Hypochondriacs and psychosomatic illness people check in here

[SPKrazy]

:hi:

6 years ago, convinced I was dying of cancer I insisted on colonoscopy, ct scan of abdomen, etc.

I did have some polyps

but no cancer

and no, I wasn't dying immediately.

But I'll admit, I was seriously fucked up

that episode convinced me that my anxiety needed treatment and to quit screwing around with starting and stopping treatment.

that's my story and i'm stickin' to it

:hi:

[bicentennial_baby]

1. Je suis Hypo like a motherfucker...

I'm not currently dying of any imagined illness, but that could change in a hot minute. :rofl:

[Droopy]

2. Mental health is a serious issue

Perhaps if more people realized that, there wouldn't be so many treatments for psychosomatic illnesses if they would just recognize the real problem.

I know some people who suffer needlessly from imagined illnesses who could really benefit from mental health treatment. But it seems almost taboo to suggest so.

[bicentennial_baby]

3. Hypochondria is beginning to be taken more seriously.

It's slow, but it's happening. Although, I prefer to call it Health Anxiety. :)

[SPKrazy]

6. i'm having health anxiety right now!!!!

i can't get rid of this cold

and i developed conjunctivitis in the context of this upper respiratory infection.

so i've been pretty sick

but i've had all kinds of ideas about what is really going on.

:rofl:

some are pretty out there

[SPKrazy]

4. the only person i'm laughing at is myself

and anyone else who wants to laugh at or with me is welcome

I've been pretty insane in hindsight.

something like 75% of the things that people typically go to their family doc for will clear up on their own.

so if we cured psychosomatic illness, we wouldn't need so many doctors, and insurance would go down in price, etc.

[fizzgig]

5. ooooh oooooh me!

convinced myself i was having a stroke once, heart attack another time

all sorts of fun shit

:hi:

[SPKrazy]

7. i did that a few times back in college

i think once i pulled a muscle, but i was convinced i was dying of a heart attack, so i went to my parents house and sat in their driveway at like 3 am, waiting until it was later or earlier in the morning so i could go in, so i sat there in my car and was sure i was dying of a heart attack.

stroke? No, haven't done that YET

:hi:

[fizzgig]

8. i store a lot of stress in my upper chest

and i think that joint in my breastbone is a bit out of whack, so the heart attack thing is pretty common for me

at least my illogical brain listens to the logical brain most of the time

[Madam Mossfern]

12. Just to play with your minds a bit...

The heart attack thing was real for me. Seems I have an coronary aneurysm. But that was more than 10 years ago. Now every time I get indigestion I'm sure I'm having another one.

My real hypochondriac moment was when I was absolutely convinced that I had ALS. My tendons have been acting up lately and my muscles too. It seems that every other week, another part of my body hits the dust. One day I dropped two things out of my hands (never mind that they were soapy at the time) I sat in front of the computer looking up just about everything there is to know about ALS.

I went to the Dr. for a blood workup and am going for physical therapy for a strained piriformis and gluteous medius muscle. Yes, I have broken my ass. Then last week, of course I get a shingles outbreak and now I have tyrigiums in my eyes and the left one is bad.

Considering that only three months ago I was in great shape-exercizing every day and feeling as fit as a fiddle. My diagnosis....voodoo doll in my enemy's possession. That's the only thing that makes sense.

[Redstone]

9. Not me, cool. I got enough REAL problems, without going to any damn doctors

and having them tell me what ELSE I need to worry about.

Redstone

[bicentennial_baby]

10. Ah, but to us, it is all too real...

That's what others don't 'get'. It's scary real and paralyzing at times. A true blue mental illness that is much maligned and overlooked, yet common.

[Redstone]

13. Acknowledged. Like many other things, those who don't live with it can't understand.

Redstone

[bicentennial_baby]

15. Yes indeed...

But I can see the ironic funny side of it...My Dad has MS, my Mom has ALS, and here I am worried about cancer. I just have to laugh. :P

:)

[Redstone]

18. Well, given your parents' situations, you can certainly be forgiven for your

case of the willies regarding health problems.

Redstone

[SPKrazy]

11. yeah, i got that

and this isn't a case of wanting the doctor to find things wrong with me

it is the situation of having some symptoms, and then going through the tests and all to find out if there is something and then finding out there is nothing (well not nothing, but not cancer anyway, try some hemorrhoids etc. to cause bleeding.

oh and they did find h. pylori in my stomach.

but yeah, you got lots to worry about

[Redstone]

14. No, I never said anyone WANTED a doctor to find something wrong; just that the damn

doctors will find something for you to worry about, every time.

That's why I avoid them like the Plague.

Redstone

[graywarrior]

16. They're always looking for the cha-ching symptoms.

[Redstone]

17. Bingo!

Redstone

[Akoto]

19. Definitely a hypo here, and anxiety disorder overall.

I actually had the same problem you did. I found a little bright red blood on the toilet paper and became convinced that I had colon cancer (at 22 years of age). Turned out to be hemorrhoids. I wasn't dying, but it certainly helped me to realize how much the anxiety was ruling my life.

[bicentennial_baby]

20. That's a great realization...

:pals: Only once we realize that can we begin to control our minds.

:)

[graywarrior]

21. What Christmas Cheer !

We deserve one another. *snort*

[Redstone]

22. Said with your great gift for conciseness.

Yup. Not sarcastic, here.

If I go to bed now, will you do so as well?

Redstone

[graywarrior]

23. we'll go together!

[Redstone]

24. Together, though miles apart. Sweet dreams, gray.

Redstone

[graywarrior]

25. Same to you, love.

[ElizabethDC]

26. Definitely me!

I've known for years that I had an anxiety disorder, but the past couple of months I've been suffering from some health problems which turned out not to be serious but in the meantime I had convinced myself that I had some kind of cancer - and it wasn't the first time I had done that. A couple of years ago I had convinced myself that I had colon cancer.

I'm not a consistent hypochondriac, but when I get that way, I definitely go over the edge. And it tends to happen around stressful times of my life, so I guess it's my way handling extreme stress.

But you're right about not starting and stopping treatment - I had, under the guidance of my doctor, decreased some of my anxiety meds because I hadn't experienced any anxiety in a while. But let me tell you, I'm never going off that stuff again.

It's always good to know I'm not the only one out there! :hug:

[bicentennial_baby]

27. The hypo, it comes and goes...for most of us.

it's more acute for some, less so for others. And yes, stress seems to be a major factor in how bad it gets. I've been in the depths of hypo hell and have recovered. hell, I had a first class nervous breakdown over it, in '04, live on DU, on my Mom's couch for 4 weeks in a sobbing mess over my impending death. Gawd bless the Drs and counselors that got me out of that f'n funk.

But here I is, ready to face another year and (as far as I know) cancer-free.

:hug:

[ElizabethDC]

28. Yeah, I went through a really bad time last month

I discovered that I do have some legitimate health problems, but they aren't serious. But I was definitely having some kind of breakdown about it - I was calling my mom in the middle of the night and sobbing, something I've never done. And I couldn't go about my daily life as normal. It was a very scary, dark place to be, as I'm sure you know. I don't want to go there ever again.

[bicentennial_baby]

30. Oh, I know that place all too well...and it is terrifying.

:hug:

I can suggest a book "Woeful Imaginings" as well as the "Anxiety and Phobia Workbook"

Also, a forum, the Health Anxiety Centre. Google it. Good people. And sometimes, knowing that there are people waaaay more insane than ourselves helps a lot! Series!!

:hug: PM me if you're ever in a spot.

[ElizabethDC]

33. Thanks for the advice, bicentennial_baby!

It's so nice to know that people are there for you, even on the interwebs! :hug:

[bicentennial_baby]

34. Anytime! My inbox is always open

And the first book I recommended, written by a Hypo, about the history of it and the theories behind it. Fascinating and informational.

:hug:

[GenDem]

29. Been there, done that.

Very cyclic for me. Had a really bad bout after the birth of my last kid -- 20 years ago -- was convinced that we all had HIV. It was a combo platter of postpartum depression and my general neurotic personality.

Still rears its ugly head from time to time. I have a skin tag and that conjured up all kinds of projections, until I finally asked the Dr if it was going to kill me.

My anxiety has always centered around health issues and fears of serious illness. It is not fun.

Am also a starter and stopper. I get a lot of grief when I go into a tail spin. My doctor tells me that I play around way too much with this. If I feel good I just stop taking the anti-depressants and anti anxiety meds. Then I spiral.



:hug:

[bicentennial_baby]

31. Doesn't it suck?!

I'm med-free, but that's just more work. I do pretty well until confronted with a strange or stressful situation. Ugh, what I wouldn't do to be rid of those terror-ridden health thoughts. I often stare at the mole on my side, fearful.

:hug:

[GenDem]

39. It really does!

Add in a little OCD and it can devastate.

I don't know how I stayed out of the hospital 20 years ago. I was so fucked up. I couldn't eat or sleep and just existed with worry almost every waking hour.

If I am very busy, and I am, I tend to stay pretty stable. For me, I think that hormones play a part.

:hug:

Merry Christmas, bi-baby! :hi:

[Inchworm]

32. Hey you!

Merry Christmas!

:hug:

[GenDem]

38. Merry Christmas to you, my friend!

:hug:

[Skittles]

35. you did good with the colonoscopy

polyps can turn into cancer - yes

[elshiva]

36. Yes. A lot of screwy female stuff happening here.

No period for months after years and years of celibacy, hair in weird places....

[coffee_strong]

37. I've been plagued with this off and on

Since I was about 12 yrs old. The only two things that have helped have been number on, prayer. Number two is a more recent realization. I had a lightbulb moment about a year ago. After learning that we can mentally and physically cause symptoms, I have made an effort to ignore these feelings of dread, and replace them with positives. That and I tell myself that i can literally cause all kinds of illnnesses by my stress/ panic levels. I once heard that many diseases are birthed from stress. That's enough to make me take every thought captive. Now i am not saying to ignore true symptoms, but if you know your body, and where you are at mentally, you can decipher if it's 'all in your head' so to speak.

You guys are right, most people who haven't experienced it,just don't get it. However we should always look for ways to make these episodes a minimum. It's hard to apply logic when your brain is thinking logically. Logic says that you can worry yourself to death(literally) I choose to not 'worry' myself to death, therefore I don't worry over nothing.