I've had health anxiety for 6 years plus and OCD, it was so bad I couldn't even bath in the light because i didnt want to check or find something on my body. I had CBT about a year ago and it's changed my life. It takes practice and something that works for me which I've done for the past year is writing down my symptoms when I get them. I have a list so whenever I feel them again I'm just like ok had this before. I then give it two weeks to see if it disappears and sure enough within a few days it will go. I do not Google anything anymore, will tell you the worst case every time. No Google, no checking behaviour and I can now bath in the light. I have followed your channel from the start and it's so helpful and it's reassuring. It's a process and we can still have bad days but you have to work on it and push through.
Pretty sure health anxiety is a theme of OCD. The Obsession is constantly thinking something is wrong and the compulsions are the rumination, googling, and trying to seek reassurance to try to relive the anxiety
What you say here makes so much sense. I'm so guilty of feeding my anxiety. I have a symptom and then I'm googling it, watching things on RU-vid about anxiety symptoms, trying to do deep breathing/meditations, asking people if they've ever had the same symptom, checking my blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen level over and over and over again. Some days I'll sit at home in silence just dwelling on how I'm feeling and getting more and more anxious to the point where I feel like calling an ambulance (I haven't done that for a very long time) 'Strangely' 🤔🙄 I feel better on the days where I get up, have breakfast, put the TV on, don't check my heart rate/google etc BUT I always seem to drift back into the checking/feeding cycle. I've been suffering terribly for the last few months and I'm currently off work because of it, I do have 'ok' days now and again and start to feel more confident but then the next day it hits me like a ton of bricks and I feel back at square one and even more deflated. I do feel like anxiety is made worse because we think inwardly. For example if I went for a walk around the park where I 'should' be thinking oh those flowers are nice, that dog is cute, it's nice and peaceful here. I'd be thinking god my legs feel like jelly, I feel dizzy, my vision is blurry, I'm having waves of panic, am I going to faint/die. It's draining and affects everything doesn't it. A neighbour stopped to talk to me the other week for about 20 minutes and I barely remember the conversation but I do remember thinking god I wish she'd stop talking and just go back into the house because I feel really ill standing here. I hid it well but it's so unfair that things are like this for us. At the end of the day it's all about the way we think and react to things isn't it...Its a lonely journey but videos like this and the comments really do help to make it not feel so lonely
I’ve practiced being mindful of everything I do even when a thought comes into my mind I just accept the thought then let it go I just really started this and it’s made a huge difference if I shake and sweat I shake and sweat I try my best not to react to the sensations
Check out Gelong thubten he’s a monk that’s who I learned being mindfulness from he’s great and if u want check out at last a life it’s a really good book but an anxiety sufferer it’s on kindle
Yes! 100%! I want to problem solve because I want to help myself since the doctors don't seem to be able to help. I am going to try this. My brain 🧠 is like, "but what if...?"
I agree with u on this as I’m the same 😮I can relate to this 100% & am following ur videos which r so helpful! Thanks a ton for sharing wid us ur journey 👍
I’m a happily married man so when I say this I mean this in the most sincere way possible… you’re a beautiful human being and have very seemingly started the process of saving me!!! I’ve had EVERY symptom you describe over the last 18 months and I’ve felt at rock bottom lately until I found your channel . God bless you and Ty for doing what you do!!!
Hey all..married her as well with three young kids. Currently going through a health anxiety episode. Been going on straight for 2 months. It sucks. I no longer google anything or look for information. I’m seeing a therapist every 2 weeks but not sure if it’s helping. I wish us all good health and good luck.
Thank you for normalizing anxiety. Doctors look at us like were nuts making up stuff and need to get over it fast but that is not possible. If they were in our shoes maybe they would have more of an understanding. Its been really hard for me with anxiety but recently its been the worst in my entire life. I experienced the worst panic attacks and discovered alot of new physical symptoms from my head to toes that I did not know were possible. Thank god for people like you or I would be at the doctors every day 😂
Same here, the physical symptoms in my head especially is what triggered my panic attacks. I still cannot fully out my symptoms into words but it’s still occurring 😢
Hi Cherelle! Thank you for posting these videos, they really help! I want to share something with you. This might sound weird, but I realized that part of my health anxiety existed because of lack of self compassion. It's almost like I didn't let my body suffer, like a mother wouldn't let a child be sad (didn't go through this in childhood, just an example). It's like I couldn't tell myself "it's gonna be ok". Gonna watch the video now :)
Perfect timing, my throat has been hurting ever since I’ve caught Covid for the second time three weeks ago. Some days I don’t feel it as much and today it’s flared up again. My health anxiety fluctuates and it’s frustrating. Thank you for existing and the content you put out ❤️
Hi cherelle ..I was at the dentist today first in nearly 4 years due to covid .but the anxiety leading up was scary ..I was shaking and had these weird pains at my inner arm like a twitch happening. But I drove to the dentist..took a minute in the car and then I just said to myself ..here we go let's do this and get it over and done with ..I thought of your comments about situations and it helped soo much .thanks to you I got through today
You’re truly an inspiration! So glad I found your channel. Happily subscribed. I have been having bad health anxiety since July 3rd 2023 when I had a major panic attack. Ever since that day it’s been hell. Even after I’ve had the all clear from the doctors, yes I feel initially relieved but after a week has past then its back to square one
Thank you for posting this I’ve watched this a couple of times, my anxiety is causing a dodgy tummy and in my mind it’s colon cancer or something really bad. I’ve been to the doctor they think it might be an infection of some kind but my kind keeps racing just watching this video helps as im able to calm down a bit and just accept it’s anxiety making the symptom worse.
Tricks in learning i treat my self as i do. Thanks for trying to make sense of my stupidity thats mine to live through as much as i can stand a person as i Is.
I don’t have Health Anxiety, came close with a touch of cardiophobia back in August/September. My condition is severe GAD, and I still think your videos are very helpful. Sitting with your symptoms even if it’s an anxiety attack is very helpful.
All my life I've had anxiety, health, and as of 2 years ago ocd .....so omg until watching your channels and a few others has pretty much saved my life ....until up to 2 years ago I didn't know what i was dealing ....life is much better now ....thank you your amazing 👏 ❤️
This is such good advice. I am just starting to practice this. Yesterday, I had the first day of recovery from symptoms in about a month. After that, I felt great, then I got really nervous again and slept horribly. Today, my voice box is sensitive to touch - this happened once before years ago and it was nothing. I am sure it's nothing now. This anxiety is so silly and annoying. I will wait two weeks, not touch it and check it later. I am sure it will be fine. This is what happens with me a lot these days, since I have a lot of anxiety-induced pain. The recovery I have had actually surprised me. Maybe God answered my prayer. In fact, after the stress of last night, my muscle pain isn't too bad. Thank God - I need to sit with the pains and symptoms more - this is actually good practice for me if I can look at it that way.
Hey Cherelle! I discovered your channel about three months ago when my health anxiety was at its worse and wanted to say thank you for making these videos😊 I’d never experienced anxiety symptoms and I didn’t know what health anxiety was so finding your channel has helped me understand what it is I’ve been experiencing! After six months in the brain tumour trap (dizziness, numbness and tingling, headaches and vision problems), I’ve had a clean MRI and am now working on sitting with my symptoms and making lifestyle changes to try and get my life back on track. The biggest challenge for sure is to resist the temptation to go back to google and start looking up my symptoms again.
I luckily only experienced that for a few weeks, I’m now fully convinced I have lymphoma, the lymph nodes, got some pressure behind my left rib which my brain has turned into a massive tumour hahah, getting an ultrasound on these lymph nodes as my GP knows how anxious I’ve been and wants to reassure me which is nice
Now I'm too scared to get a check up for fear that something might show up. My health anxiety started with perimenopause at 42, I'm 49 now and it's still a struggle. Anything and everything triggers the anxiety. The intrusive thoughts, the feeling of doom, it's changed my entire personality. I saw something recently about warning signs of stroke and coz I have spondylitis pain and migraine I started getting fearful if any kind of pain in my head was a warning sign of stroke etc. It's just horrible
hey cherelle. lately I've been having a lot of heart palpitations and I've never had this before so it's difficult not to think there's something wrong. I went to the doctor and got an EKG done but there was nothing abnormal other than I had a high heart rate because I was anxious. i'm avoidant when it comes to health anxiety so I won't actively search on google for my symptoms or get bloodwork done because I'm too afraid. sometimes I don't get any palpitations and my anxiety is better but then it comes back and so does my anxiety :( idk what to do but I'm trying to be positive and tell myself it's only health anxiety
Thank you for uploading this❤️ I’m currently dealing with constant dizziness and feeling like fainting but I keep trying to remember that it’s just another symptom of my anxiety.
Hey Julz, how is this going for you now? The dizziness has pretty much subsided for me after 3-4 months, just left with that subtle light headed/disorientated feeling every other moment now, hoping it eventually clears up like the intense 24/7 dizziness did, sending prayers to everyone going through these tough times
Thanks Cherrelle. I'm back from 6 months of relative calm and now in the last week I've had ALS, Parkinson's a Brain Tumour and now Colon Cancer. I had a nightmare last night that we were being invaded by 2 dimensional aliens going round unfolding in front of people and photocopying their souls away in a flash of light. I'm not as bad as a lot of people with health anxiety, the worst I've had it was over 3 days where I was in a total state of panic. But here I am again! Your videos always help me sort it out. I've found just laughing at myself is really therapeutic too. You're like an oasis in a desert of anxiety! Thanks again, this video has really helped me.
@@vedika6260 I'm ok again. It passed and turned out to be nothing . . . as usual! I'm in a relative period of calm again, they tend to last about a month or two.
@@veehope2702 what symptoms u had that u believed that u had colon can although it wasnt? As one even thinks about this disease only if we see any symptom na
@@vedika6260 it was a dull ache in my right side that lasted for about a week or two, occasionally I would get different points of pain around the same area
@@veehope2702 ok. I am dealing with constipation since last 2 months almost n saw reddish water once. N so worried after seeing that 1 month before n since then only consti n fully tensed checking every thing. Over that saw i lost 1-1.5 kg in last 6 months n tired of checking every damn thing. Firstly i dealt with heart disease then ALS n now this n it feels so real n i have convinced myslef for it😭😭
These rules don't just apply to health anxiety, but anxiety in general. At around the 1:00 mark where Cherelle talks about trying to untangle the problem, and fix it because of the uncertainty, that is for most anxiety.
Ive been suffering from health anxiety severely ive been experiencing stomach aches that wont go away had my ultrasound and ct scan they all came out normal.im thinnking i have somerging in my gut..it is pysically and mentally tiring.my health anxiety got triggered when i heard the news that my cousin got CA..ive been thinking a lot and googling since then
Omg i am here... i had 2 ECG and 3 CBC doctor said u perfect no worries.. but still 100 of symptoms and sensations... its all started 3 years ago with in a week got divorced and my best friend was murdered. That was the begin of its all. Now suffering from anxiety and sudden feeling like a im going to die
YOu are great. I have HA. But i now also officially have Cervical stenosis which is due to just normal wear and tear. Doc can see it on MRI. He says I don't have to have surgery now but may at some point but seems should be fine and treatable if it get's worse. Anyway the problem is the syptoms are twitching and numbness -- very similar to all the really bad MND we all fear. (When I asked doc about that he almost laughed and said basically we are looking at your issue we can see it it's treatable) but I still fear he is missing something
Hello! I know I should see a professional (I have seen two so far), but I was wondering if you had any general advice…. When I sit in audience settings (recital, symphony, theatre, etc.), I get really anxious and it makes me want to leave. My stomach will also become sick, and then I really do have to leave the room. It’s been 8 years of living with this, and now I don’t put myself in those scenarios because the mental pain feels like too much to bear. Now that there’s an event I actually really want to go to, I feel like I wish I had solved this issue with one of my counselors. Thank you so much for reading 💙
Hi! It’s still there. It won’t ever go away because it’s not swollen. It’s a harmless bean sized node. Lymph nodes that are truly swollen are bigger than that!
Does anyone else self sabotage when they are feeling better and not obsessing? I don’t know for the life of me why I do it, but I’ll randomly search a rare disease and tell myself it’s just out of interest, but then I’ll convince myself I have it. Is this OCD? Why do I do this? I feel like I can’t control it.
What helps me sometimes if I get a symptom..I think of someone that I know and I think to myself "what would that person do if they had my symptom?" and so then my logical brain kicks in..
Yes ..and hiccups.....over the years i realized its because I eat too fast especially when im nervous. Try to slow down so you are not swallowing alot of air. Hope this helps
Yes absolutely. I’ve learned to sit with the uncomfortable symptoms and trust that it will go away eventually. Try to stop checking in with your symptom to see if it has gone away. I know it sounds easier said than done. This is what worked for me.
Hello I saw your video on twitching . Do you still have them? I am 31 years old and I have them everywhere and I am a little worried but I have no loss of strength, only pain in the nerves and sometimes stiffness in the neck. Obviously I am afraid of als. I'm going to start taking magnesium to see if it helps my fasculations.
I have had “ALS fasculations” for the past 7 years in my whole lower body. By this time I should have developed significant weakness of it wasn’t benign I think.. but my health anxiety always tells me that soon it will get worse, this is exactly the kind of twitching you have when you have ALS. So I can’t stop thinking about the, just waiting for the weakens to kick in some day.. So instead of living happily with my symptoms I have lived in a daily fear for the last 7 years. It’s not the life I want for my self.. How do you cope with the anxiety of the twitches?
@@cryptojosef4035 For the moment I can't manage them because it's new for me. I take magnesium but it doesn't seem to work. I think that after 7 years you can have peace of mind. For the moment I don't have any loss of strength but I feel like my right arm is heavy on my wrist but I don't know if that is due to the weight I used the day before. I am watching for the slightest symptom and my appointment is scheduled for November 28. It's going to be a long wait
@@nougba7 I understand your worry, when mine first came I was totally devastated. I have perceived weakness from time to time also. But from what I understand, you will know if you get real weakness, it’s not that subtle. Yeah I hope your right, the thing is that my fascinations is more intense now and before they were mostly in my calf’s, but now they are equally intensive in might thighs as well. Have you thought about if you did some change in medication, livestyle or anything else that could have been the trigger for you fascinations? We with Health Anxiety always thinks the worse, it’s our curse! But it’s like she said, it’s really really rare! I hope and think it will be okay for you. If you want I will be happy to here what they think about them. Have you tried to do exposure exercises for them? It’s really hard, but it really helps!
@@cryptojosef4035 Thank you for your answer! Right now I'm in the emergency room because I have new symptoms and I'm in total panic. I feel that my entire nervous system is being impacted by something. My jaw is heavy when I stick my tongue out it tends to go back down. I have a lot of fasciculation everywhere. Back, calves, shoulder, stomach, everywhere. I hope to have a diagnosis quickly to be fixed. I notice that some fasciculations are accentuated when I am lying on my back with my legs bent and also when I am sitting. If I sleep on my stomach I feel them less
@@nougba7 i really hope you will get home soon with good results! Hopefully and probably it’s your anxiety that’s driving your nervous system to the edge. Anxiety can really exacerbate almost everything! Believe me, I’ve been there numerous times! It will get better! Just know that your not alone! We’re a lot of people fighting exactly like you and we will get out on the other side eventually! 🙏❤️
Does anyone have symptoms that go away one day and come back again the next? It’s frustrating thinking that I’m conquering it and then I wake up, think about it and it starts over again 🤬
I've got constant pain sycosomatic in shoulders d armpit my mum has severe ms she doesn't get much nerve pain apart from hands though she can't move I thought I had ms but it's all clear how is your pain now
Had headaches for 11 weeks now every day not strong headaches there 5/10 had eye tested paid £10 extra for more in depth one seen 3 doctores they say no to a brain tumor I still can’t get it out my mind that it is a brain tumor don’t know if there wrong or if I’m just over thinking I’m always searching stuff on Google about stuff which dosnt help I’m always suffering from high blood pressure now
I've been using a technique I thought I should let you know, it's called paradoxical intention. I learnt of it from reading a book called Man's Search For Meaning by Victor Frankl. The idea is you go with your fear to some extent. So I'm dealing with fear of colon cancer and so I've been saying to myself "ok then well I've got colon cancer, that doesn't mean the end, I'll fight it and overcome it", "I'll use the time I have to complete those projects I've been thinking of", "other people have this cancer I can connect with them and we'll get through this together", "we have a great health service in this country", "now I've got this I'm going to fight for all it's worth and overcome it". Instead of trying to run away from bad thoughts. I have to say it's working a treat! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradoxical_intention Hope you find it useful.
