Anxiety wreaks havoc with your body.
At the worst point of my health anxiety, I was preoccupied with my anxiety symptoms during all of my waking hours. I had been surfing the internet and looking up my symptoms. My feet were numb and tingly. My muscles would twitch, and pains ran up and down my limbs. My walk was "off" almost as if I couldn't remember how to do it correctly. There was so much tension in my back and stomach I felt like I was constantly doubled over. I was sure I had MS, ALS, or another neurological condition, though I had seen several doctors who had told me otherwise.
Instead, my symptoms were from anxiety. The more I worried about my symptoms and focused on them, the worse they got.
I started doing a lot of internet research about psychosomatic illness and hypochondria. That led me into reading a lot about anxiety, and visiting anxiety message boards. I corresponded with people from several of the message boards that also were anxious about their health. I started being able to believe that the main part of my problem was anxiety.
I had a hard time believing that the symptoms I had experienced came from anxiety. I thought there was no way they would be so severe unless there was a life threatening cause.
Today, two years later I am doing well. I still have symptoms sometimes, but I don't worry about them much and they tend to go away quickly. I did get really bad anxiety symptoms when the terrorist attacks happened, very similar to what I got when my health anxiety was at it's worst. Since I know what the cause was, I'm not worried about my health. Which is good, because I have a lot of other things to worry about now.
Taking antidepressants made it a lot easier not to obsess on diseases and symptoms. A lot of my recovery is from researching and writing about health anxiety and connecting with other people who have it. I believe that it is possible to recover from health anxiety without using drugs. It's a lot harder. Using the antidepressant is like having a car to take you to your destination. The person without the drugs has to walk to their destination. Even though walking is usually slower and harder, you still get there in the end.
Something else that has really helped is trying to focus outside myself. When I had health anxiety at it's worst state, I could hardly think of anyone but me. I was so wrapped up in my symptoms and every little feeling in my body that I was very unaware of what was going on outside me. It is good to get involved in something that interests you, whether it's a hobby or sport, writing, gardening, doing charity work. The more time and energy you put into outside projects, the less time an energy you will spend being anxious about your health and yourself.
Are you sitting at a computer keyboard right now? Take a look at your posture. If you are hunched over, in an uncomfortable postion, is it any wonder that you have aches, pains, and tingling?
Take breaks when you work on your computer. Get up and stretch and walk around every ten minutes or so.
I have found it helpful to see a chiropractor for my stress related body pains and tingling. I have gotten massages also. When I am stressed out and at home, I've found it helpful to take a hot bath or shower. This relaxes your muscles.
Something that's been helping a lot lately is exercise. I've been going to the gym and lifting weights. I also take long walks. While I exercise I listen to music that helps me, usually punk and new wave music from the 80s or Celtic Music.
If you are religious, it may help to pray, and to ask others to pray for you. It can calm you and let you know that other people are pulling for you.
When you find yourself obsessing about your health, find something else to do. I like to go out and garden or clean my house when I'm upset. If you just sit around thinking and worrying your problems will seem to magnify themselves.
I also like to read books or watch movies, the kind that are very disctracting. My favorite kind are fantasy and sci fi novels where I can lose myself for a while in another world.
Take care,
Melissa
