My journey with health anxiety ( please read )

i been suffering from health anxiety since the end of 2024. i’ve had my ups and downs, but my downs were way above the good days. i did so many tests, maybe like many of you, and guess what? they always come back normal.

just for your reassurance i will list some of them here: echocardiogram (because i thought something was wrong with my heart), camera inside my stomach (because i thought i had cancer), multiple ecgs, blood tests, and many x-rays. but those tests didn't just come from nowhere i did them because i had symptoms i could actually feel, like chest pain, sharp pain, numbness, brain zaps, stomach pain, palpitations, needles etc.

every time one of those tests came back normal, it drove me crazy. if it’s normal then why do i feel these symptoms?? "oh it’s just anxiety!" i would feel better, then a few days later i would start panicking again because new symptoms would show up.

february 2026 was my biggest month. i started running i remember my first run was only like 5 mins because i was still panicking that something was wrong with my heart. but day after day i ended up reaching a 45 min run. yes, 45 mins, which i never even dreamed about. i thought i was cured.

but yesterday something happened that completely changed the way i look at my life and my health anxiety. after i finished my 45 min run i rested in the park, then i walked back home. while i was walking i spat some blood, like 3-4 times, and then it was gone. no more blood.

i panicked. omg this had never happened to me before. i got home, no blood at all, but my head kept telling me to go to the emergency room. i walked all the way there (35 min walk). my blood pressure was normal, but when they wanted me to do an ecg i panicked, so my heart rate shot up to 119, which showed tachycardia.

anyway, my ecg was normal. i did a blood test and waited for the doctor. i told him what happened and he said he thought it was just an irritated airway, but let's do an x-ray. x-ray: all normal. blood test: all normal. he asked me about clots or any history and i said no. he said because of the blood and the high heart rate, he would refer me to the clinic today just for safety, but all my tests were normal (even my d-dimer was 22). i told him i was just panicking during the ecg.

so today i went to the clinic with my friend. they told me i didn't need a blood test because i just did them yesterday. i was calm this timeecg was normal with a 66 heart rate. they told me to walk fast with a monitor on my finger and i did it 5 times, all good. then i waited for the doctor. for the first time ever, i had a doctor who actually checked all the scans and reports i’ve done before. she told me she didn't see any concerns at all, everything was normal from the blood tests to the ecg to the x-ray. she said she will ask my gp to refer me for a ct scan just for peace of mind since i’ve been to the ER so many times for chest pain, but there is nothing concerning.

on my way back home, i realized that every time i get new symptoms i panic. i’m not fully cured. i got used to the old symptoms, but the new ones are the new triggers. but making myself busy and exercising did help me a lot. turning reddit notifications off and stopping the googling helped me so much. even my dietafter i changed it, i started going to the toilet with no constipation. i cut all the negative people out of my life, limited my social media, and every time i see health news or sad news i click "not interested."

there are little things we can do that make a huge difference in our lives. be strong, and if anything doesn't bring you peace, leave it. you are the ceo of your life you hire, you fire, and you promote who deserves it. recovery is just around the corner, don't ever give up.