Out of interest....

[CJH86]

Hi all,

Am just really curious about the nature of health anxiety....i am a sufferer and things like google do fuel my HA (and almost everyone elses!) despite actually being in the 'health field' and having knowlege of how the human body, diseases and the dreaded symptoms!!

I have noticed posts on conditions i've barely even heard of and people using a lot of medical jargon......so this got me thinking. :)

Im interested for my own curiosity to find out from people who are not from a medical/biology/healthcare type of background....If

- If the internet wasnt at your disposal would you look at medical books for anwsers? (interestingly my medical ref books are the last place i look!)

- Do you learn about the biology underlying the medical condition you are worried about in order to understand it better?

- Do you tend to dispute what a healthcare professional tells you as you think they are missing the point, or you know better? - Im not being harsh with this one and pease dont take offence, i do it myself and always have!! sometimes we do know our own bodies better and what they are telling us:). But imagine the role is reversed, its not nice when you've worked so hard to be where you are and you feel like someone who has googled something is undermining you, it really makes you feel kinda bad to be honest...............But im also aware when you have HA and fixate on what you might have it is very difficult to think otherwise no matter what anyone says...no matter how much experience they have and what title they have before their name! Ive had some very strange HA things in my time (vCJD for example!)....and i look back and feel embarrassed as i should have known better!:blush:

[countrygirl]

I have had health anxiety since I was a child and am now in my late 40;s and I could literally write a medical book! I have the most fantastic memory for anything medical so everything I have read seen or been told during my life is filed away for instant retrieval:blush: This is very useful for other people and quite a few people use me for information - it has also been useful in hospital for myself and other relatives. The downside is that I know far too much so cannot be in blissful ignorance!

I am most guilty of asking a Dr for specific tests to put my mind at rest as I know which tests can do this, rather than go to my Dr and just give symptoms and leave the diagnosing up to them - I try hard to not do this but if my Dr doesn't seem to have considered what I am worried about I will then bring it up - sometimes it is nice for it to be explained why my fear are wrong.

I also ask loads of questions which can unnerve alot of Drs they are not used to being questioned directly:D but on other hand I know the questions to ask.

I used to work at a Drs surgery:whistles: and had to learn everything about drugs as I did alot of prescription work and have retained all of that as well but that can be very useful.

BUT I would still love to free of health anxiety

[CJH86]

Hi, thanks for the reply :)

I had health anxiety as a child and as soon as i could read i picked up my parents 'family health guide' subsequently it was taken away from me because i decided that i had a prostrate problem about age 7 (not knowing i didnt have one at the time!:blush:)

I also have a pretty good memory for anything medical.....which is a bad thing sometimes, especially for my poor ol Dr!

have been studying pharmacy degree for nearly 4 years now so i know my drugs, which means i have medicine anxiety too....or compliance issues as we like to call it!!:D

[worriedsick2009]

yes - i have always been a worrier about health. it did not help that i studied medicine in college and have basically unlimited resources to research things on pubmed. I read all of the case-studies for vcjd and i am convinced that I have it. I brought it up to my doctor and he basically just said "we need to get you to a shrink"

What I am feeling in my body, however, seems very real and I refuse to believe it. My family has always told me "you should have been a doctor" etc and I regret not going to med school. in the back of my mind there is always that lingering thought - i know the guys who went to med school i was just as smart as them i could have been one of them.

[zippy]

I have always been a worrier about health.I can remember laying in bed when i was about 12 thinking about dying and getting a hot and cold sweat,i thought this isnt normal thinking this so young.I used to always think as well i would die young which doesnt seem normal either.I didnt realise this until recently that i suppose its always been there since i was a child but not as severe.

[june]

If the internet wasnt at your disposal would you look at medical books for anwsers?
Yes i always like to know the side effects and what can and cannot be taken with meds that have been prescribed. I do this for the rest of the family as well
- Do you learn about the biology underlying the medical condition you are worried about in order to understand it better?
Again yes I NEED to know (my main one now is giddiness of varying kinds)

- Do you tend to dispute what a healthcare professional tells you as you think they are missing the point, or you know better? -
I make a list when I go to my GP and he or she will tell me and then i ask questions. they are fantastic:yesyes:

:mad: When it comes to psychiatrists - they quote out of books (if only i had a good memory i would tell them which book:mad: )
They do not listen properly, they take bits of what you say and ramble on about that!!!!!!
I am angry that they are telling me that i only suffer with panic attacks and that i should be able to control them by now:mad: :mad:
What makes me giddy?
why do i suddenly feel so scared?
why is my vision so blurred?
my brain feels as if it is crawling with insects or it will explode etc etc.......
It is only your stress causing that,you know that don't you ??????
The answer is simple - stop stressing. They say.
Then i get upset.:weep:
Best wishes
june