<p>Hmm, I wonder if whatever med you took that helped with hypochondria also helps with biting of nails? I don’t like to pop a pill for ailments in general, but am curious, as I clearly have some anxieties (cliffs, heights, the Grand Canyon … ).</p>
<p>I absolutely know “my” hyponchondria comes from anxiety flare ups. Taking an anti-anxiety for a few months allowed me to get back on a regular path, but it was the extreme reaction to a common medical procedure that made it apparent the anxiety needed to be addressed.</p>
<p>Me too except that it was a procedure that my D had to have. I got so worked up that I could barely function. I finally went to a therapist and got some relief from counseling. Years later I went on meds when I had a situation that became too much for counseling to handle. That was 8 years ago and I only regret that I didn’t do it earlier.</p>
<p>I could be one, I do have some anxiety. I do worry lately that due to lack of sleep I could be having dementia or Alzheimer. This evening I forgot one phone number that we had for a long time but haven’t use it. My husband is the one with poor memory and he remembered it. </p>
<p>I’m the opposite. I like to believe the body, given decent nutrition and sleep, will fix itself of almost anything (not including car accidents and similar).</p>
<p>It took me about 18 months to get a semi- major issue looked at. I’d have preferred to wait on treatment too, but I got outvoted. </p>
<p>And now there are significant “other” things going on that I can’t (probably shouldn’t) ignore, but on good days (like today) I still like to think the body is working on fixing it.</p>
<p>My colonoscopy went well, so no hypochondriac issues there, however, I did find a small tick on the back of my knee last night. I did a bunch of yard work and have also been running on trails in the woods twice in the last week, so my luck was against me that a tick would work its way onto me. Yuk. </p>
<p>The tick was removed by my son (my real Boy Scout) but the area around the bite is red and painful. Lyme disease? Reaction to the bite? The start of Some other fatal or degenerative disease?</p>
<p>Here I go.</p>
<p>We became hyperfocused on diseases for our own bodies as we studied them in medical school. No internet back then. Sometimes too much information without ALL of the information or knowledge of what it means is bad. So is wishful thinking- if ignored it will go away/doesn’t exist. Balance is the key- those who have that are lucky. The rest of us need someone to keep us realistic.</p>
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<p>Ah, that would be Mr. Scout. Thank goodness he has a rational mind and can talk me off the ledge when I need it!</p>
<p>Turned out it was a deer tick but it wasn’t engorged (of course I saved it to show the nurse) so they are having me take a preventative antibiotic just in case some bacteria leaked into my hypochondriac body as it was a little infected. Tragedy averted.</p>
<p>^ Good news snowflake! I am glad you will be OK.</p>
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<p>True, but then we also need to listen to them and act accordingly. Most I know who fall on “my” side of things often do not (been there, still there). Why? Couldn’t tell you. Perhaps wishful thinking is just too strong - or the lack of desire to interrupt life.</p>
<p>I admit to a touch of this. I have recently found ticks on myself and have been googling Lyme and RMSF. Does not help that multiple neighbors have had Lyme and a friend was just tested for RMSF.</p>
<p>have you ever considered that it’s kind of (excuse me for being rude) a narcissistic thing? I can say that because for some time I was a little like this and it really hit home when I read somewhere that it could be an example of thinking a little too much about yourself and in a weird way, . I remember once going to my doctor CONVINCED I had some something. He was treating a female patient with some serious illness (she was in there prior to me, I heard the nurse say a few things is how I knew) and being that none of my symptoms checked out, he looked at me sternly when I seemed to give him the ‘are you certain’ look and in so many words told me I was fine and should be extremely happy for my great health. I left feeling like an idiot and from that day forward I try very hard to not over react to vague symptoms. </p>
<p>ha ha, but you’re gonna love this OP, I’ve recently been thinking I should really get checked for MS (had an MRI last year and that was one of the possibilities so of course ever since I’m on the lookout)</p>
<p>Gulp some beer and be happy!! You will forget about your cough. If this does not work, then go for a 1.5 hours of very fast wlk. And if this does not work, then consume good amount of very good chocolate. If none has worked, then you are definitley incurrable hypochondriac. I do not see how is to waste a moment of life thinking about those things. We all dye at the end, it is part of life, the only way to avoid it is to never be born. Would you rather never be born?</p>
<p>Fullmom, I used to think that it was all narcissism too, and I would feel guilty AND hypochondriacal at the same time!</p>
<p>Then I self-diagnosed myself with diabetes and I was right, even when my doctor tried to tell me that I had none of the risk factors and that my symptoms could be “anything.” In fact, she also told me I was fine and I was one of her “healthiest patients.” It wasn’t until I begged her to run the blood test that she changed her tune - turns out I was really, undeniably, inarguably diabetic… as in admitted-to-the-hospital-immediately Type 1 Diabetic.</p>
<p>I think the key is walking the line between shrugging off everything and thinking that EVERYTHING is awful. It’s a pretty wide line, and sometimes I do a good job on the walk - sometimes, not so good.</p>
<p>I’m not sure it’s “hypochondria” but the older I get (I’m nearly 56) the more “alarmed” (for lack of a better term) I get when something doesn’t seem/feel right. I currently am experiencing a tingling from my shoulder all the way to my finger tips on my left side. While I initially brushed it off, it’s been a couple of weeks now and am preparing to do some online research, and I hope it’s nothing more than a pinched nerve somewhere, but am anxious that it “could be” something else.</p>
<p>Tingling in one arm? It could be a pinched nerve but it could also be your blood supply getting pinched off. On this one, I would not mess around and report your symptoms to your doctor.</p>
<p>^It could also mean the spine area near the neck is getting tight therefore pinching the nerve. I have been having tingling arm due to injury through a yoga pose with my head down, feet up, it has been more than 10 years so it’s nothing new. I went through muscle correction last year and it has gotten much better but still not 100%.</p>
<p>@miamiDAP, I need to drink more vodka, it sounds like what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.</p>
<p>Maybe a little hypochondria is not so bad. I’m one of those people who looks up every new thing on Wikipedia, including stuff related to health and medicine. If I was not obsessive in this way, I would never have figured out that I needed to be checked for sleep apnea. A sleep study did indeed prove that I had a severe case of this. I’ve been on CPAP for about a year now, and a bunch of seemingly unrelated symptoms have disappeared from my life.</p>