Concerned about 16 yr old son - why is there always something?

[BrokenGirl]

I'm really starting to worry if there's something seriously wrong with me.
I've been concerned lately over my 9 yr old daughter and a few symptoms she was having. I was worried it was MS or something. But just as I'm starting to calm about that my 16 yr old son said to me this evening that his thumb feels like it has pins and needles lately (meaning weeks or possibly months). I didn't want to ask him how long as I didn't' want him to see my panic. He said it usually happens if he pushes something a little bit with his thumb, doesn't have to push it hard.
Of course when I hear the words pins and needles I straight away think of ms or something similar.
He doesn't play sport so isn't some sort of injury. Has been playing xbox for a few years though.
I'm starting to feel as if I need to lock myself into a bubble so my kids can't tell me anymore if there's anything wrong with them, no matter how minor it is.
Please somebody tell me if I'm over reacting? Or is this something I really need to keep an eye on...

[Catherine S]

Of course you're over reacting....you know you are, so why do you post so much about your children? Nobody can get through life without experiencing pins & needles for goodness sake. You need to stop transferring your hypochondria onto your children. Have you ever heard of Munchausen by Proxy? Look it up, because this is what comes to mind when I read your posts about your children's health.

Cath S.

[melfish]

Have you ever heard of Munchausen by Proxy? Look it up, because this is what comes to mind when I read your posts about your children's health.

Ditto this

[BrokenGirl]

Of course you're over reacting....you know you are, so why do you post so much about your children? Nobody can get through life without experiencing pins & needles for goodness sake. You need to stop transferring your hypochondria onto your children. Have you ever heard of Munchausen by Proxy? Look it up, because this is what comes to mind when I read your posts about your children's health.

Cath S.

I'd never heard of Munchausen by Proxy so I did look it up. Maybe I am over reacting at times but I'm not making things up or inventing things. These are things that my kids are saying to me. If one of my kids says they feel a bit sick of have a pain somewhere, I'm fine with that and I don't panic.
It's when they say things like weird feelings or pins and needles that have been going on for weeks or months, that's when I start to feel uneasy.
My sister in law was diagnosed with MS last year so maybe that's affecting me. It makes it very real and it certainly make me realise that it can and does happen to anyone.
I'm sorry if my posts have been annoying people but when i feel that panic in me it helps me to post here. I feel as if I can talk about it here and most of the time I then start to realise that I'm worrying about nothing.

[melfish]

Your posts aren't annoying (although I'm sure mine are, lol). I don't have kids, but I'm sure if I did, I'd be just like you - worrying over every minor ailment or symptom. I worry like that over my husband's health, whereas he's utterly stoic and always takes an "it is it what it is approach". I wish I could be like that.

[Catherine S]

When people on the forum are 'challenged' they always react with comments like "I'm very sorry if my posts annoy everyone ", or the favourite is usually that they'll stop posting. But they actually invite people to tell them they're over reacting. You did and I agreed with you. Perhaps Munchausen's isn't your problem, but it has been suggested by others many times in your previous threads about your children's health, that you do have a problem with this.

Instead of asking people to diagnose your children's symptoms, why not take your concerns to their doctor? And if that means no, you'd rather not, because you know the doctors will say you're over- reacting, what do you expect that people here will say different? Being a forum full of anxious people doesn't mean we can't tell you you're being silly. It's only because some of us have been through the same thing in the past and can look at things objectively that we now know how silly we once were.

There are two kinds of people on the forum...those who are still in the throes of all kinds of hell, and those who've come through it to recovery. On any given thread you're going to get one or the other. But both are trying to help.

Cath x

[pulisa]

I'd say you were just projecting your HA mindset onto your children's "symptoms"..only they are not symptoms. It must have been hard to deal with your sister-in-law's MS diagnosis with your HA but far harder for her to live with, of course.

Don't obsess about everyday minor aches and pains with your children-you don't want to give them reason to worry unnecessarily and set them up in an HA mindset too?