Originally Posted by
NYCDoglvr 
I didn't have health anxiety but worried about everything else. I think it's part of early recovery and it will pass once you feel comfortable in your own skin (it took me a good six months to calm down). In the meantime, just go to the doctor. Are you going to meetings?
I don't think you read all of my post (sorry, I know it was long). I am not in "early recovery" at all. It's been over 11 months. The health anxiety is not causing any temptation to go back to problem drinking at all. Also, I am definitely already under a doctor's care, which is kind of part of my problem. My husband has to talk me down from making an appointment for new blood labs every time I get a stomach ache.
My husband's theory is that my health anxiety is sort of a delayed reaction to what I went through back in December 2015, when I quit cold turkey without being under a doctor's care right when so much was on the line. I knew at the time that quitting cold turkey could be dangerous (I read it can kill you) but felt I had no choice but to risk my life because if I didn't get that job I'd have ended up homeless. Granted, I'm not sure my "detox" experience was life-threatening, but try telling anxiety that! I had no DTs, no vomiting or headaches or even cravings, just loss of appetite, insomnia and horrible anxiety attacks lasting for days which all subsided immediately after the final interview was over.
I'm just wondering why now, when life is so, so good (I make great money at my dream job and live near family and friends again), would the health anxiety surface? Is it guilt, maybe? Or do we just become so numb to caring what we're doing to ourselves while we're drinking too much that once we stop all the worry about what we were doing to our bodies comes rushing back?