POLL: Did you ever find out you really had the illness you feared?

[OliviaD]

Of course we're talking about serious illnesses, disabling or life-threatening.

Thanks guys.

[RadioGaGa]

I've been frequenting NMP since April 2012, and in that time I've never read of anyone actually getting the disease they feared the most - whether it be at the time they post, or months/years after the fact.

I have also never read of anyone online getting a disease they fear the most. I'm not sure how we could work out a statistic of people who have health anxiety, find an illness they fear the most (for me, this is Glioblastoma) and then actually develop it. Nothing is impossible, sadly, although I'd say the chances of people getting the disease they fear the most is probably up there with winning the lottery. There are so many ways in which one can die, that each time you have a HA flare about a particular illness, going by statistics you're probably (?definitely) wrong.

Answer to your question, in short, is a resounding "no".

Good luck

[nomorepanic]

I agree that I can think of one of two people over 18 years that got the diagnosis they thought - everyone else was fine or never even came back to update us

[Aussie11]

Nope - the closest I got was (amid my obsessive fear of having pancreatic cancer) I got diagnosed as having pancreatitis. In hindsight it was a much more likely outcome that I had completely discounted due to my fear of the worst! No other fears of mine have come true in the 10 years that I've now been suffering health anxiety (thank goodness!).

[Shadowhawk]

Very curious who the person is that answered yes. I feel like that story might be useful to others who frequent here..

[ankietyjoe]

Very curious who the person is that answered yes. I feel like that story might be useful to others who frequent here..

I don't think it'd be useful at all. It'd just feed the irrational 'yeah but I read about this person who thought they had something and it turned out they did' gland in peoples brain, ignoring the 8000 other people who didn't.

[Shadowhawk]

I don't think it'd be useful at all. It'd just feed the irrational 'yeah but I read about this person who thought they had something and it turned out they did' gland in peoples brain, ignoring the 8000 other people who didn't.
Well, ill be more honest - i say i am interested because i actually doubt the yes vote in general. I was thinking it would be "enlightening" to see WHO said yes, just as much as the why and what (it was). ;)

[ankietyjoe]

Probably something like pneumonia. Common, but feared.

[KatieJayne]

I was absolutely, 100% CONVINCED I had cervical cancer a month or so ago. I had every single symptom. I matched so many patient stories. I was so convinced that mentally I’d moved onto it being treated, thinking about managing work etc etc. I didn’t have it.

Yet the weird thing is, this doesn’t reassure me that I’m wrong with future health worries. And that’s super super irritating!!!

[Fishmanpa]

I know of two members that were actually diagnosed with a serious illness. One of which knew felt something was up but it wasn't what Dr. Google diagnosed. I know of another who was worried about her child and indeed he was ill. In all cases, it wasn't some willy nilly niggle, they were really not feeling well. I've stayed in touch over the years and they're all doing well.

Interestingly, their anxiety took a back seat while they dealt with things and has remained in the back seat since. I will say that of the hundreds of thousands of posts and fears I've read here, 99.99% are not serious nor anywhere near what their minds and Dr. Google try to to convince them of.

Positive thoughts

[ankietyjoe]

Exactly. Chances are out of the thousands of people that come here, some of them/us are going to get seriously ill. Or....have been seriously ill.

[WiseMonkey]

I was absolutely, 100% CONVINCED I had cervical cancer a month or so ago. I had every single symptom. I matched so many patient stories. I was so convinced that mentally I’d moved onto it being treated, thinking about managing work etc etc. I didn’t have it.

Yet the weird thing is, this doesn’t reassure me that I’m wrong with future health worries. And that’s super super irritating!!!

Same here, I had a friend who died from it in 1993 (aged 32), then I developed the symptoms myself some months later... investigations revealed it was hormonal! Then in 2014 a smear turned up CIN 1 so I was convinced I had cervical cancer... investigations revealed it was cervicitis (benign inflammation).

[lofwyr]

Never the thing I feared, did get a serious diagnosis of something I had never thought about, oddly it put my anxiety mostly to bed.

I dont envision cancers or a heart attack taking me anymore, generally speaking I focus my energy on being healthy to deal with what I did get through diet and exercise, which probably also help the anxiety.

I have frequented three health anxiety forums with thousands and thousands of members. Maybe tens or hundreds of thousands all total.

Of those, I recall one single case, where the person developed MS. The thing is, her symptoms she was worrying about were genuinely more concerning than all the usual anxiety posts when sh first posted. She was also well on to diagnosis when she first posted as well.

I should add, that was years ago and she is doing pretty well.

[SnowyGreen]

Well, ill be more honest - i say i am interested because i actually doubt the yes vote in general. I was thinking it would be "enlightening" to see WHO said yes, just as much as the why and what (it was). ;)


It was me who voted yes.

I had general symptoms last year, such as pelvic pain and back pain, it wasn't really severe, but enough to make me take notice. Everyone told me it was anxiety, but I thought it was a female cancer. A few months after those symptoms I started getting really heavy periods with clots. I went to the doctor and gynecologist who assured me it wasn't cancer, (they assured me 5 times in the one session as I kept saying are you sure) as I was too young.

Fast forward to the beginning of this year, I had a hysteroscopy and d&c, and was told I could come back in 6 weeks just for a checkup as they were still adamant that it wasn't cancer.

Well, 2 weeks later I got a call saying "sorry, we didn't expect this". It was grade 1 endometrial cancer. I have my hysterectomy in 2 weeks from today! That should be all the treatment needed.

So no need for you to worry, as you don't have a uterus :)

[Worrywart1234]

Never! Not even once! I read somewhere (maybe on this forum) that our anxiety doesn’t show us our future, but our deepest fears. So true!!

[OliviaD]

Thanks for your replies! I wish I had more votes though: I think it can be reassuring to see people actually don't get the illness they fear so much.

[Fishmanpa]

Thanks for your replies! I wish I had more votes though: I think it can be reassuring to see people actually don't get the illness they fear so much.

If you look at the post histories of members, you can see clearly the range of fears and the fact they're still here posting answers the question.

Positive thoughts

[BlueIris]

Borderline: I was convinced I had basal cell carcinoma, and I did. It's hardly ever hugely dangerous or life-threatening, though, just unusual for somebody in their 30s. It was also mind-bogglingly obvious, as after I'd left it for five years without seeing a doctor it had pretty much all the textbook features.

[Ryzinn]

First I was convinced I had MS, had a ton of strange neuro symptoms (asymmetrical tingling, burning in left side extremities, tons of floaters, trouble breathing, muscle aches, temple throbbing, random head swimming/light headedness, etc. FOR MONTHS.) MRI done, no MS.

Then I was convinced I had diabetic neuropathy... Despite never being diagnosed with diabetes... :doh:

I also at one point felt like I may be having kidney failure symptoms due to a history of kidney stones..

Most of it triggered by the tingling that I STILL GET in my left hand and foot, but I just chalk it up to anxiety and it usually goes away just as quickly as it starts..

Then I was convinced I had pallet cancer... that was the most recent scare that happened about a year ago..

Lately I've been just fine but yeah, haven't been right so far. What kinda sucks is now I don't really trust myself because i've been wrong so many times. Best I can do is just get a physical every so often and try not to worry, which seems to help. I feel my health anxiety is often triggered by other things in my life giving me stress and anxiety. When I'm relatively stress free, I don't tend to worry about this sort of thing as much. This forum has also helped open my eyes to the bottomless pit people can sometimes fall in when it comes to anxiety over health related issues. It really is just silly.