How do I stop myself from panicking
I know medical advice is not allowed to be given on here so please understand I'm not looking for that.
I am just struggling emotionally right now as I'm on day 6 of a 'migraine' and my symptoms scare me. I am a worrier and I just always think the worst. How do I stop myself from thinking I have a brain tumor? I just am looking for people who have been there and know how to handle this unrelenting fear. Right now I believe it's a strong possibility that I might but I know that I tend to always worry about worst case scenario. The last brain MRI I had was 9 months ago and nothing was there at the time. I have this nagging feeling in my head that's different than any migraine I've had before, it won't go away, it's like a pressure/pulling feeling, and so it just makes me think I must have a tumor. If I sit here and look up tumor symptoms I will have a full on panic attack about it so instead I'm turning to this forum. I feel like I can't share this with anyone because I don't want to upset anyone or make them think I'm crazy. I've been followed pretty closely about my migraines for about 4 years now with an MRI once a year and I have white matter lesions from migraine but nothing else. Now I pretty much just panic that something deadly is happening. I have an appointment to see my neuro in about a month and a half and he's away for the holidays until then. I know if I call the office they will just tell me to take more meds or put me on some other med. I mean if there's a big problem I guess they'll try to get me seen by a different dr. I just tend to panic a lot so I hate calling when there's nothing really wrong.
Anyone understand this?
Hi Heather87, thank you for reaching out. I hear how anxious you have been feeling recently with what feels like an internal change in your head symptoms. It can be so hard not to panic and think of the worse possible scenarios. I don't know if these practices would be helpful for you, but there are those in the community who have found practicing meditation/mindfulness and radical acceptance to be helpful in managing their emotional responses to migraine symptoms. We have several articles on both topics you may want to peruse that can be found here:
https://migraine.com/?s=mindfulness
https://migraine.com/?s=radical+acceptance
It it also worth noting that anxiety is considered a comorbid condition with migraine, meaning those with migraine have a higher prevalence of also experiencing anxiety disorders. This article expands on that a bit: https://migraine.com/blog/migraine-comorbidities-anxiety/
I hope you will be able to find ways to help manage those anxious feelings until you are able to see your neurologist after the holidays. You might also consider reaching out to your primary care doctor to speak about your anxiety and see what s/he might recommend for you in the intermittent time.
Please keep us posted on how you are feeling and if you are able to find any relief for your anxiety. Know we are always here to listen when you need support. Wishing you a gentle day. ~Allyson (Migraine.com team)
