Every headache is a brain tumour. Every chest twinge is a heart attack. Every unexplained mark is something sinister. I know, rationally, that I am almost certainly fine. The rational knowledge does nothing.
I have spent hours on symptom-checker websites and always arrived at the worst possible diagnosis. I have visited doctors and been told everything is normal and felt temporary relief followed, within days, by a new symptom and the cycle beginning again.
The anxiety about my health is now, ironically, making me physically worse. My chest genuinely tightens from the anxiety. My heart races from the fear. My symptoms multiply because I am watching my body so closely for signs of illness that I find something every time.
I feel embarrassed by this. It seems like such a privileged thing to worry about when the actual threat is in my head. But it is genuinely disrupting my life.
Does anyone else live with health anxiety? What helped you break the cycle of checking and seeking reassurance?