If you suffer from Health Anxiety Read this............................

How To Survive Health Anxiety

I have been suffering with terrible Health Anxiety which led to lots of unnecessary suffering for the better part of two years. I know two years will sound like hardly anything to some of you, but we all know how bad and long an hour can feel with any form of anxiety let alone years.

Tackling the Panic Attacks

Panic attacks can be text book for some people and feel like the end of the world for others. Your panic attacks may even feel different every time. You may get dizzy, have the fast beating heart or you may start to feel your chest tense up and feel like you can't breathe. You could feel the panic rising for hours or it could literally come out of nowhere. The important thing is to learn to trust yourself and your body. I know panic attacks feel like you're dying at the time but you ALWAYS come out the other side of a panic attack alive. The panic attack will not kill you. You need to let your body calm down for about 20 minutes and get out of it's fight or flight response.

Rather than focusing on it and questioning everything about it try to take it as a learning experience. Use every panic attack to practice techniques on how to calm yourself so you can end up preventing them escalating in the future.

It's hard to differentiate between a real physical problem and anxiety when it's rising through you like that, even I have trouble sometimes still. I always know deep down that in 2 days when I'm still walking around alive and well I'll look back and see it for what it was though, that's what get's me through it

Trusting Your Doctor

Whether you're worried about a heart attack, cancer or any other of the countless afflictions and diseases I've read about in the Health Anxiety forums, everybody is as equally scared as you. Your first step is to go to your doctor. Don't be scared of what he/she might find because they really are there to help. Say you really do have something wrong (I'm not saying you do), it's better to get it diagnosed and fixed by a real doctor than to create posts on the internet asking people what they think it might be. Also seeking reassurance constantly from your friends, spouse and family really only acts as a quick fix, it does not last.

People in your life are most likely not qualified Doctors, just other people with experience with panic and anxiety so we can only speculate on your symptoms and fears. We cannot diagnose you, only your GP can.

Don't be scared your doctor won't take you seriously, they HAVE to. If they diagnose you with Health Anxiety, ask if you can have help to tackle it. There's no shame in medication or counselling, it can turn your life around. If your doctor has diagnosed you with anxiety, don't be afraid to go back if you come across a new symptom in case he/she just dismisses it because they won't. Doctors cannot afford to not take people seriously. They know what they are doing!

Dr. Google Is Not Your Friend

I know I shouldn't, you all know you shouldn't, but somehow we end up doing it anyway and feeling worse for it, right? Well it's completely in your power to stop this. Anybody can write whatever they like on the internet and every symptom you type in, Dr. Google will end up diagnosing you with some terrible deadly disease that will make you panic like mad for weeks/months/years.

I watched a show months ago where 3 people went to a person in front of a computer and a real doctor. The person in front of the computer incorrectly diagnosed the people who had told him his symptoms with stuff like cancer, asthma, diabetes, while the real doctor diagnosed them correctly with mild allergies, indigestion and something else I can't quite remember but it was very common and non life threatening.

It's easy to go to your computer in the desperation you might find something reassuring, but you hardly ever do. So why do this to ourselves? It gets us nowhere and only makes us worse.

Accept Your Anxiety

You can't get better unless you accept it for what it is. You have an anxiety disorder than makes you continuously worry about your health.

Panic is the body and minds reaction to danger. You see danger everywhere because it's your own body. You can't step out of it and keep it safe no matter how much you wish you could. You might even have the extreme feelings of feeling trapped in your own body, at a total loss, scared and unhappy. It can change, with the right attitude and help you can overcome this and get yourself back.

Change Your Lifestyle

Eat healthier, go out more, exercise! Exercise is a wonderful way to help anxiety in most forms. It releases endorphins which make you feel good and happy. I know it's hard to do it, especially if you have heart worries (something I'm far too familiar with). If exercise feels like too much for you, start gently. Go for walks, it's exercise and it gets you out the house so you're not sat in front of your PC desperately trying to find peace of mind.

Learn how to relax yourself. Buy yourself something you enjoy or makes you happy, take an hour out every night to soak in a bath with lavender bubbles, anything that relaxes you, do it. Just empty your mind and enjoy.

The road to recovery can be a lonely one, so use all the resources available to you. You are NEVER alone.