I feel like it's taking over my life now. Every day there is always something wrong with me and any small symptom I seem to think is the start of a serious disease.. A few months ago I had a migraine on and off for about a month and I was crying most days because I thought I had a brain tumour and was dying, silly I know. Before that I was feeling dizzy and light headed and I thought there was something wrong with my heart as I seem to think at any moment I could have a cardiac arrest or my heart could just stop for no reason, I also check my heart rate to make sure it's beating normal but I wouldn't even know if it was anyway! After the migraine I had this horrible sickly feeling in my throat like something was pressing against my windpipe but was told it was down to anxiety. Now I get pains in my arms that come and go and also pains in my legs, infact the pains can come just about everywhere on my body, last night I had pains in my stomach and feeling sick and I seem to think I've got something terrible like cancer. I have a habit of searching symptoms on the Internet too and on one website it said arm pain can be a symptom of pancreatic cancer and I worry about having that. I can't stop worrying, it's always at the back of my mind and I just wish it would go away, I've always been a worrier but never to this extent. I have a fear of going to the doctors too incase he tells me I've got a life threatening illness. I heard aswell that worrying is a cause of diseases such as cancer and can lead to things like that and it's making me even more worried that I could get it because of all this anxiety I'm suffering from but it just makes me worry more. Also, you may find this surprising but I'm only 16 and I just want this to stop before it escalates into something much bigger if it hasn't already.. Does anyone else suffer from the pains in the arms/legs, and how do I know it is definitely an anxiety symptom and not something else? I should be enjoying my teenage life right now but I just can't because of this, any advice please? Thank you :)

[jules0160]

     Well, I'll start by saying I know how frustrating it can be to have legitimate symptoms that go by without being diagnosed. I've been in the same boat many times, and with some past experiences, it has weakened my trust in doctors. I know it's easy to continue coming up with diagnoses as more symptoms pop up. The first thing you should do is try to pinpoint which symptoms, if any, are chronic/reoccurring. If there are constant symptoms you should go to your GP if possible (as long as they aren't urgent-- in which case you should go to the hospital). Remember, if there are chronic symptoms, going to the doctor's is not going to create or affirm a serious illness. Either there's something wrong or there isn't, going to a doctor just (hopefully) reveals if you do have something or not. If you think you need to go, don't avoid it because you're afraid of a diagnosis.
     If your symptoms seem to come up one after another without any overlap or repetition, this very well could be anxiety based. You could still go to your GP, but they might just dismiss it as hypochondriacal anxiety. There's never anything in the slightest wrong with seeing a therapist or just talking to someone if this is just a case of anxiety. Just remember, looking at the internet can be educational, but never serves as a diagnosis. (I myself often fall prey to webmd) If possible you might even be able to call your GP when you're concerned with a symptom, and they can judge whether or not you should come in. I hope this helped a little, and feel free to message me if needed. I actually experience your problem a lot!!