HA or real illness; how do you tell the difference?

[Beckybecks]

I've had HA for many years and done much studying and therapy and I feel I've gained some understanding and had some success at overcoming my fears.

I live in South Africa and have no medical insurance so have to go private which is very expensive. In some ways this is beneficial to a HA sufferer where I have to rationalise with myself before running to the doctor and having a barrage of tests (and take out a bank overdraft) in order to gain reassurance that there's nothing wrong. I usually try to find a reason for my symptoms which I find helps to contain the panic.

But sometimes it's really difficult to know whether to leave it or to get a professional opinion. For instance:

I live in a fairly remote area and was recently bitten by some sort of insect. I treated the bites and after a week they were better. But I developed daily headaches and after a week of that my husband suggested it could be tick bite fever.

Well it feels like from that point onwards I started to feel feverish. Did the suggestion of tickbite fever cause my mind to imagine the symptoms? For 2 days now I've felt so ill I had to stay in bed. But when I take my temperature it's normal. I don't enjoy staying in bed but I feel genuinely ill.

With a health anxiety mind it's so very difficult to know what is real and what is an imagined illness.

I recently read a book written by a (almost) recovered HA sufferer. He wrote that he had periods where he had to take to his bed for days and even weeks where he was feeling so ill and even running a temperature.

Are our minds so powerful that they can cause all these symptoms and even cause a rise in temperature as though we have a fever?
I have experienced this, seen the doctor who finds nothing serious but gives me a prescription for medication. I take it and feel better. Was it the medication or the reassurance that made me feel better?

[Beckybecks]

Maybe this post,was too long!
I thought other HA sufferers might be interested to discuss how the mind can create symptoms in the body.
And Im still interested to know how others decide when a symptom is real enough to see a doctor

[FamilyPicnic]

I deeply apologize, for personal reasons I need to remove my post.

[Beckybecks]

Another very valid question.
Most HA sufferers tend not to trust a doctor or tests results. We would love to but then what would we have to worry about?

We either spend our lives at the doctors rooms undergoing various tests, or we avoid the doctor completely either because we don't trust them or because we don't want any bad news to deal with and would rather take the 'ostrich head in the sand' attitude (That's me)

But I hear what you're saying. Where I live medicine is purely a money making business and the more tests and medications one is prescribed, the more money someone is making and dont even try using state facilities because nobody there is the slightest bit interested in your well being. So I really don't trust the doctors anymore.

It's unfortunate that I have to now trust my mind to differentiate between panic and real symptoms and judge when it's necessary to seek professional advice. But maybe it's a positive step towards recovery.

If all medical facilities were free I would probably abuse them. I read that in the UK, 8 out of 12 visits to NHS are unnecessary. Maybe this just encourages people to be more anxious about their health.

[pulisa]

I agree and I think you made a good point about having to learn to trust your own instincts re health whether resources are free or not. In terms of managing your own HA you are probably better off living where you are, Becky although it's awful when private medicine is such a lucrative business.