The NEW HA challange- Please join and lets help each other succeed!

[peepo23]

Yeah, Googling (or cyberchondria) is a really harmful process to the HA-er, unfortunately - particularly because it is so easy to do these days.

Unwanted thoughts that 'spike' our window of consciousness, such as thoughts about symptoms, are given a kind of mental resource to feed off when we google. When we google about symptoms and disease processes we build our information resources in those areas, the unwanted thoughts then can form a mental network with these resources and will ultimately enrich (in a bad way) our ability to ruminate (or think things over with greater depth and expansiveness). Ultimately, we have to seek a way of isolating the unwanted thoughts and starve them. We can do this by building mental networks with alternative positive thoughts - and these can simply be positive experiences we have each day. The innovative psychologist Martin Seligman notes how simply writing down and reflecting on 3 positive experiences each day (at the end of the day) can greatly enhance our psychological wellbeing.

[navydad]

I;d like to share my story, in 2007 I started the trek to the doctors office with every known disease possible, of course nothing was shown to be there,, but as time went on, and the symptoms got more bizarre I was admitted to a local hospital where it was determined I had somotoform disorder, which a short stay in the mental ward would cure, I was sure I was nuts that I let them admit me, it was obvious to the staff there was somethng worng and that I wasent crazy,, but they coudnt do anything,
  Up to about 2008, I see a immunologist who did some testing on me and found me to have a immune deficiency, that would explain the multiple sinus infectioons,, so now we do IVIG, it quieted the infections but now I;m starting to suffer cold hands, nu,b hands numb feet,, cold intolerance heat intolerance, neuro after neuro,, who all do there stupid test,, EMG studies which show normal,, then one bright one decided to do a punch biopsy,, aha,, it comes back Small fiber neuropathy,, so now were off to see a rheummy who after seeing the dry eyes,, dry mouth,, decides that I have Sjogrens syndrome,, now I have two camps,, one says I need to be put away and another one saying this guy is sick,, so now a MRI reveals a Chiari malformation, more studies do show a reduced flow of spinal fluid,, they suggest surgery,, and like a fool I oblige,, 2 weeks of livng hell results in a spinal fluid leak out of my neck, back to surgery after I get bacterial menigitis, so off to the Mayo clinic to try and determine why I have this neuropathy,, no reason is found but lip biopsy show chronic inflmation of hte salivary glands, this was noted on two other lip biopsys, I keep telling my ENT about this because the glands are only putting out pus,, he ignores it and continues to operate on my sinuses,, 6 surgerys later, my sinuses are gutted,, of course anything else thats going on is strictly anxiety,, which gets me up to about now,, here I am ready to seee the ENT about getting the paratoid glands removed,, my Gastro did some blood work and my immune syatem is tanked again,, more sinus infections,, MRSA,, Fungal and alot of other bugs I cant even pronounce, my legs and arms are useless,, I can walk about 10 feet without falling,, I am sure my spine is compressed, when I stnad up the legs and arms go numb, the bowels leak out stool but no one takes any of this seriously, my GP gave up on me,, I cant drive anymore, I cant feel the pedals, my poor wife thinks everything is rosy,, and that one day all this will be behind us,, I feel sorry for her, shes losing her husband but refuses to see it,, I cant eat withut choking,, and yet there are some that are convinced that is fibro,, CFS, you name it,, but its hard to convince htem when bloodwork is normal, but when you dig a bit deeper,, the signs start to show up,, its just a matter of time before what ever this is kills me,, so all I am saying that anxiety is NOT the cause sometimes of a lot of problems,, take it from someone thats been down that road,, oh,, when I have ben in the hoospital, al you ear is,, have you moved your bowels today,, it got and is to the point that i show htem my underwear where I had stol leak out,, idiots,, every one of them idiots,, they dont listen,, and refuse to treat anythng,, I hope there happy,, they killled a good man and father,, all because they would not listen, I live in Pittsburgh and Have UPMC insurance,, if you have it,, good luck,, they call it Life changing Medicine,, it sure is,, it changed mine,and not for hte good thats for sure,,

[Enabledcorpse]

Well I remember I could go out at all because I was scared of something happeni to me and nobody being around to help or not caring cuz ppl are selfish! But slowly I started walkin around the block then went to the market. Althogh all the commotion got me dizzy slowly it started diminishing! Sometimes it does come back when I realize" oh 0103 I'm in the store outside of my house"  but now I go to school and pla volleyball and today I'm going to face one o my biggest fears the mall and the food cort!!!!!!

[Jenniferio]

I started working on controlling my thoughts today.  I'm in charge of my mind and I will decide when my thoughts run amuck!  I decided  to use just 5 minutes of every hour - on the half hour for worry, testing, probing and the like.

After the first  2 sets of 5 minute intervals - I forgot to do the rest of them.

No, I don't think its always going to work.  Just for today as I'm busy.

Tomorrow will be a new challenge.

[dominus]

I'll take the challenge.  I will not google today, nor next week.  I play the bass guitar, and have realized that all the time I spend worrying, googling, and feeling and rubbing every inch of my body for a tumor or whatnot, would be better spent practicing or learning new songs.  I never have my equipment out and use that as an excuse not to play, but no more.  I will set it up so that I can grab and play at an instant.  I will also try to read other people's post on hear and offer them reassurance from my many trips to the dr. with symptoms that turn out to be simple everyday aches and pains.  I know it helped me when I found this forum and searched all the symptoms I had and saw all the simple, non-life threatening things they could be.  And if I'm still riddled with anxiety, I'll buy a good book or two.

[tarabama]

I am going to join in on this challenge as well and I am going to make a promise to myself not to google for the rest of the week and try to continue that as long as I can. I am also going to take my dog for a walk to the park even though I feel like my legs won't make it. I will also come here to share my experiences with others so that they know they are not alone!! 

[Josie57]

I have had a bout of HA for about a week now after not having had any for at least 9 months.  This time I have tried extremely hard to do it differently.  I have googled a little bit but only reputable medical information to get some rationality into my thinking.  The big thing for me this time is that I have sought no reassurance....none!  I am relying on my own resources and tools I've gained to help me navigate this and cope.  I have support and information and I'm grateful for that but I am staying connected to my own thoughts and relying on my own ability to face this down.  I am proud of my progress but I strive to have a more realistic and accepting approach to fearing disease.

[dotsicle]

I am new here, and I'm guilty of googling symptoms. I pledge to NOT google any symptom for one week. Hoping to renew my pledge next week. I know it will be tempting, because I just started Celexa and already worrying about side effects.
About googling.... here is something y'all might get a chuckle out of: for some time, I had been fearing that the symptoms in my feet might be peripheral nerve damage and that I would be diagnosed with diabetes. (This is a big fear for me because I could not give myself insulin shots.) So, I googled. I came upon something I'd never heard of... tarsal tunnel syndrome, which gave me the courage to ask my doc about the foot pain. His diagnosis, after several minutes of poking and tapping, and many questions, was: TARSAL TUNNEL!!! This time, google was my friend.

[dotsicle]

OK, some might want to know what "tarsal tunnel" is. It's similar to CARPAL tunnel but it affects the foot. Starts out with the feeling that cotton is stuffed in the first 3 toes of the foot, and movement of them is difficult. Then the ball of the foot feels like there are marbles in your shoe, and more marbles are added as time goes by. These symptoms just get worse until you no longer can tolerate most shoes, especially those with high heels (sorry, guys, no stilettos for you). Pushing on the middle of the foot just below the ball makes it feel better, although the toes still feel stuffed with cotton. The toes feel "numb" but there is feeling in them at the same time. Odd, I know. I'll take tarsal tunnel over diabetic foot trouble any day, though, even if I can't wear cute shoes.

[hantom]

Since new year the things I have done in order to attempt to beat my anxiety are:

• General positivity in my every day life. (Okay I haven't achieved this every day but I'm really trying!)
• Getting up at 8:30am every day. This has added so much stability to my life! Apart from a few days where I had a cold and needed rest I have done this and it really makes me more positive for the day.
• I have also tried to give my counsellor another go. Although this hasn't gone great for me yet, I have arranged an appointment at my local counselling centre. I'm really trying not to lose hope with this
• A final thing that my friend and I did together was to create this website: http://how-are-you-feeling.tumblr.com. We wanted a place where young people with anxiety could just find some positive messages and perhaps share their stories. 
  

Good luck everyone, this is a great post!

[Teejay]

I am new to this site, and I am so encouraged by reading the positive things that each of you have ventured out to do.  I started a beginners Yoga class to help me learn how to relax and meditate.  So far, I love it and I do meditation each night and in the morning before going to work.  I am learning how to live in the moment which decreases my anxiety and allows me to eliminate my what if thinking. 

[reasonableland]

Here are mine:

Establish a good sleeping pattern
Do brisk exercise each day in the fresh air, walking the dog, jogging... And choose to continue with healthy wholesome foods.
Keep in regular positive contact with friends and family
Take steps out of my comfort zone (start driving lessons, talk on the phone more, interact in new places with new people)
Try practicing meditation just a few minutes each day.

Try to reframe my negative intrusive thoughts into positive thoughts, like "intrusive Thought about cancer" = "I feel excited about something positive or happy today and I'm misinterpreting that excited energy for anxiety". Try to be optimistic and focus on good things I guess.

I've been doing really well about not-googling lately, so keep on that.

Oh! I have an awful HA habit of when I read about someone who passed away I check to see how old they were. It's a safety behavior which adds zero to my happiness or health! Stop doing that.

Finally I guess is remember not to be ashamed of my anxiety, and not be afraid to talk about it with friends and family. Remember that I'm treating my anxiety and that I'm not alone.

[confused279]

I support this!!!!!!

[GabbyMomof3]

I'm so glad I found this. While visiting threads that catch my attention, I seem to be hit by an avalanche of my own fears and whoosh, there goes my "happy" feeling. So, here's what I plan on doing for a week. I was gonna say month, but baby steps.

1. Eat healthier. Try not to use oil when cooking, but instead try to steam cook.
2. Take at least a 15 - 30 minute walk with my kids at the park. Or even just down my block.
3. NO GOOGLE! I'll ONLY Google if I need to know how to unclog a sink or remove grass stains, etc.
4. Meditation and breathing exercises.
and last but not least,
5. Get my in-laws together since my family is far away from me, and ask them for support in battling this. Just recently I was informed by my husband that my sister in law thought I was on drugs because I was "too young", I'm 35, to be this way. I just want it to be out in the clear with all of them that I'm not on any drugs! I've actually not taken my medication for two weeks now and am trying to go drug free. I haven't even had an alcoholic drink for quite some time now and even gave up smoking 8 months ago. So I need to address that to them and just ask for some support.

Once this week is done, I'll set a new set of goals. We can do this. :)

[tayler1989]

Hey everyone,
just came across this site tonight when doing my googling (seems like a common problem) my symptoms, but am i ever glad i found this site! it really puts my mind at peace that I'm not crazy and there are many others out there struggling with the same thing i am. so i have to thank every single one of you on here just for being here and that alone has helped me breath easy(literally).

my goals will be first and foremost NO GOOGLE! by far my biggest downfall and also no poking at nodes which seems to be the point of my HA at the moment, just going to leave them be until my nest yearly check up in a couple months and let the professionals do their job.

thanks again best of luck to everyone in this journey!

Tayler

[caco47]

I really like the idea of this thread. I had been having horrible headaches and dizziness since right before Christmas and I've been worrying about it constantly. I decided to see a chiropractor and he took an x-ray of my spine and explained why I was getting every symptom I was feeling. The dizziness is still going on, but he made my headaches go away. My next step is to discuss my dizziness with him.

[floridaguy65]

AWESOME job, everbody! Challenging ourselves is tremendous. It makes us aware that we really do have to take cognizant strides and efforts to help ourself. This anxiety stuff tends to not go away on its own...as most of us know by now. Writing down our goals and challenges is great. I would even go as far to write them down every day and keep them on our bodies (the paper itself), so we can refer to it daily and see that we do need to remain pretty diligent in our habits. Also, write down a positive affirmation on this paper and say it MANY times every day. We are working to "rewire" our minds, here. Aiming to get our thought processes back to some more positivity, more trust, more security, more calm and, even, more purpose in life, perhaps:)

Don't try to float through a day just hoping anxiety doesn't make that day worse. Don't tiptoe around it. Accept it and take some calm and diligent action to alleviate it. Through practice, dedication and acceptance we can really make strides in our trials. We can learn to live much better along with our anxiety issues. Anxiety doesn't like it when we are living well. It will try all its tricks, for sure. But, eventually, anxiety will grow weary of having to exert so much effort in getting us amped up that it just might loosen up its grip a bit. Then, from there, we can build momentum and continue working to move further and further down our healing paths:)

Peace and Feel Well:)

[Vanishingsands]

First off I would like to say how happy I am to have found this site, and I am wishing now that I found it much earlier. I do have some goals to set:

1: I MUST get way more sleep (preferably without medicine) as my anxiety has caused me to develop severe insomnia. I am really not too sure what I can do but I have found listening to my favourite music at night helps... If any one has any tips please let me know :)
2: I too will not google anything related too what I feel.
3: I will focus as much as I can on positive things and stop the ANTS (automatic negative thoughts) as best I can.
4: this may sound silly but I am going to be a bit more selfish (in a good way) to help make me better and doing things I enjoy, like gardening, to help me get there instead of trying to make everyone happy and leaving me with my anxious thoughts!

I have found that activities where you focus on doing something with your hands ie gardening, woodwork, painting and such is helpful and I think it's because we are so proud we accomplished something that we increase the ceritonan (sp?) in our brains which decreases the level of cortisol (stress hormone)

I hope to feel like the 'old me' soon :) and I hope everyone here feels great soon too!

[caco47]

1: I MUST get way more sleep (preferably without medicine) as my anxiety has caused me to develop severe insomnia. I am really not too sure what I can do but I have found listening to my favourite music at night helps... If any one has any tips please let me know :)

I think getting more sleep is going to be a goal of mine as well.  I've found that my anxiety is lower when I am well rested. If only we could add more hours to the day.

[nicole:-)]

I pledge not too google any symptoms for a week ........... i pledge to do deep breathing instead of going off into full panic..............i pledge to start eating again .......... I am now making lunch :-)

[GabbyMomof3]

Another week, another post.

So basically I'm sticking to what I said before because I have to say I did good this past week. I did Google twice, but caught myself quick and closed the page before I set myself up for an attack.

This week though I added crocheting to my list. I get distracted crocheting, well up until I start feeling that weird sensation in my chest and I go all mental, but I find my way back.

[reasonableland]

Here are mine:

Establish a good sleeping pattern
Do brisk exercise each day in the fresh air, walking the dog, jogging... And choose to continue with healthy wholesome foods.
Keep in regular positive contact with friends and family
Take steps out of my comfort zone (start driving lessons, talk on the phone more, interact in new places with new people)
Try practicing meditation just a few minutes each day.

Try to reframe my negative intrusive thoughts into positive thoughts, like "intrusive Thought about cancer" = "I feel excited about something positive or happy today and I'm misinterpreting that excited energy for anxiety". Try to be optimistic and focus on good things I guess.


Update on how I've been doing with my challenges:  I set mine in February and it's almost end of March now

Sleeping pattern IS better. Sleeping more regularly, getting up at more regular times. This is brilliant.
Eating really well. On a slow-carbs diet, so eating less crap, and a lot more veggies
Getting fresh air exercise at least 2x per day, as we got a dog last month. Not really doing sweaty stuff yet, going to start HIITs and jogging more. Going to commit to running a couple 5km races
TRYING to keep in better contact with friends/family, though still not as much as I should, its improved though :)
First driving lesson in about 90 minutes from now!
Stepped out of my comfort zone and got a new very short haircut

To improve:
Not been doing meditation
Better social contact
Read more fiction and nonfiction
Push my boundaries a bit more - New situations etc
Continue exercise, eating
Start making plans for positive things!
Remember to try to frame things in a positive outlook. Instead of saying "I'm not worried about it" say "It's fine by me" or something. Be positive and optimistic

[bobbiejo979]

i love reading all these post

[nicole:-)]

I have stopped googling my symptoms ......... now am tapering my xanax soon i will be medication free and anxiety controlled

[tinklovespink]

I hate anxiety so much