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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Deneb on August 27, 2006, at 23:36:13
I like telling people about myself on the web. Sorry if this is blog-like.
I know I have social anxiety and that's been much better, but now I have new anxieties.
I have health anxieties now. The breast cancer scare triggered it.
Right now I'm getting more tests and I'm tempted to see the doctor all the time.
I don't know if I'll ever get over this new anxiety. When one thing is ruled out, more will take it's place.
This is horrible. Shouldn't the meds I'm on prevent me from getting worse? Pdoc said I'm already on a high dose of Celexa.
Pdoc wants to try non medical approaches first. She wants me to read "Feeling Good" and "Anxiety and Phobia Workbook". She wants me to exercise everyday and pick up astronomy or some other hobby again. She wants me to stay busy. I hope it works. I'm going to buy those books tomorrow.
If those things don't work, she'll increase my Risperdal to 1 mg. Looks like my meds won't be decreased any time soon. She said I should be stable for one whole year before my meds are decreased. At least my tremors seems to have improved.
I just really want this new anxiety to go away. There's hope because my social anxiety got better.
I've had health anxiety in the past, as a child and teen, but it would go away after a while. Maybe the same will happen this time.
The anxiety comes in giant waves. The more I read about the diseases, the more scared I become. On the plus side, I'm learning about new things. LOL
Deneb*
Posted by Tabitha on August 28, 2006, at 0:45:32
In reply to I think I have another anxiety disorder :-(, posted by Deneb on August 27, 2006, at 23:36:13
Deneb, it's really good that you're identifying the obsession with b.c. as symptoms of an anxiety disorder. Obsessions lose a lot of their power when you see them for what they are.
Posted by Phillipa on August 28, 2006, at 10:14:46
In reply to Re: I think I have another anxiety disorder :-(, posted by Tabitha on August 28, 2006, at 0:45:32
Deneb I have that workbook it teaches you lots of coping techniquies why not try it? Love Phillipa
Posted by Dinah on August 28, 2006, at 16:44:51
In reply to I think I have another anxiety disorder :-(, posted by Deneb on August 27, 2006, at 23:36:13
You might try "Stop Obsessing!" by Edna Foa as well. As someone with OCD I think I recognize some of my obsessive qualities in your anxieties.
Posted by llrrrpp on August 28, 2006, at 19:41:55
In reply to Re: I think I have another anxiety disorder :-(, posted by Dinah on August 28, 2006, at 16:44:51
Deneb*,
I've been going through a lot of this myself. Only with me, it's not about my health, but rather about the state of the world. You see, I have been obsessively clicking on cnn-com and nytimes-com since I picked up this habit in the month of 9/01.And since I do much of my work on the computer, while connected to the internet, I have been feeding my anxiety with--you got it-- more anxiety-producing news.
I finally talked about this with my T 2 weeks ago. I have since cut out much of the clicking behavior. Heck. I'm going to remove the links from my toolbar. T said that the news is dominated today by a media industry that really takes advantage of our fear-addiction.
And since I've been doing this, and avoiding other sources of anxiety (haven't posted on the admin board in over a week now, for example) I've been getting much more work done.
Here's the problem with soothing anxiety through information seeking: The world is full of unknowns. Medical science will never be able to cure 100%. There will always be unknowns in life. If you try to soothe your anxiety by finding out more information, you will likely only blow on a hot fire. You will discover more possible rare conditions that you *may* have. And more tests will be run, with that margin of error, and the false positives, and you can really see how this becomes a quick slide into poverty, depression, and sickness...
BUT- Deneb*, you can see many of your own obsessions for what they are- cognitive illusions. So, you need a better way of coping with anxiety- ideally a method that won't lead to more anxiety!
You may be finding out a lot of information about sickness, but why not spend your days learning origami, or studying German Expressionist Art, or planning your next big adventure? Heck, learn ballroom dancing! You've got a big brain- fill it up with happy learning, not thoughts of what vitamin deficiencies cause dementia in 40 years.
Eat your vegetables, take your meds, get exercise, and make friends. You'll be in good shape.
best wishes to you :)
:o)
-ll
Posted by Michael83 on August 28, 2006, at 23:22:46
In reply to I think I have another anxiety disorder :-(, posted by Deneb on August 27, 2006, at 23:36:13
But you FEEL healthy, right?
I know it's not as simple as it sounds, I have extreme anxiety too and things people tell me often do not register, but you should only worry about being sick if you actually were sick.
Odds are, you're not sick. In fact, odds are probably overwelmingly in favor of your good health.
If you ever go to hospital and see REALLY sick people, lying in hospital beds, wondering their fate, remember that THOSE people are sick, and they would do anything to be in your shoes. They would sell their souls to trade their serious illnesses for your little lump. You're lucky, trust me. Just try to put it in perspective. Not saying you're whining or anything, you're not, I understand anxiety and irrational fears, just trying to get you to look at things a little differently.
I was going to end this post with a "good luck" but only sick people need "good luck." ;P You're fine, you should take your pdocs advice and try to read something or perhaps think or whatever that will make you look at things a little more positively.
Posted by Deneb on August 29, 2006, at 0:39:02
In reply to Re: I think I have another anxiety disorder :-( » Deneb, posted by Michael83 on August 28, 2006, at 23:22:46
I know it's irrational fear. My breast lump turned out to be just what everyone thought it was, a benign fibroadenoma, common in people in their twenties.
Now I have other health fears. Just today I felt this dull fleeting ache on the left side of my chest. It went away, but now I'm wondering if I could drop dead any moment now. I think I should get my heart checked out. I'm not exactly a fit person, and I don't eat right, maybe I have severe blockages in my arteries. :-(
I do hear what you are saying though. I'm not sick like those people in the hospital and I should be very grateful and glad.
I remember when I OD'd and went to the hospital, the doctors weren't all that reassuring. I thought I was going to die. (I didn't want to die.) I felt really sick and it was horrible, thinking my kidneys might fail and I might have pulmonary edema. It was really scary. Now that I think about it I wasn't dying and the doctors were probably just scaring me, but I know what you mean about wanting to sell one's soul to get out of a serious situation (or what I thought was serious).
Deneb*
Posted by rjlockhart on August 31, 2006, at 21:46:06
In reply to I think I have another anxiety disorder :-(, posted by Deneb on August 27, 2006, at 23:36:13
Have you asked your doctor about Xanax? a low dose? like .25-.5mg.
It would ZIP anxiety.
This is the end of the thread.
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