How Hypochondrial are you?

[DawnCt1]

I have a good friend who had a bat fly down her chimney last July. Its the first time it ever happened to her. She now has hired a chimney guy to fix the chimney so it won't happen again. This morning there was an article in Parade magazine about a case of rabies that developed from someone who had a bat in their house and may have been bit unknowingly. There was one case like that in Greenwich, Ct in 1993 actually. Her son told her that she should have had rabies immune globulin and vaccination. She called me this morning with a headache! Guess what she is worried about? DH is in Tampa so I called one of our friends who said that the rabies vaccine would treat her hypochondriasis but that he gets many calls every month from people who find bats in their house and they do not treat them. He also said to tell her that most cases develop within 8 weeks and she has survived. Of course she is worried about the remaining 1%. I told her she could visit me as long as she promised not to bite me. She didn't think it was funny. Do you worry about rare situations or do you see yourself as indestructable?

 

[Christine]

Hypochondriac here.

I go through spells where I get all bent out of shape over things and other times, nothing bothers me.

I know a lot of people laugh and make jokes about "hypochondriacs" but, honestly, it's rough to be one. Makes life extremely miserable. I wish I could cure it.

 

[MosMom]

If something funky is going on I may say to myself "OMG its cancer" and then I think "Oh well" and go on about my business. If the funkiness continues, then I will go see the doctor.

 

[DawnCt1]

Hypochondriac here.

I go through spells where I get all bent out of shape over things and other times, nothing bothers me.

I know a lot of people laugh and make jokes about "hypochondriacs" but, honestly, it's rough to be one. Makes life extremely miserable. I wish I could cure it.

Actually there is nothing funny about the level of anxiety that many people feel about their health and I am usually very nice in my responses. I couldn't help teasing her about the rabies however. I tend to be the other way. Every morning, after another sleepless night, I check the range of motion in my right arm hoping that my rotator cuff miraculously healed. Every morning I am disappointed. I was scheduled for surgery Oct. 16 and now it has been pushed back to Oct. 25.

 

[Brise Nannie]

We have a standing joke between my DH and me (no disrespect intended to anyone here)...for reasons I won't bother to explain DH and his mom are known as the "wusses" and me and my parents are known as the "martyrs."

 

[EeyoreFan1]

Me? Hypocritical? Never!

 

[Robinrs]

Being a hypochondriac is one thing, being the loved one of one is another....

My Mom was a hypochondriac, she passed it on to my older sister and she passed it on to my niece. I cannot tell you how hard it was growing up with them. Depending on the degree it can be almost psychotic.

As a result I am totally the opposite. I deny all illnesses and fight my way thru those who do show up.

I wonder sometimes if these people even realize how they affect other people?

 

[Christine]

Depending on the degree it can be almost psychotic.

You're not kidding--it can be very bad.

I do want to relay something though--I don't think you can "cause" someone to be a hypochondriac. Well, taking that back, you probably can; however, my thinking these days is that hypochondriasis is part of a spectrum of anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders are more and more being found to be hereditary versus totally environmental.

I consider myself to be very far along on the hypochondriac side. I can tell you that it started when I was about 7 years old (that is my first recollection). Neither of my parents were hypochondriacs nor fretted about my health, hovered over me, etc. I just was like that. I remember when I was 7, I heard about a child dying of leukemia (it was on the news) and obsessed about leukemia for months. The second incident happened shortly after that. I went to a sleepover at a friend's house. Unbeknownst to me at that time, her father had throat cancer. While there, her dad had this horrible choking spasm. The next day and for weeks after, I could not swallow any hard food (like steak) for fear of choking. My mom had to take me to the doctor. Then I would go on for years with not a worry. It tends to flare up when I'm overtired, under stress, and of course, when I get some sort of real symptoms. Funny thing is, about 10 years ago, I had thyroid cancer, survived it, etc., and I still have this hypochondriasis. I also have "real" symptoms and, the way that medical community has changed (overzealous testing to one extreme to 2 minute assessments--another extreme) have done nothing for this anxiety.

But, I digress. I have two children. My oldest child was born carefree and never a moment of worry. My younger child, from as long as I can remember has lots of anxiety, frets over "things that might be wrong with him" etc. He's his mother's son and, I swear I didn't "do it to him." In fact, I'm quite rational when it comes to other people's illnesses and health worries. I can be very objective. It's myself that is a problem.

Dawn, I probably would have laughed at the woman over the bat issue myself.

 

[grinningghost]

Is there an "opposite" of hypochondrial? Because I think that's what I am. I tend to blow off every little thing because I hate doctors/hospitals/medical institutions of any kind so much, that I will avoid going there at all costs.

I really don't know which is worse. Ignoring symptoms or overindulging them.

I think a happy medium would be nice.

 

[salmoneous]

My mom was a hypochondriac. She was convinced that every little thing was cancer and spent a ton of time doing to doctors to have it checked out. We joked about it all the time and goofed on her. Well, on one of those trips she was having yet another test on something the doctors assured her was "nothing" when the test results came back weird. Rushed her back for another test, and sure enough, cancer. But caught *very* early which led to a full and healthy recovery (11 years now.)

She has said that being told she had breast cancer was the worst day of her life. But she admits there was a tiny little bit of her thinking, "see, I told you so!"

 

[Christine]

My mom was a hypochondriac. She was convinced that every little thing was cancer and spent a ton of time doing to doctors to have it checked out. We joked about it all the time and goofed on her. Well, on one of those trips she was having yet another test on something the doctors assured her was "nothing" when the test results came back weird. Rushed her back for another test, and sure enough, cancer. But caught *very* early which led to a full and healthy recovery (11 years now.)

She has said that being told she had breast cancer was the worst day of her life. But she admits there was a tiny little bit of her thinking, "see, I told you so!"

Good story!

Okay, I'll go ahead and admit something embarrassing (heck, I've already posted twice on the sneeze/pee thread) but I have sought therapy for my hypochondriasis. Believe it or not, the therapists do not want to "stop" me from worrying about my health for the exact reason that you wrote about your mother. They then proceed to tell me that there are FAR too many people out there who pay no attention to their health (apparently like grinningghost) which is dangerous and they don't *want* me to ignore stuff. So how the heck am I supposed to get over this?

 

[Maleficent13]

I am someone who would have freaked about the bat. The difference is, I would not have told anyone about it...I'd have just freaked silently to avoid being made fun of.

 

[Christine]

I am someone who would have freaked about the bat. The difference is, I would not have told anyone about it...I'd have just freaked silently to avoid being made fun of.

My best friend got a small cut on her hand from a tin can. She *freaked* that she was going to get tetanus and called me. We discussed it, had a laugh, and I told her not to get a shot. However, if it had been me, I'd have freaked too.

 

[N.Bailey]

I'm far from being paranoid about my health, but when I was in my late teens, early twenties, I waited tables. A 20 year old kid (waiter) had a heart attack. They came to find out that he a heart condition. Anyway, one of our waitresses, who was maybe 30 at this time immediately ran to her doctor to have all sorts of test runs. She convinced herself that she was indeed going to suffer the same fate.

She probably visits/visited the doctor a few times a month and each time, she was always declared completely healthy.

 

[YachtClubWoman]

Actually, when I worked at the health dept. The state health dept protocol was if a bat was in the home and exposure was unknown rabies propylaxis was recommended.

 

[N.Bailey]

This is a little off topic.

I recently read that there is this medical team who is given the facts about a particular case in which a cause of death had never been established. This team takes everything that is known and tries to determine what the person died of. They aren't told what case they're working on because it might influence their decision.

Anyway, they had been given this one case and after scouring over everything that was known at the time, they determined that the person died of rabies. Of course there is no definitive way of proving it 100%, but they certainly don't fail to acknowledge that fact.

The case? Edgar Allan Poe

 

[DawnCt1]

This is a little off topic.

I recently read that there is this medical team who is given the facts about a particular case in which a cause of death had never been established. This team takes everything that is known and tries to determine what the person died of. They aren't told what case they're working on because it might influence their decision.

Anyway, they had been given this one case and after scouring over everything that was known at the time, they determined that the person died of rabies. Of course there is no definitive way of proving it 100%, but they certainly don't fail to acknowledge that fact.

The case? Edgar Allan Poe

I have heard that there is a lot to support that diagnosis. When DH was in medical school there was a man admitted with an unusual neurological illness of a sudden onset. His only significant history was a recent corneal transplant elsewhere. Unfortunately he was the recipient of a young girl who had died of a mysterious neurological disease. They of course followed up and determined after more post mortum scrutiny that she died of rabies and the virus was present in the corneas.

 

[DawnCt1]

Actually, when I worked at the health dept. The state health dept protocol was if a bat was in the home and exposure was unknown rabies propylaxis was recommended.

That's correct but that policy was based on one case of someone who did not know that they were bitten. To immunize everyone who had a bat in their house would be impractical and in 99.9% of the cases, unnecessary. I had an employee who was scratched by a raccoon attempting to escape from her trash can. She was scratched by the forepaw. Given the way that raccoon eat, with their paws, there was a significant risk of saliva exposure. The ER nurse practioner did not want to vaccinate her and the employee called me from the ER terrified. I called DH who worked at the same hospital and he ordered the nurse to give the vaccine. That was a real risk. The next day an employee at work brought this particular employee her dog's rabies tag.