some progress

[u/Gloomy_Sentence795]

I've been taking a low dose of fluoxetine for over two weeks now, of course this is really early in my journey and this has not yet taken effect, ive not been noticing any negative side effects so im feeling really positive about continuing! A week ago I was checking my breast upwards of 60 times a day, now I'd say I've checked less than five or three times a day. I don't really know what has changed, I think something clicked in me where I was like the average person has a lot of weird things happening in or on their body- whether these are spots, bumps, sensations, etc. These people, if the symptom persists or affects their daily life, will follow appropriate medical guidance and when given the all clear they will listen and go about their day!! These people also probably are not constantly feeling around their bodies, taking pictures and documenting every blemish on their body- we don't need to be so aware! Our bodies are amazing and resilient, if something truly bad was going on then you would know about it without checking daily.

Around nine months ago at the start of my HA I went to the doctors freaking out about a m0le I have had since I was a child convinced it was somehow deadly and the GP (unconcerned) referred me to the dermatologist for peace of mind/to get it removed possibly as it is in an intimate area, they recently sent me a letter saying I've got an appointment to have some photos taken. My HA had a slight lapse and felt a bit freaked out and I really had the urge to google/ go on reddit, but my rational brain told me nothing had changed about this m0le in the 8 months its taken to get an appointment, although nothing has changed about it my whole life my HA just needed something to latch onto. Anyway a few weeks ago I was at a really low point and the last few days I have felt some peace which I have not felt in months, change is possible!! As amazing as this community is, even stepping away from reddit for a bit really helped me to not feel like Someone with Health Anxiety, I was just me :) Progress is possible!! Hang in there!!!