Fear of Cancer/Diseases..How to overcome the fear?

[John19a]

how do i overcome the fear of having a neurological or any sort of illness. I have been paranoid about having MS and Leukemia and stomach cancer in the past few days. I suffer from constant Derealization and Depersonalization and i also get lots of muscle twitches and i suffer from stomach problems. I think that my Derealization and Depersonalization is caused by some sort of brain problem and i think my muscle twitches are because of MS and also think i have stomach cancer because of the stomach pain i get. I have been to a doctor but he tells me its all anxiety without doing any further tests. I mean i have done a CT scan from head and a full blood test about 7 months ago but i want to have an MRI from my head and maybe a CT scan from abdominal or an endoscopy to make sure i dont have MS or stomach cancer. Today i was paranoid that im suffering from a low grade fever and every 2 minutes i would touch my head thinking i have a fever...

how can i get rid of this? i mean i think most my symptoms are getting worse because my dp/dr are getting worse...

[sixpack]

how do i overcome the fear of having a neurological or any sort of illness

that's really the million dollar question isn't?  In your case you have a few odd sensations going on.  Your doctor says it is from anxiety.  And likely he is right.  The sensations you are having are exceedingly common with anxiety.  However you don't believe it or you don't think your doctor is taking your symptoms seriously.  So you want the tests to rule out certain disorders.  I don't think your thought process is all that unusual for a person.  You just want to make sure.  However those of us with anxiety always need to make sure.  So we go to the doctor, have the tests run etc.  What usually comes next is normal tests results then we either 1. say, "whew" and  have a couple of weeks of normalcy, then a new ache comes up and we move onto the next illness 2. we don't believe the test or doctor.  The radioligist isn't any good, he missed it, or the lab messed up my bloodwork....  It becomes this never ending viscious circle of worry, testing, worrying, testing..... A merry-go-round is a lovely ride at an amusement park but not such a lovely ride for living your life.

When you are continually anxious--either conciously or subconsiously--, you are pouring out adrenaline.  Your body is going to react.  And you are going to feel it and it is going to scare the poop out of you. Eventually you won't even need to be anxious at all to have oddball sensations. The best way to make a break from that worrying mindset is to really logically and emotionally accept that your mind is causing all of this aches/pains, thoughts.  Take a look at when was the first time you felt these things.  It may have been last week or several years ago.  Look at your life at the time.  What was going on?  Did you have big changes happening---marriage, job change, a lot of tension in the home, a new baby, a move?  Or was it little things---a significant other always chiding you, jerk driver cutting you off, a bad night's sleep?   This could have been a trigger.  As time goes on, you don't need a big trigger to set off anxiety.  Your body has just become accustomed to that anxiety level and you seemingly get odd sensations out of the blue. I can look back at my life and see moments of stress--big ones and little ones or even just I'm living at an increased stress level--and can pinpoint my slide into the BEASTs lair.  This last slide (and honestly, I still have to be cognizant as my life is still pretty stressful) was triggered by a seemingly happy move across the country 3yrs ago.  Lots of things didn't go quite right with the move and then my eldest started having a different type seizure that caused 3 trips to the ER.  My hubby's job is continually on the ropes.  Then last August my younger sis was dx'd with a benign brain tumor (my dad died of a malignant one at age 46).  I weathered all of it okay but last October I started getting odd sensations in my body. Actually before that but that's when I began thinking it was from a neuro disease.

Some of my symptoms that are caused by anxiety in the past have been--some stick around a long time because they freak me out more; some come and go; some just kind of linger because, as mentioned, I have a lot of stress in my life.

--cramps, feet, hands, shins, hips
--twitching--off/on 12yrs sometimes nearly constant other times intermittant
--dizziness, extreme at times other times just lightheadness
--deprsonalization when I am particularly deep in it
--muscle soreness--every part of my body
--perceived muscle weakness
--tripping up with my feet, sometimes even when I talk I'm tripping my words
--vision issues
--feeling hot or cold
---wet sensations on limbs, tingling, numbing
-- bloating, some stomache upset, bladder contractions, bowel pain.
--tooth pain--going through that now
--tmj
--face pressure pains
--headaches
-sinus stuff, ear pain
--weird taste and senastions on my tongue
--buzzing feet
--extreme fatigue, tiredness
--jolting awake at night
--not sleepin well
--panic attacks
--racing thoughts
-intrusive thoughts.

hmm likely more and I'll remember later.  

[sam349]

Sixpack, that was a GREAT post! Thankyou for taking the time to type it.  One of the most helpfull I have read here.

[marc]

Excellent post, sixpack.

[sixpack]

thank you.  I hope it is helpful.

[AruroGotti]

so, so true sixpack about your body pouring out adrenaline, and throw cortisol in that mix too

[RohnboSlice]

I just liked sixpack's response so much from this old post I just had to add that I have had so many of those symptoms too. This may help some of the people on here dealing with the same issues.