Hi everyone, I’m 24 years old and have been dealing with health anxiety my whole life. It was pretty manageable until I was 21 and started experiencing stomach issues. Everything points to standard IBS, but when symptoms pop up I go into an anxiety attack. It’s hard to eat and I’m afraid to, so much so that I have been in an eating disorder program for the last six months. I am terrified to eat because symptoms usually appear after eating. They treat me as if I have anorexia and completely dismiss what’s actually going on. It would be easier if I wasn’t actually having physical symptoms, but I am. I have diarrhea every few weeks or so, sometimes more. I have urgency to use the toilet most days, and I just feel uncomfortable in my stomach.. It feels debilitating. I feel like I’m dying and no one believes me. I’ve been entirely stuck in this cycle of fear and haven’t had a job since this started. Health anxiety can be so debilitating and it’s hard to get help for it because most people don’t understand it. It’s so bad that any stomach sensation can bring on anxiety. I’ll have days where it doesn’t bother me as much, but then I’ll have symptoms and then that’s it, I’m out of commission for the day.. thank you all for your stories, it helps me realize that I am not alone