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Do i have some kind of disorder

Hi I have been for past few years suffering from thinking i am going to get a major disease ( like cancer , etc). Even if get a small mouth ulcer , any pain i go through consultants who take tests and say nothing is there , if one is cleared i think it might be another and start researching in the internet , is something wrong with me , is this some kind of disorder, its starting to interfere now heavily in mind keeping me pre occupied and reading various stuff , i am 37 with wife and kid and have no major health concerns

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Avatar universal
I'm sure you know about hypochondria.  But any thinking that rises to the obsessive level is usually an anxiety problem.  Whether it's an illness or there's a trigger that is causing stress you usually don't experience depends on why it's going on, but when it goes on for years it's risen to a disorder.  First order of business is to stop the Google machine.  You can't really self-diagnose, as the same symptoms can be a sign of tons of different diseases or none at all, so all it does is increase your stress.  And if you've repeatedly gone to docs and been told there's nothing wrong, there's probably nothing wrong.  You might want to think back to when this all started and see if you can come up with something that happened around that time that might have shaken your confidence in your well-being.  Therapy is something you should think about, because with anxiety, the longer it goes on the more entrenched it becomes.  Learning some relaxation techniques such as meditation can help.  It's not easy to stop obsessive thinking, but you can do it.  With health, though, you have to be careful not to go too far, because all of us will get health problems at some points along the way if we don't die young so you do have to learn to separate what's real from what's just life's little torments.  Just wondering, did this start when you had your child?
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No it did not but it worsens as i think i will leave my child and wife behind due to it. It started a few years ago when i had a chronic throat clearing issue and i was sure it was cancer, went to a ENT then to a Gastro and then to a oncologist who could not find anything , since then these thoughts have been the same leading to doubts every time i get a symptom - small - google - it - relate to an issue - go to a doctor sometimes fake even that i have sever symptoms to have  the scan done etc just to confirm i don't have anything , then my fear moves to a different zone .. has been for some years no , previously it all started when i had a sexual encounter and was 200% convinced i had HIV and was in denial to test for 7 years before i tested before marriage , may it caused this - not sure but now its start to affect my thoughts ,sleep , mood and thinking ... a lot , so looking for help
Probably then best not to look for causes and get into therapy.  Maybe look into CBT, a form of therapy that doesn't really focus on the why of it but more on how to stop doing it.  You've had this a long time -- HIV phobia is all over the HIV forums on this website mostly for behavior that has no slight chance of causing it.  Phobias are irrational.  It's not that bad stuff can't happen, obviously it can, but obsessing over it gains you nothing but pain.  I had that throat clearing issue, funny enough, when I was young. then I just stopped doing it.  It's usually an allergy thing but you can make anything into a habit.  But when you start thinking it's cancer, well, it's time for therapy.  Good luck with it.  Peace.
973741 tn?1342342773
Health anxiety is real.  It plagues many people.  https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/always-worried-about-your-health-you-may-be-dealing-with-health-anxiety-disorder  So, treating it as anxiety very often helps.  What exactly you do may depend on how much it is impacting your life.  Some may just work on improving their inner voice, exercise, sleep, etc. which improves anxiety.  Others that are impacted more by health anxiety may go to deeper levels such as therapy or medication.  
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Avatar universal
Anxiety is what's causing you to feel this way. You are even still looking for an ailment here by trying to decide if you have a mental health problem. I been there before. Talk to your doctor about getting some therapy its the only way out of it.
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Avatar universal
Sorry you are suffering from this painful anxiety problem. I know having anxiety can really take a toll in our lives. But one thing for sure that you will be ok. It’s all about reprogramming your thoughts back into normal. Reassure yourself you will be ok. I been able to manage my anxiety but lately I been feeling like I’m going to lose control. I going through a tuff time right now. The fear that enters my mind is so powerful and painful. It brings tears in my eyes. But I know it’s all in my head. I know you will be ok and you won’t die from anxiety. It’s all in your head. Training your mind it’s a good start to get the negative thoughts off your head.
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Well written Maryland12.
I too have horrific anxiety and think that I am dying from the symptoms I feel all my waking hours. I’m a health professional and it’s difficult taking care of others when I feel so sick myself. I am forced to suffer in silence during the day- just dreaming of when I will be able to go to sleep later that evening. “  It’s all about reprogramming your thoughts back into normal.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. 100% true. Not easy to do but imperative in order to recover. Check out “Improvement Path” on YouTube. Brilliant videos. Best of luck to fellow warriors.
Gosh, Shawn1963.  I'm sorry you are feeling so poorly.  Do you see a psychiatrist or psychologist as well?
And I agree, so well put Marlyand12!
Specialmom- I appreciate all your comments on this board. Thank you for your concern regarding my issues. My symptoms began almost two years ago. I was on Zoloft and then Lexapro. Neither did anything at all for me. I’m now speaking with a psychologist and will be starting again with a Psychiatrist.
People have stress and anxiety and it is a major mental health issue for them. With me, it causes such terrible physical symptoms that make me feel sick all my waking hours. Sadly, I feel helpless- as though my situation is unique and that there is no hope. By day, I’m a dental professional- it’s extremely difficult going from one stressful patient to the next when I have no resilience at all and when my simple base level of stress is so high to begin with. Not easy- I try and take it day by day....
Stress isn't a mental illness.  Chronic anxiety is.  Stress is caused by us.  Anxiety, who knows?  Just seems to come for some of us and then it's there.  But stress is imposed by us from outside events, and so the two are not the same thing.  I say this not because one is better to have than the other or that either is easy to overcome, but you can take a hundred people and expose them to the same phenomena and you will get a hundred different reactions but few will be overcome by stress.  So it's not what's happening that causes stress unless what's happening is extremely traumatic, such as being tortured.  If you can stop thinking what you're doing is stressful it ceases to be stressful.  With anxiety, on the other hand, this is not always going to be the case, as we have no idea what causes it.  Our thinking makes it stick around, but doesn't really explain why it came in the first place.  If you can decompress, you can minimize stress.  Easy to say, hard to do, but possible.  Anxiety again is much harder to fix.  But possible.  If your stress is coming from work, you might be doing something you don't really fit well with.  If it's anxiety, well, that seems to enter into everything.  Just some thoughts in the hope it might give you some hope of relief.  Peace.
Hi Shawn1963, thank you for your kind words.  That IS stressful and I think stress over and over can lead to anxiety. I get physical symptoms too.  My body aches, I get headaches, my stomach is messed up, I can't focus and feel 'fuzzy'.  My son has anxiety and is always stressed and he has many physical symptoms.  I completely understand what you are saying.  When you are expected to go from patient to patient with a lot riding on it (their care provided by YOU) with no energy or internal resources to deal with it, it has to be really hard.  I'm so glad you are going to see a psychiatrist.  My anxious teenager makes me do a lot of reading.  One thing that stuck with me is that when we are anxious, there is a real lack of energy or motivation to do what would help what we are anxious about, and it just goes on and on which can head us down the road of depression.  I've been working hard to convince my son that there IS help and that treating anxiety and depression these days has come a long way.  Let me know how your treatment goes!
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