from my understanding and in most of my experience, health anxiety often latches onto irrational things that have no evidence of actually being true. but what do you do when you do have a health issue, but the anxiety has blown it out of proportion? i've dealt with every spiral health anxiety has thrown me, except for this one.

TW talk of tinnitus and ear-related things:

a year ago i got stress induced tinnitus which turned chronic. it wasn't from hearing loss. i dealt with it through therapy and it's gotten heaps better. but since then, i've become utterly obsessed with my ears, specifically the fear of getting hearing loss. the anxiety caused a few other ear symptoms too, like hyperacusis and distorted hearing (which went away) and middle ear fluttering. i am pretty sure i have tensor-tympani syndrome (from stress) and am looking into specialised treatment for that.

but my pre-existing anxiety has made me convinced that any sensation in my ears, such as this persistent fullness that comes and goes, means i have hearing loss. i'm terrified of loud sound and block my ears all the time. i also have tmjd (jaw issues) that i suspect cause some of my ear symptoms like the fullness and popping.

my point is though that the anxiety surrounding this has become inescapable, and the things that usually help me out of overthinking and health anxiety spirals aren't helping me for this, since there is some realistic/physical backing to my symptoms. since my tinnitus onset a year ago, i've done 3 hearing tests, been to the ENT 3 times, seen a neurologist, seen my psychiatrist, been seeing my psychologist, and worked with an audiologist/CBT therapist for 6 months. every single specialist has concluded that my ears are perfectly healthy and it is anxiety that is perpetuating my symptoms. yet i'm still convinced that this fullness sensation means i'm losing my hearing. 6 weeks ago i fully convinced myself i had hearing loss to the point where i could've sworn sounds were quieter in my left ear. hearing test indicated 10/10 hearing. i got over it for a few weeks and the sensation went away, but now it's back and im back at square one. usually i have decent insight and can rationalise when im calm about my anxiety. but i haven't been able to do this this time. i'm really convinced theres something wrong despite all the evidence pointing to nothing being wrong.

i genuinely don't know how to help myself out of this one and was hoping anyone had experience or advice they could share.

It's late at night, I couldnt sleep. Not sure if I have HA but I'd rather it than whatever this is. I thought for a my mother was replaced by an imposter for half an hour, which made me so terrified I cried. And I still suspect school administration may be using my roommate to track me bc of teachers act. Latter has been happening at least a week possibly even before i dont remeber. I am sure it's been at least a week, while first one happened this night. I have read that reading symptoms may cause them to manifest due to anxiety but both of them happened before reading about symptoms.

BUT two days ago I was looking at cluster A disorders bc of intellectual curiosity. While I have some very very superficial symptoms which can be easily explained by other Neurodivergencies (such as ADHD, which I'm officially diagnosed with), I didnt give it much thought until now. The second part of the question is about the having superficial symptoms part. I read in this subreddit about people starting to have the symptoms upon hearing about them but what I experience is different, in which I can pick and choose the ones I am currently and remember experiencing and recontextualize my own experiences in light of them. I wonder if it can be HA? Idk if I should be posting in this subreddit (which I discovered just rn) for reassurence since I am not even sure if I have HA but this is the only place I can look for comfort.

does anybody know if your subconsciousness from health anxiety causes chest pounding and faster heartbeat along with chest pain?

Title: I lost 120 pounds, had surgery, and somehow feel worse about my body than ever.

I've lost 120 pounds over the last year, and instead of feeling better about myself, the more weight I lose, the worse I seem to feel.

I struggle with body dysmorphia, disordered eating tendencies, and an obsession with counting everything. Calories, protein, carbs. Everything has to be researched, compared, and calculated. Grocery shopping has become a whole fucking production, whether I'm sitting at home with multiple tabs open comparing nutrition labels or standing in the middle of an aisle reading every single one.

I had pannus surgery because I was convinced it was the missing piece. I genuinely thought removing the excess skin would finally make me feel complete. Surely, after all that work, I would finally be happy with my body.

Except I'm still picking myself apart. The goalpost keeps moving, and I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever actually be satisfied with anything.

I'm exhausted by how much mental energy food and my body consume. I just want to make a simple grocery decision without turning it into a research project. I want to eat something without doing mental math. I want to look in the mirror without immediately finding something wrong.

And, for the love of everything, I want to find a protein cereal that doesn't taste like gummy packing peanuts.

I thought losing the weight would quiet the voice in my head. I thought surgery would give me closure. Instead, I'm realizing that changing my body hasn't changed the way I see it.

Maybe I've been chasing a feeling that a smaller body was never going to give me.

I don't want my entire life to revolve around trying to earn the right to feel comfortable in my own skin.

And a protein cereal that's doesn't turn gummy in my mouth.

I’m at a loss. I’m emotionally a wreck. I’m frustrated, anxious, afraid, angry. I’ve been dealing with health anxiety for as long as I can remember. There was a moment when I was anxious free, in terms of my health, but since my first panic attack in my mid-20s, I haven’t been able to shake it. I used to be able to exercise but my body is programmed to go into fight or flight the moment my rate increases. My biggest issue is my off balance and light headed feeling. I’ve seen a neurologist but testing isn’t till December. Is this just who I am? I can’t be like this forever. I can deal with the majority of my physical symptoms but not the off balance issues. I don’t know how to fix that. Would be in your debt forever if you found ways to get back to some form of normalcy.

hi everyone, i’m 18. i’ve never been on medication but my anxiety is getting in the way of everything. i’m in talk therapy but it doesn’t seem to be helping enough. I’m wanting to start medication but i’m nervous about the side effects. does anyone have recommendations or success stories?

Ok so i've had health anxiety for quite some time and the main thing i've realized i do is have anticipatory health anxiety. meaning if i know i'm going out of town or on vacay i start taking a bunch of vitamins to keep me from catching anything while i'm gone, and i always take a bunch of vitamins with me and meds JUST in case. i start to think ahead like if something does happen then what will i do. i also always think about how someone around me could be secretly sick and i don't even know it, its like i'm always thinking one step ahead and thats all i think about. i always do the absolute most when it comes to health and that should be a good thing, but for me its like i can never just enjoy myself yk?

I had health anxiety since I was 15, at the time I only had asthma and allergies.
Now I have pots, I see horror stories w pots. And as someone w health anxiety having pots was a huge fear due to the passing out and other symptoms.

Dealing with this has been hard, as I’ve been bedridden since finding it out…

How do you deal with having an actual condition, but then seeing other people have it way worse and not freak out that that’ll be u😀

When I was about 25 I found out that I had severely high cholesterol and Triglycerides.

Total Cholesterol- 420

Triglycerides- 900

LDL- 265

For years my number weren't that high but stayed quite elevated and Drs gave me nothing until I was about 35.

Since then my numbers because of Meds and a complete lifestyle change have been.

Total Cholesterol-113

Tryglicerides- 107

LDL- 57

I plan to eat healthy forever now and have done very good but my question is can I ever really reverse my damage. It's all I think about. If I continue with this good lifestyle will my risks go back to normal or am I pretty much doomed from my past? I'm 38 now

Health anxiety tends to jump straight from a sensation to the worst explanation. One exercise is to write out every possible explanation for the symptom, from most common to rarest, and look at the whole list. It doesn't prove anything, but it loosens the grip of the scariest one. If something's new or persistent, getting it checked once by a doctor makes sense; repeated checking usually doesn't help.

Hey everyone! 22M here. Im just in a really tight spot right now. I have my mom that's currently ill and my HA is flaring up so bad. I dont know what to do, Its hard being "the man of the house" while managing my own life, and taking care of my folks. Its overwhelming and I just want to be able to manage my emotions better. Ive been breaking down every chance I get, I'm getting tired.

Doomscrolling definitely doesn’t help
Asking an ai in a fearful state doesn’t help
Looking up diagnosises online doesn’t help
Isolating myself for too long doesn’t help
TikTok, twitter, scary videos don’t help

Playing a relaxing game helps
Traveling to somewhere with beautiful scenery helps
when I didn’t have my license just getting on a bus listening to music helpful
Getting on a call w a friend helps
Listening to gratitude/ blessed affirmations helps
Receiving money helps too, makes me confident

gosh idk if i’ve used the right flair

as the title states, how did you convince yourself to take ssri for health anxiety?

i’ve been taking therapy for it and recently visited a psychiatrist and got diagnosed with illness anxiety disorder (didn’t even know it was a thing) and other stuff

anyway the psychiatrist prescribed escitalopram. they asked me to take 5mg for a week and then 10mg

i’m anxious over starting it. although i do believe i need it but i’m terrified of the idea of spiraling because of the side effects

i’d love to hear about similar experiences!

This morning I started to spiral about something. And I was gonna watch church from home. I don’t live very far, but I thought I would take it easy. Something that helps me is to get out of the house and be in public. So right now I’m grabbing some coffee and going to be physically in church.

Getting up and getting out helps me get my mind off whatever I am spiraling about. Even if it’s just a drive.

Hi friends. I’ve been having severe headaches the last few days- a week after dealing with a horrid cold for 2 weeks. I’m absolutely terrified to take Tylenol. I want to, these headaches aren’t worth it. I’ve taken Tylenol my whole life. But a few months ago my health anxiety got so much worse to the point where I’m terrified to ingest anything that’s not my regular few foods. Idk what to do. This is incredibly draining. I just want to take the pill and feel better but I can’t get over this stupid fear.

What to do if I’m nervous I have pulmonary hypertension even though there’s minimal evidence from testing aside from echo RVSP 32-35mmhg and anxiety on whether I’m declining in terms of chest pressure or exertional intolerance. Anyone go through a similar fear or experience? Any words of advice?

How do you trust your diagnosis? I recently got diagnosed with asthma here about 2 months ago but I can’t accept it. I’m convinced he missed something. I’ve went through so many different things I think it actually is
Copd
Heart failure
Pulmonary fibrosis
I keep trying to tell myself he’s the doctor and he knows what he’s doing not me, but it dosent help. I had gotten over my health anxiety for a very very long time and then as soon as this happened it was like it all started over again…

I have found out how to filter out things that trigger me. You may find this helpful as well. You can go to the settings and tag phrases and words so they do not pop up on your feed.

hello everyone! i recently posted my big step of finally getting myself checked and that appointment went really smoothly. still proud of myself! but now that it’s over, i’m left with new worries.

i don’t want to say that i don’t trust my doctor but i had to have multiple moles removed from which she only sent one to the lab. now i’ve read a ton about it usually being normal to send everything to a lab even if it was cosmetic removals!

it’s driving me crazy. i’m losing sleep over the thought of these not biopsied moles and that they were not benign after all… and now i’ll be screwed big time.

do you think i should find a second opinion to calm my anxiety? does it go away with time and i should just trust my doc? did you get something benign removed and it wasn't sent for a biopsy?

I am so tired. It’s almost like every time I am in a better place, there is the crippling feeling that crawls up my back almost that makes me think that I need to compensate for that happiness by making up theories in my head about the things that can potentially go wrong with me.

I frankly don’t know what do I do about this. I am new to this forum and would be open to advice regarding how do I solve this. If my mind has cooked up a theory regarding a disease, then it’s just a spiral and no one can convince me otherwise not even a doctor. I’ve tired out most of the doctors I have worked with, as I keep questioning, annoying them regarding my theories.
It’s almost paranoia to this point. And the worse thing is - IT WILL JUST KEEP GETTING FUCKING WORSE. If I don’t do something about it. I am unable to just sit still without doing anything as I know my mind would always drift to such places. Dear friends of the same community - how are you coping with this? What has helped you that might help me with the same.

Im 18yrs old and for two years I’ve dealt with chronic anxiety mixed with some depression. It’s mainly health related anxiety but I get anxious over pretty much everything, two years ago I got acute mono and was down for a while but during mono I quit nicotine and everything was happening around the same time, I would spend all day googling symptoms for major diseases ect. When something would have a symptom of some minor thing I’ve got going on I would freak out on the subject for about a month then switch to something else. When I was around the age of 10 i was having terrible headaches and they said I had chronic migraines caused by anxiety but my anxiety has only been ridiculously bad for these last two years, I had surgery at the end of 2025 for Pectus excavatum and that added on to my stress. I’ve been to neurologist and general doctors and they all suggested medication, the first neurologist prescribed Prozac and I never took any, but I also calmed down a lot but was still anxious, fast forward to now and it’s absolutely awful again to the point I’m thinking about just taking medication but I’ve heard that they cause long term sexual side effects like ED in men and that also stresses me out. It has effected me in so many ways for two years and I haven’t had an anxiety free GOOD DAY in two years and I’m ready for a change, its effected my weight aswell. My current google diagnosis is hypermobile ehlers danlos if anyone was curious….

The last year, my HA has been incredibly intrusive. Not only on me, but my wife and our marriage. She doesn’t understand HA and doesn’t know how to console/comfort me in times when I’m spiraling. She’s a very logical person, so her go-to is to find logical reasons as to why I’m experiencing certain symptoms or just says “I think you’re fine”. When really, in times I’m spiraling, I just want to be held and told “it’s okay”. Because this has been a year long journey, it feels like it’s to the point where she’s just completely over it. And I’m left to struggle by myself. It makes me feel horrible and alone. But I also get where she’s coming from too in a sense; I can’t imagine how difficult this situation must be for her too. I’m just lost :(

Im fussy and I tend to prefer my friends strictly in person.........except doing so has been difficult bc no one seems to want a friendship any deeper than "Yeah let's go to the bar every friday" or smn. I like to support people. Ive been told im a good listener; and that im good at helping people navigate things or am very empathetic. But i can't seem to find anyone who would be willing to do the same for me.

So then when I'm spiraling or on the verge of spiraling, i just have.....no one. My partner is away at work. Dont have family i can trust.

So i just end up spiraling, googling, checking and end up on the advice nurse line or at urgent care. No one to keep me sane. To check me. And I try so hard to stop my habits. Put my phone away, turn away from google, distract myself, stop checking, because you're gonna be fine, and repeating to myself "you'll be okay" over and over again, but it only goes for so long before i find myself talking to a nurse again. Or AI becauee it's......some form of talking. Therapy is difficult to get in my insurance. So it feels so lonely. And my H/A appearantly feeds off that lonliness.

Ciao a tutti! Sono uno studente di 26 anni e sto lavorando alla mia tesi di laurea sul tema dell’intelligenza artificiale in ambito sanitario.

Mi piacerebbe confrontarmi con voi su una curiosità: utilizzate già l’IA quando si tratta di salute?

Ad esempio, vi capita di usarla per capire meglio un referto medico, cercare informazioni su un sintomo, chiedere consigli o chiarire qualche dubbio? E quali strumenti utilizzate, ChatGPT, Gemini o altro?

Mi interessa capire un po’ le vostre abitudini e raccogliere opinioni ed esperienze diverse, sia da chi la utilizza spesso sia da chi è più scettico o non la utilizza affatto.

Visto che sto approfondendo questo tema per la tesi, mi farebbe piacere sentire anche il punto di vista della community e capire quali aspetti vi interessano o vi lasciano più perplessi.

Grazie a chi avrà voglia di condividere la propria esperienza! 🙌

I got a Brick last week and have been using it for a few days. Basically the only thing I can access after 8pm are messages and calls. I find it's really helping with the health anxiety at night. Very important to me that I blocked AI in particular