Health Anxiety

[carld]

Prior to my onset of this condition, I went through years of health anxiety. I'm wondering if anyone else in this forum had this issue. People have anxiety over different things that can lead to illnesses over time. What I want to know if any of you were over focused on your health and as a result your anxiety over this led to your prostatitis like I believe happened to me. Our condition is a constallation of issues for sure, but I would like to read some posts on guys that were always dealing with there health and wanting to be in perfect health etc....You know anxiety is a funny thing, I can play drums in front of thousands of people and not be a bit nervous about it, but think about health issues and the anxiety can kick right in. Peace...

[scoobysnacks]

yep me here.

Not in the form of a hypochodriac (sp?) type thing, but in a want to look good and eat healthy, anal, kind of way. I took it to the extreme competing in bodybuilding shows, training very intensely five days a week, eating nothing that wasn't on my diet, and continually obsessing about my six pack . I ended up overdoing it, pulling my stomach in too look better, I was a ball of anxiety I believe. It caused a tight perineum area that I am still working on, but is getting better with rest and virtually doing nothing.

However, this is just one way to get this. I think overfocusing on anything to the point of OCD can/could lead to these chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome symptoms.

Hope this helps!

[carld]

Ya I hear you scooby, I don't consider my self a hypo.... either, just want to be healthy and then over focus on it, plus I watched my Dad die of prostate cancer which spread to His bones but he fought it for 11 plus years before He died and my Brother got testicular cancer as well which he recovered from. So when this prostate issue came up with me, the cycle of worry and symptoms took on it's own life. That area of the male body is sensative and maybe is something that runs in my family. Thank you for your story...

[scoobysnacks]

wow carld, actually I would have been stressing too...hopefully you have beat the genes, and if this is the worst you get, consider yourself lucky.

hang in there, this site is a great and helps/helped me a ton.

[carld]

Ya Scooby my exact thoughts as well. I understand where my health anxiety comes from so at least I have a base to start with and go from there. Thank you for your support it does help. I do consider my self lucky that prostatitis is not a life threatning thing, although it has been life changing, you just have to keep fighting and stay possitive although I have not really had the constant pain that most of the Men in this forum have experienced, the irrative nature of my problems can still bring you down. Regards, Carl....

[otherwiseread]

Very much the same for me.. sometimes find it hard to control my hypochondria which seems to bring about new pains and aches..

Another thing is my mother with her negative health talk. Believe it or not, I clearly remember the whole year right before I got this chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome thing, my mother was constantly nagging me "you sit too much in front of the computer, your going to get some urological disorder soon", .. and right she was.. Somehow she has always had a talent to predict these things: "you're going to get terrible back pains if you keep doing this" - 5 years of bad back pain followed, or if "you read in the dark you'll start getting headaches" and this is what happened indeed. The good thing is that my IBS (5 years of suffering), bad back pain (about 5 years) and terrible headaches (2 years) all disappeared without a trace, which I hope will happen to my chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome some day soon..

And I play music too , mostly local bars and clubs, nothing big. and even though I had social anxiety all my life, I have none when I get on stage, seems like my hypochondria is the only thing I can worry about last couple of years. Working on it though.. Any recommendations? books? I need to win this health anxiety battle.

[carld]

Very much the same for me.. sometimes find it hard to control my hypochondria which seems to bring about new pains and aches..

Another thing is my mother with her negative health talk. Believe it or not, I clearly remember the whole year right before I got this chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome thing, my mother was constantly nagging me "you sit too much in front of the computer, your going to get some urological disorder soon", .. and right she was.. Somehow she has always had a talent to predict these things: "you're going to get terrible back pains if you keep doing this" - 5 years of bad back pain followed, or if "you read in the dark you'll start getting headaches" and this is what happened indeed. The good thing is that my IBS (5 years of suffering), bad back pain (about 5 years) and terrible headaches (2 years) all disappeared without a trace, which I hope will happen to my chronic prostatitis / chronic pelvic pain syndrome some day soon..

And I play music too , mostly local bars and clubs, nothing big. and even though I had social anxiety all my life, I have none when I get on stage, seems like my hypochondria is the only thing I can worry about last couple of years. Working on it though.. Any recommendations? books? I need to win this health anxiety battle.

I think one of the important health things you can do is get a yearly physical. That way you have a base line on your over all health.

Ya I mostly play the bar scene and local club scene as well here in LA. I did get to do a few shows on the Warped Tour in 05 and 06 and doing 1 in 07 next month. I find that playing out really distracts me from this condition and boosts my overall attitude. Except when I play gigs that no one cheers you on or claps after you finish a song like I did last weekend. Those gigs are humbling to say the least...

I think everyone that cares about being healthy has some sort of health anxiety. Just depends on how extensive it can get and to keeo it in perspective through therapy etc....

[holistic]

I can totally relate to this. You can go into supplement overload because you may feel you are being punished somehow or cannot depend on your body to function by itself with a healthy diet alone. The constipation/hard stools problems I have suffered definitely make me more paranoid but now I realise this is likely to be a hormonal problem

I had what you might call a "sex accident" when a girl I was with who was all kinky and weird shoved a biro pen of all things up my ass causing me severe distress I am pretty sure that started a lot of crap for me. The prostate doesn't feel to bad now and can ejaculate ok every day or other day but the loss of libido is something that I find hard to deal with, probably because my endocrine system adrenals/thyroid etc have been messed up that I am now looking to hopefully fix

[Clay]

My health anxiety came in the form of a post traumatic stress reaction to doctors and hospitals - panic attacks, anxiety, sleep deprivation. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) about cured it, thank god. No, thank science! Otherwiseread, counseling might really help. Having someone totally rational coach me through my fears was amazingly helpful.

[carld]

I can totally relate to this. You can go into supplement overload because you may feel you are being punished somehow or cannot depend on your body to function by itself with a healthy diet alone. The constipation/hard stools problems I have suffered definitely make me more paranoid but now I realise this is likely to be a hormonal problem

I had what you might call a "sex accident" when a girl I was with who was all kinky and weird shoved a biro pen of all things up my ass causing me severe distress I am pretty sure that started a lot of crap for me. The prostate doesn't feel to bad now and can ejaculate ok every day or other day but the loss of labido is something that I find hard to deal with, probably because my endocrine system adrenals/thyroid etc have been messed up that I am now looking to hopefully fix

Yikes

[rebel1]

C,

I am glad you posted what you did. I know my PP comes from a case of severe health anxiety. I'll spare you the story. Lets just say after about 4 straight months of obsessing over my health, these symptoms appear. However, I feel like I am calmer now than I have been in a while, yet, the "pain" continues. Not sure why. I do most things that people suggest on the board with little to no results. Not sure what to do from here. All the docs I have seen don't know what to make of it. They just like focusing on my anxiety because its something they are used to dealing with...........

[carld]

C,

I am glad you posted what you did. I know my PP comes from a case of severe health anxiety. I'll spare you the story. Lets just say after about 4 straight months of obsessing over my health, these symptoms appear. However, I feel like I am calmer now than I have been in a while, yet, the "pain" continues. Not sure why. I do most things that people suggest on the board with little to no results. Not sure what to do from here. All the docs I have seen don't know what to make of it. They just like focusing on my anxiety because its something they are used to dealing with...........

Does the Xanax help take away the PP? Do you have a wax and wane of your symptoms when you are on the benzos? When you are not on the benzos, do you still wax and wane? Have you considered low dosage Elavil 5 to 10 mg to calm the nerves down? I'm not a doctor...

[cjt]

Oh, yes. The over-focus. I know it well. I'd say I have pretty much been a dedicated over-focuser most of my life, and health related matters were certainly one item on a rather long list. Unfortunately, my over-focusing was largely focused on things over which I had really no control. In retrospect, it seems all that energy would have been much more useful channeled in a direction with the potential to yield more positive results: career, becoming actively involved with my own life, taking responsibility for and owning my place in the world, that sort of thing. But that's the wisdom of hindsight. All that fruitless over-focusing generated a hefty dose of anxiety that I am fairly certain is at least 80% of the cause of this thing for me. Anxiety coupled with a basic crisis of confidence, followed by more anxiety about not believing in myself. Quite a cycle. One that I am now trying to break.

Whatever its root, I'm willing to be anxiety is a big reason many of us are here. For me, I'm hoping that if I can get a better grip on the anxiety part of things then I'll be in a better spot to successfully work through the physical consequences.

[rebel1]

Does the Xanax help take away the PP? Do you have a wax and wane of your symptoms when you are on the benzos? When you are not on the benzos, do you still wax and wane? Have you considered low dosage Elavil 5 to 10 mg to calm the nerves down? I'm not a doctor...

Yes, Xanax does take away the "pain" for long stretches. By wax and wane I am assuming you are referencing the intensity of my symptoms. They fluctuate throughout the day. I'll ask my doc (all 10 of 'em) about the Elavil.....

[carld]

Oh, yes. The over-focus. I know it well. I'd say I have pretty much been a dedicated over-focuser most of my life, and health related matters were certainly one item on a rather long list. Unfortunately, my over-focusing was largely focused on things over which I had really no control. In retrospect, it seems all that energy would have been much more useful channeled in a direction with the potential to yield more positive results: career, becoming actively involved with my own life, taking responsibility for and owning my place in the world, that sort of thing. But that's the wisdom of hindsight. All that fruitless over-focusing generated a hefty dose of anxiety that I am fairly certain is at least 80% of the cause of this thing for me. Anxiety coupled with a basic crisis of confidence, followed by more anxiety about not believing in myself. Quite a cycle. One that I am now trying to break.

Whatever its root, I'm willing to be anxiety is a big reason many of us are here. For me, I'm hoping that if I can get a better grip on the anxiety part of things then I'll be in a better spot to successfully work through the physical consequences.

I can almost promise you that once you have learned to control your anxiety in normal daily life activities, you will notice marked improvement in your symptoms. How do I know this?

For the last 2 years I have done neurofeedback to monitor my brain waves because of years of anxiety and panic attacks. When I started the program, my brain waves were all over the map spiking real high. Just last night I did a session. My brain waves are smoothe and as my therapist joked with me and said I was a zen master now. At this time, my symptoms are very manageable and continuing to get better. Hence the connection between my anxiety under control and my symptoms of CP/CPPS being improved to 90% better from this time last year is no coincidence to me....So get control of the anxiety by stretching and deep breathing and over all stress reduction, you will then reduce the neurogenic inflammation thats associated with our condition.

Please also keep in mind the over all protocol I'm doing is contributing as well.