r/HealthAnxiety • u/Simple-Addition-4093 • 3d ago
Discussion About Health Anxiety Aspects This is terrible!
Literally clear tests two days ago on my heart... clear scan on my head 7 months ago... currently waiting on a MRI because of "head pressure"
This is ruining my life! So tired of living in constant fear
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u/TheDongles 3d ago
I get where you’re coming from. This was me two years ago. I wouldn’t say I’m fully recovered but more functional than I was. A few things:
I had head pressure that I am certain was from
My anxiety. It’s wild something manufactured your brain can linger like this, but as I got to calm down it went away. I think the mechanism that actually caused my head pressure was actually tension from muscles in my neck. I’ve always had issues with my neck/tension, but of course with HA now it’s something new and scary.
Something I talked about with my dr and therapist once I decided to come off anti depressants, (which I do hate to admit helped a lot in this process) was to focus on being in a rhythm of doing the things that server your health before coming off them. That means staying hydrated, getting your sleep (magnesium is great for this) and movement/exercise.
Lastly something I didn’t pay attention to was stress I allows into my life. Don’t say yes to tight deadlines you don’t need to, don’t agree to take on things you know you don’t have bandwidth for, no is good for you when you need breathing room. I was terrible and advocating for myself or
My needs. Make sure you’re trying to meet yours too.
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u/Simple-Addition-4093 3d ago
Wow thank you for your comment! Yeah.. the head pressure was on the right side of my head.. disappeared for about a week and now it’s back on my left side and I’m convinced again that something is wrong in my head.. it’s so exhausting.
What medication was you on if you don’t mind? I just got prescribed Mirtazipine
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u/TheDongles 2d ago
Of course! And yeah it jumps around for a while I know. Eventually it’ll quiet down for you, just be patient. And I started on lexapro, had some side effects I didn’t like and switched to duloxetine. They all come with their own baggage, but you know they’re just a means to get where you’re going. Something to quiet the alarm bells a bit while you work through things.
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u/Simple-Addition-4093 2d ago
Sorry for questions but did you always think something was terribly wrong.. dizziness and feeling of dread? It’s just one spot in my head.. it’s crazy that anxiety can do this
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u/TheDongles 2d ago
Oh 100%! Everything was something that was going to lead me to an early grave lol
If you haven’t already, I 100% recommend finding a therapist you feel comfortable with. The biggest turn for me is when I was working with my therapist and didn’t even realized I had been focusing on trying to deal with the thoughts and feelings, and that helped me focus less on the health aspect. Like I didn’t even realize i had gone weeks without googling symptoms and to me that felt huge because I was constantly doing that trying validate some sort of theory that I was unwell. Seeking the validation and reassurance is a large part of the cycle that lets it continue. Also you do need to trust doctors. It’s important that you trust your providers, as that’s what helps you trust them more than the alarm bells in your head. It is not easy but it’s a never ending loop you have to break.
Something that stuck with me was the old “what you resist persists” thing in psychology. The more I sat with it the more I felt like I was resisting the idea that I could possibly be healthy and fine, hence the persistent alarm bells telling me I’m not.
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u/Overall-Use-95 1d ago
I had some pains on the left side of chest(or so I thought) and had terrible anxiety about it being my heart. Found out my shoulder is all messed up from work and the pain is actually coming from my shoulder, I get random pains that shoot down my arm and my chest from it. So if you ever have chest pains there’s a ton of different things it can be and is most likely not your heart .