Health Anxiety

Morning @ladybird64 I think this is highly relevant issue to be posted, and personally I can relate to some of this, not to the degree of seeing the doctor to seek help but for having worried about contracting other illnesses after being diagnosed with Type 1, I felt a lack of trust in my own health after being diagnosed and even went for a while thinking I could be suffering a heart condition also. That has passed thankfully but it's a worrying place to be in and the more discussion that takes place then the easier it is for people to share their anxieties.

It is difficult to differentiate between health anxiety and what is the natural state for the human. I have written before about the half an acre of healthcare products in Tesco and the entire Holland and Barratt business. With such a vibrant industry I am led to believe that absolutely everyone is anxious about their health. Even the fit ones try to get fitter by running 26 miles around any city that will have them.

If you are saying that there is a particular mental condition that causes additional stress then are we talking about hypochondria or something worse. I Googled hypochondria and got this.

hypochondriac
hʌɪpə(ʊ)ˈkɒndrɪak/
noun

1. 1.
   a person who is abnormally anxious about their health.
   synonyms: valetudinarian, valetudinary, neurotic; More
   
   
   

adjective

I read the link and it said, "This condition is known as health anxiety, illness phobia/illness anxiety or hypochondriasis." so I was seeking a definition that put it apart from hypochondria for a better understanding of the problem.

I believe health anxiety is an important issue that affects most of us to a greater or lesser degree. When people experience symptoms, whether it be a sore throat or a niggling pain, the tendency is to google, or at least it is with me. Then Google throws up all sorts of possibilities and immediately we have every disease under the sun.

From a personal point of view, having had breast cancer and been through chemo and radiotherapy, then discharged from oncology and advised of all the symptoms of any spread to look out for, any tiny niggle suddenly becomes a possibility of spread, and this is very real anxiety. Weirdly, following my Type 2 diagnosis all that disappeared as my mind became focused on a new disease and I forgot all about cancer.

Many years ago I had a wonderful GP. He was kind and caring, a good doctor who spent a long time with each patient. Without warning he retired (still youngish). A friend of mine "in the know" told me he had to do it for his own health as he was imagining he had every illness his patients were presenting.

Well reading the link that ladybird64 put on I can't actually see any difference between health anxiety and hypochondria so is health anxiety just the new word for that

ladybird64 said:

It could be, I really don't know. I do know the extremes people go to with HA though. The perception of hypochondria seems to be someone who is usually older and a bit of a fusspot about aches and pains, not someone who spends every wakiung available moment scouring Dr Google. Anyway, my post was intended to raise a common issue, nothing more.

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Yes whatever it is called I do think a lot of people do suffer from it and become to obsessed with their health and I think that does need treatment. Google is now the modern equivalent of the medical dictionary that many households used to have and if you read that you imagined you had every condition known to man I would never have one in the house.

ladybird64 said:

It could be, I really don't know. I do know the extremes people go to with HA though. The perception of hypochondria seems to be someone who is usually older and a bit of a fusspot about aches and pains, not someone who spends every wakiung available moment scouring Dr Google. Anyway, my post was intended to raise a common issue, nothing more.

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In that case it was well aimed.

My perception of hypochondria obviously isn't the popular one then since I have two sisters with it. With one sister you can clearly demonstrate that if you suffer from or just mention an illness then she has it within the week. She even goes off to specialists and hospitals who find nothing wrong. The other sister is richer and the last time I counted she had had 34 operations and a lighter purse.

Both of them have always been like this and do not come across as fusspots mostly.

Pinkorchid said:

Yes whatever it is called I do think a lot of people do suffer from it and become to obsessed with their health and I think that does need treatment. Google is now the modern equivalent of the medical dictionary that many households used to have and if you read that you imagined you had every condition known to man I would never have one in the house.

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My GP practice has large posters on the walls warning against using the internet to look up medical items. It even has the same warning in Polish. Actually I find the leaflets included with meds to be very conducive of HA. Especially the one for my thrush treatment, which had contraindications and serious side effects on several pages.

Since HA is here, and here to stay, then any suggestions on what to do? We cannot filter the internet, we need to discuss things in this forum, and we will get posters with multiple worries and concerns with how their body feels. As it says in the rulebook, we are not here to provide diagnosis or treatment. We should refer these enquiries to a GP or specialist, It is an easy trap to fall into a conversation, only to have it thrown back in our face since it is often not what the poster is seeking. I think this thread serves a purpose, and I think it will help identify that there are times when we need to recognise this syndrome, and politely decline to engage.

Ok, I know what this thread is about, and it is health anxiety/ hypochondriac.
I have never been in that state. I have had anxiety and accused of being a hypochondriac.
This happened at an appointment with my GP. Who is not my GP now!
My colleagues at work, call me a hypochondriac.
Because of my health history.
He, (my GP) couldn't believe that I had anxiety and the symptoms of the many symptomatic problems that goes with RH!
He laughed it off saying that my T2 (misdiagnosis) was at the basis for my not feeling good (he determined that my high blood sugar was the cause.)

What happens to my body is that when I eat carbs, excessive insulin is produced and that creates a spike, then hypoglycaemia. Whilst not knowing what a hypo was or how to control the wide range of fluctuating blood glucose levels, the bodies reaction is store the visceral fat on my organs, which causes insulin resistance, and along with the hypos, my body reacts by attacking my nervous system.
The nervous system controls the glucose to my brain, because of the high levels of insulin in my blood and body, there is no glucose!
That's the cause of my mental health problems including anxiety.

Anxiety along with other mental problems, including depression, is well known to the specialists with the symptoms of hypoglycaemia.

The role of insulin is important in the body, the balance between insulin and glucose is why we have so many different types of blood glucose disorders. So many people have an imbalance for whatever reason, is it any wonder, with the diversity of symptoms (a really long list) that health anxiety isn't at all possibly one of them.
I think so!

There is a self help guide that people might find useful.
We could put it as a sticky and refer members to it if you think it would be suitable @ladybird64.
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hypochondria/Documents/Health Anxiety A4 2010.pdf

catherinecherub said:

There is a self help guide that people might find useful.
We could put it as a sticky and refer members to it if you think it would be suitable @ladybird64.
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hypochondria/Documents/Health Anxiety A4 2010.pdf

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I just read that document and I note that John went from 10 to 1 on the anxiety scale inside a week. That is reassuring but do I believe that John is a real person.

There was a time when Google wouldn't let you log on unless you gave them your mobile phone number. I asked if they were going to provide the mobile phone and HappyCabbie kept popping up to tell me what a wonderful idea it was and if I had done nothing wrong then I had nothing to worry about etc. Ever since then I have suspected that people trying to push a point invented a supporting cast.

I am sure that John will help you all to stop worrying, or at least I hope you all feel better soon.