I have suffered from extreme anxiety in the past, and know the symptoms, but I haven’t really had it for a good ten years. However, over the last year or so I have had a long run of different illnesses including mumps and in the last couple of weeks I have had a bad infection in the tubes to my testicles. I am now on my second course of antibiotics which have not yet worked. At the start of this I also had bad a bloated stomach and felt sick with odd pains too. This is still really bad now 3 weeks on and I don’t know if it’s connected to the testicle infection or if there is something more sinister going on. During this time my anxiety levels have risen through the roof. What do you think?

I am very sorry to hear you have been suffering both physically and with anxiety in recent months, having been free from it for some years.

Health anxiety in itself is a very real and potent stressor, and ironically undermines the immune response that should be helping things heal.

Our ability to cope well with every day challenges also diminishes while we are physically unwell and this can create a vicious circle i.e. ill health increasing anxiety and anxiety preventing us from healing quickly.

I would recommend that you speak to your GP about your concerns and anxiety levels. You may benefit from short term medication to help relieve the anxiety and thus speed up the healing process. 

It might also be worth discussing CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) with the GP if you have not already done so. CBT is a talking therapy, sometimes available on the NHS, and whilst it cannot remove problems, it can help you deal with them in a more positive way. It is based on the concept that your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions are interconnected, and that negative thoughts and feelings can trap you in a vicious cycle.

CBT aims to help you crack this cycle by breaking down overwhelming problems into smaller parts and showing you how to change these negative patterns to improve the way you feel.

I do hope you get better soon, both physically and from the anxiety.