Health aniexty

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I'm not a hypochondriac, but I am obsessed with illness. I have a bizarre medical obsession, and often like to talk about times I've been sick. People often think I am a hypochondriac because I talk about illness so much. I'm not exactly that, I am not very scared of illness at all. In fact, it fascinates me. Medical things just interest me. However, I get really nervous when a friend I care about gets sick. I get unusually nervous for their sake. I have been known to freak out if a friend gets a cold or fever. I act like they will die. Most people are weirded out by my reaction...



-Mallory

I am definitely a hypochondriac.

Not a *raging* one, but still. I give off vibes at the doctor, I try not to let them know how paranoid I actually get because I know they won't take me seriously.

When I was age 17 in 1980, I read a couple of news items and then picked up a book and I became very worried about herpes. I was afraid it would derail my sexual career before it even got started. Not that I had many opportunities, but the possibility of such. I wanted to be ready.

And really, I was a step ahead of the other kids. Hardly anyone had heard of herpes back in 1980. And I had no idea how to handle the social dimension of talking with a prospective lover before we had sex. (And funny thing is, since then, I've had two girlfriends who have had occasional outbreaks, and we practiced good, sensible, middle-of-the-road prevention, and no, I did not get herpes.)

(The main thing with herpes that people overlook is that a person should not perform oral sex if they have a cold sore or fever blister, esp not at the very beginning when it's most infectious. This is true for a guy receiving oral sex, but it's even more important for a woman receiving oral sex because she has so much more mucus membrane.)

Have you thought about medical school? I mean, seriously! I think 60% of being a good doctor is heart. And stuff like organic chemistry, well, you just pre-study it (for some classes, pre-studying works so well it's almost cheating!).

And a lot of it is the social dimension. Okay for someone visiting you for the flu, you might say, 'Okay, take this for five days [Tamiflu or Relenza], but . . . if you start to have any trouble breathing, you call me right away." [flu occasionally causes pneumonia. And this pneumonia can be either direct viral or secondary bacterial.]

I might respectfully disagree with you on this one a little. For this reason that I personally do not usually get a slam-dunk like this. (for example, I don't want to end up worrying about every mole that does not have hair growing out of it) And yes, there are some other things, like if a mole is more of a circular shape with a nice smooth border, then it's considered lower risk. But, all kinds of moles do odd, quirky things and they're not all cancerous.

A person really need a doctor whom they can halfway talk with. Maybe a family practitioner, or maybe in this case a specialist, a dermatologist. And I recommend keeping the intro short and to the point, 'Okay, I have this mole, it's probably nothing, but I am worried.' And that should be enough. I sure hope the doctor will treat you with respect! But sadly, not all will. That is a time to start looking for another doctor.

I have. I often am told I ask the right questions, and am a walking "Merc Manuel". The problem is, illness in others actually makes me nervous. As a doctor, I'd constantly be living in anxiety and perhaps very depressed when I knew there was nothing I could do. Plus, because I am so obsessed with illness, I may make some wrong diagnoses too when there may in fact be nothing wrong, although I am often right about what friends have when they get sick...and also I am no good at studying.

Eh...I'm rambling. The point is, medicine is an obsession, but not a passion. My passion is music. I have always wanted to be a singer, so music is my major After all, I am told I am a good singer, and a really good song writer. Maybe one day I'll be a famous Aspie singer



-Mallory

I have major health anxiety.

I can't watch anything health related on tv, because i will start panicking that I have it, or constantly look for signs that I'm developing it.

Having had an in law family member die from cancer, I'm especially paranoid about it. If I get checked out, I feel safe for a while, but then I start worrying about it again.

I have anxiety taking any prescribed medication - especially anxiety medication. I relented recently and tried lexapro, but I had such bad headaches, couldn't sleep and my body just felt terrible - restless and was not comfortable in my own skin.

I'm supposed to try a different one, but its sitting in my drawers - I don't want to take it.

I research the hell out of anything I'm supposed to take, and this is a major problem, because everything has side effects and I don't want to take them. I've even caught doctors out who prescribed me something totally inappropriate (patients with asthma were not supposed to take it) and I've lost trust in Doctors now.

I sound like a nut case

The worst thing is that I"m sick all the time - I have irritable bowel syndrome, permanent hayfever, regular headaches etc.

True, hair isn't the only thing you have to worry about (and yeah, definitely don't start worrying about every mole that doesn't grow hair!! - that's the last thing you want!) But a doctor did tell me that that is one way to tell if a mole is healthy (even if it is oddly shaped). But yeah, definitely get anything odd checked out by a REAL doctor!

First off, these are valid issues. You do not sound like a nut case to me. Okay, with an anti-depressant (which I know something about) and I suppose it's largely the same with an anti-anxiety medication, no doctor in the world can predict whether it will work for a particular patient. For a particular patient, one medicine may hardly work at all, but another medicine might work great. Because I understand the body's biochem is just that complicated. And the same for side-effects. For a particular person, one medication may cause unacceptable side-effects and another medication may cause hardly any side-effects at all.

What I don't understand is why doctors tend to be cavalier about side-effects. They tell patients just to stick with it, and that seems to be their pat answer. And that's lousy. If a person can tell at the very beginning that there are lousy side-effects, by all means, try another medication! That's the obvious answer, esp since there a number of good medications for anxiety. The doctor should be on the patient's side, not in opposition to the patient.

Okay, the part about the doctor prescribing medication inappropriate for a patient with asthma, Wow. That's an oversight. I mean, that is a major screw up! And it sounds like this was more than one doctor. Not good at all. Should not have happened. I guess you can directly say, 'Why are you prescribing this for a patient with asthma?' In which case, you are coaching the doctor, so be it. Shouldn't have to, but I guess in this case, you do.

Irritable bowel, allergies, anxiety, all of which I presume are usually medium problems that can sometimes flare to major in hard to predict ways. (I'm extrapolating from my experience with allergies.) You mainly need a doctor with patience to stay the course. I'd say, like a doctor with two parts technical savvy and brilliancy and three parts patience. And for the anxiety, you really might be better off with a family practitioner or internist rather than a psychiatrist. Straight up, I am not a fan of psychiatrists or other mental health 'professionals,' for the usual reasons, they tend to be "be righters," they tend to have their own issues, etc. Okay, if someone says, well, I like my psychiatrist, fine, more power to you. You've gotten a good one. I will grant that there are some good ones. But there are also a lot of lousy ones. And going to a 'regular' doctor is another open avenue.

With my allergies, sometimes my post nasal drip irritates my throat to such an extent that I have trouble sleeping and sometimes my eyes itch real bad. Simple and straightforward. Not so hard to understand. And yet . . . and yet, I think because of lack of patience, some doctors haven't even be willing to hear this! and/or have written it off as 'just allergies.' I have had some success with printing neatly on one side of one piece of paper, really just one half of one side, three bullet points, three phrases. The three most important things or the three things I think are most promising for us to make progress on. One doctor was too impatient to even look at my list, fine (he is now on my bench so to speak). But I think bringing in something written works a higher percentage of the time and increases my odds.

Please remember, you have a right to good-quality medical care and respectful communication. our current institutions, not all the time, but this is what we as a society should be aiming for. Note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. am a pretty good guy, maybe some day a medical journalist.

I swear I have health anxiety over Asperger's

Now, that is interesting!

And I do remember that at least several people here at WrongPlanet have been diagnosed with a schizoaffective disorder at one time or another.

My thinking these days, kind of observe the worry with zen detachment (?) as it were. If I find that I'm worrying less, it is okay not to see a doctor. If, on the other hand, I find that I'm worrying more, it is okay to go ahead and see the doctor.