At what age did you realise you were Hypochondriac?

[Kaynil]

I am not sure if it is something that can totally go away, at most I think you can learn to rationalise things to try to stop the anxiety from building up too fast. I also don't know if it is hereditary, I know part of my family thought my grandma was just being hypochondriac and wouldn't take it seriously. I didn't want to be like that, but the same fear of becoming one backfired as I was growing up.


My current doctor has hinted to me that I am one in one of my recent visits. Before that I've been having some trouble to have even my husband take me seriously regarding my concerns so basically it is dawning on me that I am getting too anxious about symptoms popping here and there when I cannot rationalise them.


Having so much information online on your fingertips is a double-edged sword because it is easier than ever to read a list, mentally checking them and suddenly you might have this 'weird' thing. Of course, try to mention the doctor, hoping to find a reassuring why is not the case and instead be met with laughter and a condescending attitude doesn't help. I kind of get it, they are the doctors, they studied this for years and now more often than now the patient think they can be ahead just because they visited some wiki the night before the appointment.


Anyway, it seems that pretty much last year, as a full grown up, I discovered I am down that alley. Which is kind of funny, because prior that I have been known to wait for too damn much before going to the doctor, but I would delay it, precisely, because I was very afraid it was nothing and people would know, which I guess means that at some level, I have always known I am one.


I guess I am weird, but I disgress. When and how did you discovered you might be hypochondriac?

 

[Alexandoy]

I cannot say that I am a hypochondriac but there are times that I am so worried when I have health issues. Just recently I have a cold and I am always thinking that it may be something worse because it's been 2 weeks already and the cold is still ravaging my body. My condition is aggravated when someone I Know is sick like my aunt who has stage 4 breast cancer. I am trying to divert my focus into something else otherwise I will just continue worrying. 

 

[pwarbi]

Deciding whether or not somebody is an hypochondriac is a tricky business and even more so when it comes to realising that ourselves might be one, so I'm not sure that people actually do think they are until they are told by a medical professional and even then they might not believe it. It is very hard to uncover, and especially for a doctor or nurse because you certainly don't want to accuse somebody of being an hypochondriac if they have genuine illnesses that need to be addressed.


People will be diagnosed with hypochondria at various stages and I'm not sure that there even is a cut off point so to speak so that people are definitely one or not, but I think that's a good thing because every illness and especially something like this does need to be dealt with and treated on a case by case basis.    

 

[Alexandoy]

I had this pain in my lower back while having breakfast.  It may have been caused by my light exercise but it may also be the kidney. You can guess that I was not able to enjoy my breakfast.  It is natural to be  irritated when there is  pain that's why I am trying to learn how to ignore pain. I don't take pain relievers unless the pain is unbearable. 

 

[Natasha0717]

I was only 12.    There was this student (R.I.P.) at my school, a few years younger than me, and she was getting chemo for treatment of a brain tumor.  I remember feeling so bad for her, yet at the same time, terribly frightened.  When you're only 12, you're still a kid...and you don't understand that brain tumors in children are relatively rare.  You simply think, "Well, if it happened to her, it can happen to me.  I guess this is what happens to kids, it must be common."


Looking back, I really think this is what sparked my hypochondria for the first time...and then anxiety followed, and then the panic attacks.  And I still suffer from anxiety today. The poor little girl did eventually pass away from her illness, but I will always remember her, and think about things like, if it was such a frightening thing for me, how frightening it must have REALLY been for her....such a young girl with such a terrible illness.  All she wanted to do was continue going to school and play with her friends.  But instead, she died of a brain tumor.  I hope she passed on to a place where she could do all of those things - without doctors, treatments, hospitals, or illness. I hope she is free.

 

[Shorooq17]

I discovered that I might be a hypochondriac after I had my baby. Believe it or not google screwed me over. I hate looking things up because I freak myself out when it comes to anything. It’s google. It’s searching that ruins us. I always am very afraid that I might have some type of illness that could result in me leaving my child without a mother in this world. Or if somehow I got a contagious illness, I’m always afraid that I’d give it to him. I never really used to give any of my symptoms attention until I had my baby at age 22. Before that I used to let things come and go without any worrying. I don’t know what it is honestly, sometimes I’d rather diagnose myself and cry and have anxiety attacks about it, than go to the doctor, if that makes sense. By that I mean sometimes I’m too afraid to go to the doctor because I don’t want to find out that I have some type of deadly illness. When in reality it’s either hormones or something simple. I scare myself and end up going to specialists just for them to tell me that nothing is wrong with me. Bottom line is, don’t ever google your symptoms, just visit your doctor they’ll always put your mind at ease. Google will give you all the information, whether it’s something simple or something very uncommon. But in our mind we’ll think that we have the uncommon thing and we’re gonna die in the next few months, when in reality we’re perfectly fine and healthy. Don’t search your symptoms, I find that if I stop using google to see what’s wrong with me and my son, I live a better life. But as soon as I start searching symptoms everything breaks loose and I become anxious again. Right now I’m struggling with hypochondria and hopefully I can get my mind at ease by not looking things up. Try to find something that could distract you, I find spending time with my mom and siblings and friends really helps take my mind off of things

 

[Geolew24]

Mine started at 21 with a cough that wouldn’t go away and feeling like I was going to throw up. I have seen a therapist every time I have a major bout of anxiety and I just never do well at listening to them. I am trying and I want to be able to let go of the worry and enjoy life more.

 

[SusieQ]

I was only 12. There was this student (R.I.P.) at my school, a few years younger than me, and she was getting chemo for treatment of a brain tumor. I remember feeling so bad for her, yet at the same time, terribly frightened. When you're only 12, you're still a kid...and you don't understand that brain tumors in children are relatively rare. You simply think, "Well, if it happened to her, it can happen to me. I guess this is what happens to kids, it must be common."


Looking back, I really think this is what sparked my hypochondria for the first time...and then anxiety followed, and then the panic attacks. And I still suffer from anxiety today. The poor little girl did eventually pass away from her illness, but I will always remember her, and think about things like, if it was such a frightening thing for me, how frightening it must have REALLY been for her....such a young girl with such a terrible illness. All she wanted to do was continue going to school and play with her friends. But instead, she died of a brain tumor. I hope she passed on to a place where she could do all of those things - without doctors, treatments, hospitals, or illness. I hope she is free.

I wanted to add to this, since I've been on health anxiety forums I notice that us with more empathy have higher anxiety.. that's something I'm proud of but it is hard on us. Sounds like you are an amazing person who thinks of others and it effects you. I definitely do this too.
I guess my anxiety started in kinder being afraid of school and missing my parents. Then it grew to health anxiety when I got mono at 18 and no Dr could figure what was wrong with me until my parents finally took me to the e.r. one night. Then I got in a bad car crash the next yr.. then my friend passed from cancer. I'm naturally an anxious person so it can bounce to health to general daily. I'm happy but I do tire of the constant nagging of anxiety.

 

[blueblues]

I was around 10 years old when I had my first vivid experiences with health anxiety . When I was 5, a cousin had developed stage 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma. Witnessing her experience the harsh treatments, and life in general, was very hard to witness as a child. What was even harder to understand was the concept that it could happen to anyone without warning. At age 10, another family member died of Meningitis. Very violently, and very quickly. Those two experiences, along with other random diseases I had heard about on the news, threw me into a downward spiral of hypochondria that I have had to deal with my entire life. I am now 30.

 

[Georgiec]

I’m 33 now and the worst I’ve ever been before however when I think back to when I was younger I was always a bit weird when it came to me health,I remember every time I went Away I was convinced I was going to be sick every time I went to bed and would sit in tears about it and I think as I have got older I have got worse.its a terrible illness because you always have that sense of yes it might be my anxiety but what if it is something....at the moment I’m trying to concentrate on my mental health and getting that better but I’m still convinced I’ve got something physically wrong with me