Migraines must be an absolute nightmare, you have my deepest sympathy. I'm lucky, I never get as much as a heachache, but I've got no end of stomach problems.
Can anyone tell me, are all people with anxiety/agoraphobia also hypochondriacs? Or is it just that we generally have a higher anxiety level than other people and get scared of the same things, only much more so, and it spirals out of control?
I'd love to hear from other people who get scared about physical symptoms. Kajikit, I'm the same as you, if there is something wrong with me all my attention focuses on my body, and then every little tweak gets amplified. I'm aware of the physical manifestations of a panic attack, the sweating and breathing problems etc, but for me it starts the other way round. I get a physical pain first, eg a pain in my chest because of indigestion, or a sudden sharp sting in my back because I've overdone a twist in yoga, and I'm off. I get all the panic attack symptoms ON TOP of the original pain. I KNOW what has caused the pain in the first place, but that doesn't help me, I just can't stop it. I do self talk etc, but there is always this tiny little nagging voice that says "what if this is different, what if the pain won't stop and get worse and worse, what if this is a heart attack?". I do tell my little voice to shut up and not be stupid, I've been through this a thousand times, but since it's not a logical fear all the reasoning doesn't help.
Does anyone recoginse this?
Marianne
