48. The One Where You Google Your Symptoms At Night

If you struggle with health anxiety, medical anxiety, or obsessive symptom checking, late-night Googling symptoms, worrying you have a rare disease, repeatedly checking your body, booking (and almost cancelling) appointments, or feeling embarrassed about how much you worry — this episode is for you.

This episode, I’m unpacking health anxiety: why it’s so common (especially in women), how our medical system and wellness culture both fuel it, and how to step out of the spiral without ignoring your health.

This isn’t about dismissing your symptoms. It’s about calming your nervous system and rebuilding trust with your body.


Key Takeaways

• Health anxiety is common in women and often rooted in not being believed.
• Hyper-vigilance is a protection strategy… but an exhausting one.
• The “one root cause” promise is seductive but rarely realistic.
• More testing doesn’t always create peace (hello, incidental findings).
• Acceptance is not giving up, it’s ending the war with your body.

What You’ll Learn

• Why women are more prone to health-related worry
• How to recognize when research and testing have become anxiety-driven
• The difference between intuition and anxiety
• Why over-testing can increase fear
• Practical mindset shifts to reduce spiraling
• How acceptance can actually be the most powerful healing step

Related Episodes You’ll Love🎧
2. The One Where You Hear Your Body Speak
(Especially if bloating or chronic symptoms have sent you down rabbit holes before)

💌 Leave Me a Voicemail!
I want to hear from YOU. Share your questions, your health anxiety spirals, or what resonated with you in this episode. Your message might be featured in a future episode and it could help another woman feel less alone.

Leave me a voicemail here: Speakpipe.com/TheFatigueFixer

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Dr. Sarah Vadeboncoeur is a Naturopathic Doctor, mom, and fatigue fixer who’s on a mission to help women fix their fatigue and get the health care they deserve. You can find her talking about all things fatigue on Instagram and learn more about her services at drsarahv.ca.

The Fatigue Fixer is produced by Story Studio Network.