Health Professional = Health Anxiety??

[jothenurse]

I am a nurse and I think with our medical knowledge it does make you look at things more closely. I have tachycardia, and have been told (when it was up to 160 in the ER once, that it was sinus tachycardia). But, I still have this happening to me and I still can get scared. One doctor thought I had an svt, so that is always in the back of my mind and a worry. This was never documented though, all the EKG's I've had has been sinus tachycardia. I had a 24 hour holter monitor done, which I did have a couple of episodes on, so I am still waiting for the results. The waiting is making me very nervous. But in answer to your question, I think having a medical background does make it worse because you know more things about what to worry about.

[margaret jones]

Hi Nurse GLADYS

[margaret jones]

Hi Nurse Gladys
Another nurse with HA , welcome to the club .I actually find my HA is worse if i have symptons that are not resolved with a Diagnosis .
Early Jan 2009 i had a Pacemaker fitted due to Bradycardia was not sedated at all and was virtually climbing off the table , when they where threading the wires into my heart .
A little Knowledge was a bad thing that day hence panic/anxiety /depression for past 19 mnths thankfully i am well on the road to recovery .

Take Care Maggie

[alicegreen]

Hi there, im another nurse with huge health anxiety. Im off sick at the moment and have been for 3 weeks now and have recently started sertraline, which right now is making me worse.
I sometimes think that i need a career change as i too read and retain everything and find it impossible to be objective.
My recent obsessions are heart disease and diabetes after ending up in A & E with tachycardia and when they tested my blood sugar it was 8.2.

[melvin]

hi guys im not a nurse or doctor im a gas eng but id just like to say thanks for sharing Ur stores its a good thing to know that even people like Ur self's can get this and understand what we go through

[Neen]

Hi there,

I am a Dental Nurse in the Maxillo - Facial department. I too suffer with HA - worsened by the fact I see post op cancer patients and have to tell patients they have cancer. I'm going through a series of tests myself because of my throat. I'm awaiting an ultrasound and Barium Swallow result. I
Freaking myself out. I know an x ray report is written straight away and diagnosed. So the fact I've had to wait 10 days for this ultrasound has been horrendous.

I can totally symathise with you all. The more we know, the worse it is. I'm always getting the consultants to look down my throat and check my neck for lumps. I am my own worse enemy. In a way it's good we have the knowledge; however deadly in the hands of a HA sufferer!

God bless to you all.

Nina.

[blueangel]

I've also worked for the NHS for 20 years, although I'm more of a techy/manager type than a clinician.

It's been a bit of a swings/roundabouts journey for me; I've learnt a huge amount, particularly about the pharmaceutical side of things, as that's where I spent a lot of my time working. A lot of this knowledge has been very useful; I previously used to panic hugely about taking medications as I assumed I would get terrible side-effects, but I've learnt that the really bad ones are actually very rare. I've also learned that a lot of the illnesses I used to worry about are also statistically pretty rare, which is oddly comforting.

However, working in a hospital can have its downsides, as you inevitably hear horror stories of misdiagnosis, people who have symptoms that don't get picked up in time, blah, blah, blah, but most of the time I'm able to put these out of my mind. Oddly, even though I've worked in hospitals for such a long time, I don't like hospitals much and hate having to go on the wards (which luckily I don't have to do very often). I try to avoid the thought of being a patient!

[debbsi]

Hi
I'm an occupational therapy (OT) technician and have worked mainly in stroke but also general medicine and a&e. I am also a student in ot.
I hate being like this, I am determined not to work in medicine when I qualify - luckily ot covers a very broad range of jobs so hopefully i could stop working with sick people!!

[fightingmyself]

This is a fascinating thread. My Dr said a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and when at medical school trainees generally took 1 of 2 routes, worrying about everything, or being complacent about everything. I imagine if you have the HA predisposition it is a nightmare.

[toria]

HI i have worked for nhs for over 10 years and i suffer from HA it is worse since working in hospital i have constant health worrys last years i had the flu jab at work because they wanted every one to have it within 2 days had massive lump in neck went to docs new doc sent me for chest xray abdominal scan and and other things but nothing showed up my HA was through the roof then went to see my normal doc and he did blood test witch showed nothing he said probley flu jab the lump did go down but my point is working in that enviorment is not good for me but end of the day it is my job and can't afford not to work so i just have to get on with it sorry for rant but i do no where you are all coming from xxxx