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Hello. Recently I Have Been Diagnosed With General Anxiety And
Question: Hello. Recently I have been diagnosed with general anxiety and depression along with some hypochondria. My health worries started 6 years ago when I had elevated liver enzymes. My health has been good since and all test are normal. I still worry. Lately I worried about my kidneys, heart, brain, and most recently colon. Enough so that I visited a Gastroenterologist, who in turn advised to eat fiber and did CBC which was normal. At that point looking up symptoms I ran across Multuple Scelrosis and ALS. My symptoms of light muscle fasciactions, brain fog, crawling sensations sometimes, tiredness and some off again very light numbness in lower left leg made me think I was dying. This is all in the past 6 weeks. I went to my general practitioner who did metabolic panel and neurological exam on me and said that I have very bad anxiety and some depression from stress. I have a Thoraic herniation of disk in my T7 which causes pain in back. I get Injections to manage pain. I am looking g for re assurance that I am ok or advice
Hello. Recently I have been diagnosed with general anxiety and depression along with some hypochondria. My health worries started 6 years ago when I had elevated liver enzymes. My health has been good since and all test are normal. I still worry. Lately I worried about my kidneys, heart, brain, and most recently colon. Enough so that I visited a Gastroenterologist, who in turn advised to eat fiber and did CBC which was normal. At that point looking up symptoms I ran across Multuple Scelrosis and ALS. My symptoms of light muscle fasciactions, brain fog, crawling sensations sometimes, tiredness and some off again very light numbness in lower left leg made me think I was dying. This is all in the past 6 weeks. I went to my general practitioner who did metabolic panel and neurological exam on me and said that I have very bad anxiety and some depression from stress. I have a Thoraic herniation of disk in my T7 which causes pain in back. I get Injections to manage pain. I am looking g for re assurance that I am ok or advice
Brief Answer:
Hypochondriasis = HEALTH ANXIETY (in the modern era)
Detailed Answer:
Good evening and thank you for your question.
I've read your query carefully as well as the questions and responses of colleagues from this network which also includes looking at your lab results.
Allow me to start by letting you know that in the modern age (since May 2013) there has been a redefinition of the term HYPOCHONDRIASIS. The new term (in your case) is more likely than not HEALTH ANXIETY or ILLNESS ANXIETY DISORDER. On the surface, most patients (and physicians) see this as just a more POLITICALLY correct cosmetic change using terminology for classifying a patient heretofore considered to have a purely UNREASONABLE and FALSELY INFLATED sense of illness where none actually existed. But it is MUCH, MUCH, MORE SOPHISTICATED sets of feelings and emotions that usually have little or nothing to do with logic, rational thinking, or actual organic illness.
This is not the reason for the change in terms which is backed by roughly 20 years of in the field research and discussion among work committees as to what exactly is the best guess as to what is going on in an individual previously referred to as a HYPOCHONDRIAC. The long story "short" version is that the term Health Anxiety can be rather specific with respect to REAL SYMPTOMS, REAL FEELINGS, and REAL TEST RESULTS, interpreted by the patient as being overly broad or suggestive of diametrically opposing pathologies. Furthermore, we now know (as opposed to not truly knowing before) that those suffering from ILLNESS ANXIETY DISORDER often come from a background, family, or closely affecting situation of a personal nature or personal in the sense that someone who they know who is very close suffers with or suffered from some real and tragic disease, illness, or even death. We believe that this association is very strong and underlying to many if not most cases of Health Anxiety disorder.
Here is a great little writing from the Mayo Clinic on the topic
https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/psychiatry-psychology/news/dsm-5-redefines-hypochondriasis/mac-0000.
See what you think.
Now, here comes the somewhat unexpected twist to the answer you (and I daresay even my colleagues) were expecting. I am not to going to go into detail at all about your physical symptoms or specific complaints nor shall I give you detailed explanations of why the diagnoses of ALS/MS are not correct for your symptoms because those conversations have been had multiple times by multiple providers and hearing them once more or less will not ultimately change your mind of still wanting to find 1 more person out there who can verify it for you...if not now, certainly several weeks from now. I will say that I've thoroughly reviewed what you've submitted in terms of reports to other physicians and concur with the opinions thusfar that from a physical and neurological perspective you are extremely healthy and do not suffer from anything diabolical or terminal. You very well may have a herniated disk at T7 causing pain and if that's the case I am hopeful your doctor will find the most satisfactory way to control your pain symptoms because we do wish you to be comfortable. But I will not belabor any of the previously discussed points of your very fine health given symptoms and test results since I concur with my colleagues.
Instead, and based upon what I hope you read in the article I sent you from MAYO CLINIC, I would like to make a very brief but important case to you that your efforts would be MUCH MORE EFFECTIVELY spent financially as well as health wise on resolving to battle this beast called HEALTH ANXIETY. The truth is (as the article states explicitly) no matter how many reassurances you are apt to get from physicians (and so far you've solicited at least 4 that we know of)....they will never seem quite enough and there is a higher than average probability that you will seek yet another followed by another opinion from someone with expert knowledge.....this is the TRAP that both patients and doctors find themselves in when dealing with this problem.
Now, mind you...I am not a psychiatrist but I will tell you from experience in dealing with many many such patients over the decades that HEALTH ANXIETY is not really a mental health disorder either. It's a form of OBSESSIVE DISORDER which stems from HYPERVIGILANCE of the body and its systems which itself stems from HYPERSENSITIVITY markers the body calls out to us in the form of numbness, tingling, pain, asymmetries of form and function. Do you recall seeing one of the very first SUPERMAN MOVIES when XXXXXXX XXXXXXX first experienced his super powers when he was a child in a classroom on Earth? He was overcome and overwhelmed by the incredible amount of NOISE IN HIS HEAD as well as other senses that made it virtually impossible for him to concentrate, think, or even act rationally for a period of time. TOO MUCH NOISE in his head for his brain to make sense. It didn't know what to FILTER and what to let go....make sense?
In your case, as well as every other person suffering from Health Anxiety, the same phenomenon is taking place except it is at the level of the feelings, sensory perceptions coming to you from your body's internal sensors that pay attention to pain or to irritations happening to nerves or other tissues as a result of unimportant biochemical or physical changes. BUT, the problem is that the information that goes to the brain is not processed through any filtering system and the result is you feel EVERYTHING HAS IMPORTANCE or potential importance to the point of becoming excessively worried which itself COULD beget more symptoms of anxiety, fear, even pain, headaches, lack of attention, or memory deficits and the whole vicious cycle starts again. Does that sound familiar? Somewhere along the way your filtering system, your natural barriers (which at some in the past were THERE and FUNCTIONAL) have somehow been turned off, deactivated, or are just not functioning at full power.....You have to get back to the place you were before....BEFORE you suffered from such heightened anxiety about your health....think back to when that was....everybody has a point before which these issues DID NOT EXIST. Health Anxiety is believed to be virtually 100% ACQUIRED by the individual....it does not comes about without some sort of experience or experiences which break down our brain's normal ability to filter important from unimportant sensory information about internal and external environment.
And so this is why, no matter the number of times and no matter how detailed and thoughtful, or compassionate a doctor's LOGICAL EXPLANATION might be regarding symptoms for which you are worried represent MS, or ALS, or CANCER, etc. such explanations and such REASSURANCES are only good for a fleeting amount of time before your body's attention (or maybe your BRAIN'S attention) shifts to something else that it chooses to dwell on for a spell, and then, eventually that reverberating circuit dies, BUT another picks up......Isn't this a fairly typical description of the sorts of things you've been witness to about your health over the past number of months or years or however, long it is that you are feeling these issues? Not to worry, you are NOT ALONE by any means and this problem of Health Anxiety is absolutely pervasive in our society. Some of the highest functioning, most highly educated,and logically oriented/gifted people even medical doctors who treat patients or operate on them have these problems when it comes to themselves!!
You are NOT ALONE....but the majority of people don't really ever get out of the cycle because to a large extent, doctors or other health care professionals are very happy to give them the REASSURANCES they seek...because that's how we're trained as doctors....make people FEEL BETTER after they've seen you....go ahead and perform those tests "just to make them feel better...no harm...it's good they can sleep comfortably." But the reality and the truth of this disorder is that the patient's improved psyche is as fleeting as a heroin addict's pleasure is when they finally inject themselves (I used to be the Director at an addiction clinic and have witnessed this)....but what happens 3 hrs. later in many of these people....they are on the prowl for their next fix since the first hit wore off so quickly....the settled feeling they had was an illusion and now the craving because even stronger to supplant the need to have more otherwise, anxiety starts to set in.
Health Anxiety in its purest form is likely worse than drug addiction because many doctors and nurses don't really feel it is THEIR PLACE to take proactive measures...nobody wants to be the "bad guy" and NOT give a patient a level of reassurance because really, "there's no harm in making them feel good,".....right?
Ok....I'll be happy to take questions now from you....under one condition.....they be about these feelings of obsession you have and WHAT YOUR GOALS are with respect to conquering it, or if you don't really have a plan....how making an absolute promise to think exclusively on that topic as to the development and implementation of a plan to specifically and fully address this topic....and nothing else since there's nothing further to test for or worry about. I guess I'm asking you to be like that little kid on the side of the pool who is jumping in for the first time with his father out there yelling at him to JUMP IN! JUMP IN! I'LL CATCH YOU! And of course, the kid is scared because that's a dang big pool and what his father doesn't catch him or he slips or what if the kid slips coming to the edge of the pool.....all these crazy thoughts spin in the kid's head....until finally, after enough coaxing and cajoling the father says,, 'JUST JUMP!" And the kids has to absolutely came to a decision which involves, LETTING GO of the fears, LETTING GO of what feels safe and comfortable and trusting that another person will do what he says he's going to do......right???
So, I urge you to seek out an EXPERT in this VERY COMMONLY encountered disorder called HEALTH ANXIETY. Let go of that wall and swim out to someone who absolutely can catch you with all the confidence that they're not going to allow you to go under and that you will conquer the fear you have of jumping out into the open waters!
I hope that all makes sense and that you can appreciate how I really want you to look at the glass as HALF FULL and getting fuller by the day that you are working with someone with the objective of identifying exactly where it is that this Health Anxiety comes from and exactly what path you need to take (not that it will be easy or short term because this is a PROCESS that can take months, years to accomplish) in order to become the MASTER CONTROLLER of what's happening in your body that worth paying attention to and what's not important.....
If I've provided useful or helpful information could you do me a HUGE favor by CLOSING THE QUERY and taking a moment to provide a few kind words of feedback, perhaps even stamping the consult with a 5 STAR rating if you feel so inclined?
Do not forget to contact me in the future at: www.bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi for additional questions, comments, or concerns having to do with this topic or others.
This query has utilized a total of 70 minutes of professional time in research, review, and synthesis for the purpose of formulating a return statement.
Hypochondriasis = HEALTH ANXIETY (in the modern era)
Detailed Answer:
Good evening and thank you for your question.
I've read your query carefully as well as the questions and responses of colleagues from this network which also includes looking at your lab results.
Allow me to start by letting you know that in the modern age (since May 2013) there has been a redefinition of the term HYPOCHONDRIASIS. The new term (in your case) is more likely than not HEALTH ANXIETY or ILLNESS ANXIETY DISORDER. On the surface, most patients (and physicians) see this as just a more POLITICALLY correct cosmetic change using terminology for classifying a patient heretofore considered to have a purely UNREASONABLE and FALSELY INFLATED sense of illness where none actually existed. But it is MUCH, MUCH, MORE SOPHISTICATED sets of feelings and emotions that usually have little or nothing to do with logic, rational thinking, or actual organic illness.
This is not the reason for the change in terms which is backed by roughly 20 years of in the field research and discussion among work committees as to what exactly is the best guess as to what is going on in an individual previously referred to as a HYPOCHONDRIAC. The long story "short" version is that the term Health Anxiety can be rather specific with respect to REAL SYMPTOMS, REAL FEELINGS, and REAL TEST RESULTS, interpreted by the patient as being overly broad or suggestive of diametrically opposing pathologies. Furthermore, we now know (as opposed to not truly knowing before) that those suffering from ILLNESS ANXIETY DISORDER often come from a background, family, or closely affecting situation of a personal nature or personal in the sense that someone who they know who is very close suffers with or suffered from some real and tragic disease, illness, or even death. We believe that this association is very strong and underlying to many if not most cases of Health Anxiety disorder.
Here is a great little writing from the Mayo Clinic on the topic
https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/psychiatry-psychology/news/dsm-5-redefines-hypochondriasis/mac-0000.
See what you think.
Now, here comes the somewhat unexpected twist to the answer you (and I daresay even my colleagues) were expecting. I am not to going to go into detail at all about your physical symptoms or specific complaints nor shall I give you detailed explanations of why the diagnoses of ALS/MS are not correct for your symptoms because those conversations have been had multiple times by multiple providers and hearing them once more or less will not ultimately change your mind of still wanting to find 1 more person out there who can verify it for you...if not now, certainly several weeks from now. I will say that I've thoroughly reviewed what you've submitted in terms of reports to other physicians and concur with the opinions thusfar that from a physical and neurological perspective you are extremely healthy and do not suffer from anything diabolical or terminal. You very well may have a herniated disk at T7 causing pain and if that's the case I am hopeful your doctor will find the most satisfactory way to control your pain symptoms because we do wish you to be comfortable. But I will not belabor any of the previously discussed points of your very fine health given symptoms and test results since I concur with my colleagues.
Instead, and based upon what I hope you read in the article I sent you from MAYO CLINIC, I would like to make a very brief but important case to you that your efforts would be MUCH MORE EFFECTIVELY spent financially as well as health wise on resolving to battle this beast called HEALTH ANXIETY. The truth is (as the article states explicitly) no matter how many reassurances you are apt to get from physicians (and so far you've solicited at least 4 that we know of)....they will never seem quite enough and there is a higher than average probability that you will seek yet another followed by another opinion from someone with expert knowledge.....this is the TRAP that both patients and doctors find themselves in when dealing with this problem.
Now, mind you...I am not a psychiatrist but I will tell you from experience in dealing with many many such patients over the decades that HEALTH ANXIETY is not really a mental health disorder either. It's a form of OBSESSIVE DISORDER which stems from HYPERVIGILANCE of the body and its systems which itself stems from HYPERSENSITIVITY markers the body calls out to us in the form of numbness, tingling, pain, asymmetries of form and function. Do you recall seeing one of the very first SUPERMAN MOVIES when XXXXXXX XXXXXXX first experienced his super powers when he was a child in a classroom on Earth? He was overcome and overwhelmed by the incredible amount of NOISE IN HIS HEAD as well as other senses that made it virtually impossible for him to concentrate, think, or even act rationally for a period of time. TOO MUCH NOISE in his head for his brain to make sense. It didn't know what to FILTER and what to let go....make sense?
In your case, as well as every other person suffering from Health Anxiety, the same phenomenon is taking place except it is at the level of the feelings, sensory perceptions coming to you from your body's internal sensors that pay attention to pain or to irritations happening to nerves or other tissues as a result of unimportant biochemical or physical changes. BUT, the problem is that the information that goes to the brain is not processed through any filtering system and the result is you feel EVERYTHING HAS IMPORTANCE or potential importance to the point of becoming excessively worried which itself COULD beget more symptoms of anxiety, fear, even pain, headaches, lack of attention, or memory deficits and the whole vicious cycle starts again. Does that sound familiar? Somewhere along the way your filtering system, your natural barriers (which at some in the past were THERE and FUNCTIONAL) have somehow been turned off, deactivated, or are just not functioning at full power.....You have to get back to the place you were before....BEFORE you suffered from such heightened anxiety about your health....think back to when that was....everybody has a point before which these issues DID NOT EXIST. Health Anxiety is believed to be virtually 100% ACQUIRED by the individual....it does not comes about without some sort of experience or experiences which break down our brain's normal ability to filter important from unimportant sensory information about internal and external environment.
And so this is why, no matter the number of times and no matter how detailed and thoughtful, or compassionate a doctor's LOGICAL EXPLANATION might be regarding symptoms for which you are worried represent MS, or ALS, or CANCER, etc. such explanations and such REASSURANCES are only good for a fleeting amount of time before your body's attention (or maybe your BRAIN'S attention) shifts to something else that it chooses to dwell on for a spell, and then, eventually that reverberating circuit dies, BUT another picks up......Isn't this a fairly typical description of the sorts of things you've been witness to about your health over the past number of months or years or however, long it is that you are feeling these issues? Not to worry, you are NOT ALONE by any means and this problem of Health Anxiety is absolutely pervasive in our society. Some of the highest functioning, most highly educated,and logically oriented/gifted people even medical doctors who treat patients or operate on them have these problems when it comes to themselves!!
You are NOT ALONE....but the majority of people don't really ever get out of the cycle because to a large extent, doctors or other health care professionals are very happy to give them the REASSURANCES they seek...because that's how we're trained as doctors....make people FEEL BETTER after they've seen you....go ahead and perform those tests "just to make them feel better...no harm...it's good they can sleep comfortably." But the reality and the truth of this disorder is that the patient's improved psyche is as fleeting as a heroin addict's pleasure is when they finally inject themselves (I used to be the Director at an addiction clinic and have witnessed this)....but what happens 3 hrs. later in many of these people....they are on the prowl for their next fix since the first hit wore off so quickly....the settled feeling they had was an illusion and now the craving because even stronger to supplant the need to have more otherwise, anxiety starts to set in.
Health Anxiety in its purest form is likely worse than drug addiction because many doctors and nurses don't really feel it is THEIR PLACE to take proactive measures...nobody wants to be the "bad guy" and NOT give a patient a level of reassurance because really, "there's no harm in making them feel good,".....right?
Ok....I'll be happy to take questions now from you....under one condition.....they be about these feelings of obsession you have and WHAT YOUR GOALS are with respect to conquering it, or if you don't really have a plan....how making an absolute promise to think exclusively on that topic as to the development and implementation of a plan to specifically and fully address this topic....and nothing else since there's nothing further to test for or worry about. I guess I'm asking you to be like that little kid on the side of the pool who is jumping in for the first time with his father out there yelling at him to JUMP IN! JUMP IN! I'LL CATCH YOU! And of course, the kid is scared because that's a dang big pool and what his father doesn't catch him or he slips or what if the kid slips coming to the edge of the pool.....all these crazy thoughts spin in the kid's head....until finally, after enough coaxing and cajoling the father says,, 'JUST JUMP!" And the kids has to absolutely came to a decision which involves, LETTING GO of the fears, LETTING GO of what feels safe and comfortable and trusting that another person will do what he says he's going to do......right???
So, I urge you to seek out an EXPERT in this VERY COMMONLY encountered disorder called HEALTH ANXIETY. Let go of that wall and swim out to someone who absolutely can catch you with all the confidence that they're not going to allow you to go under and that you will conquer the fear you have of jumping out into the open waters!
I hope that all makes sense and that you can appreciate how I really want you to look at the glass as HALF FULL and getting fuller by the day that you are working with someone with the objective of identifying exactly where it is that this Health Anxiety comes from and exactly what path you need to take (not that it will be easy or short term because this is a PROCESS that can take months, years to accomplish) in order to become the MASTER CONTROLLER of what's happening in your body that worth paying attention to and what's not important.....
If I've provided useful or helpful information could you do me a HUGE favor by CLOSING THE QUERY and taking a moment to provide a few kind words of feedback, perhaps even stamping the consult with a 5 STAR rating if you feel so inclined?
Do not forget to contact me in the future at: www.bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi for additional questions, comments, or concerns having to do with this topic or others.
This query has utilized a total of 70 minutes of professional time in research, review, and synthesis for the purpose of formulating a return statement.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Brief Answer:
Hypochondriasis = HEALTH ANXIETY (in the modern era)
Detailed Answer:
Good evening and thank you for your question.
I've read your query carefully as well as the questions and responses of colleagues from this network which also includes looking at your lab results.
Allow me to start by letting you know that in the modern age (since May 2013) there has been a redefinition of the term HYPOCHONDRIASIS. The new term (in your case) is more likely than not HEALTH ANXIETY or ILLNESS ANXIETY DISORDER. On the surface, most patients (and physicians) see this as just a more POLITICALLY correct cosmetic change using terminology for classifying a patient heretofore considered to have a purely UNREASONABLE and FALSELY INFLATED sense of illness where none actually existed. But it is MUCH, MUCH, MORE SOPHISTICATED sets of feelings and emotions that usually have little or nothing to do with logic, rational thinking, or actual organic illness.
This is not the reason for the change in terms which is backed by roughly 20 years of in the field research and discussion among work committees as to what exactly is the best guess as to what is going on in an individual previously referred to as a HYPOCHONDRIAC. The long story "short" version is that the term Health Anxiety can be rather specific with respect to REAL SYMPTOMS, REAL FEELINGS, and REAL TEST RESULTS, interpreted by the patient as being overly broad or suggestive of diametrically opposing pathologies. Furthermore, we now know (as opposed to not truly knowing before) that those suffering from ILLNESS ANXIETY DISORDER often come from a background, family, or closely affecting situation of a personal nature or personal in the sense that someone who they know who is very close suffers with or suffered from some real and tragic disease, illness, or even death. We believe that this association is very strong and underlying to many if not most cases of Health Anxiety disorder.
Here is a great little writing from the Mayo Clinic on the topic
https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/psychiatry-psychology/news/dsm-5-redefines-hypochondriasis/mac-0000.
See what you think.
Now, here comes the somewhat unexpected twist to the answer you (and I daresay even my colleagues) were expecting. I am not to going to go into detail at all about your physical symptoms or specific complaints nor shall I give you detailed explanations of why the diagnoses of ALS/MS are not correct for your symptoms because those conversations have been had multiple times by multiple providers and hearing them once more or less will not ultimately change your mind of still wanting to find 1 more person out there who can verify it for you...if not now, certainly several weeks from now. I will say that I've thoroughly reviewed what you've submitted in terms of reports to other physicians and concur with the opinions thusfar that from a physical and neurological perspective you are extremely healthy and do not suffer from anything diabolical or terminal. You very well may have a herniated disk at T7 causing pain and if that's the case I am hopeful your doctor will find the most satisfactory way to control your pain symptoms because we do wish you to be comfortable. But I will not belabor any of the previously discussed points of your very fine health given symptoms and test results since I concur with my colleagues.
Instead, and based upon what I hope you read in the article I sent you from MAYO CLINIC, I would like to make a very brief but important case to you that your efforts would be MUCH MORE EFFECTIVELY spent financially as well as health wise on resolving to battle this beast called HEALTH ANXIETY. The truth is (as the article states explicitly) no matter how many reassurances you are apt to get from physicians (and so far you've solicited at least 4 that we know of)....they will never seem quite enough and there is a higher than average probability that you will seek yet another followed by another opinion from someone with expert knowledge.....this is the TRAP that both patients and doctors find themselves in when dealing with this problem.
Now, mind you...I am not a psychiatrist but I will tell you from experience in dealing with many many such patients over the decades that HEALTH ANXIETY is not really a mental health disorder either. It's a form of OBSESSIVE DISORDER which stems from HYPERVIGILANCE of the body and its systems which itself stems from HYPERSENSITIVITY markers the body calls out to us in the form of numbness, tingling, pain, asymmetries of form and function. Do you recall seeing one of the very first SUPERMAN MOVIES when XXXXXXX XXXXXXX first experienced his super powers when he was a child in a classroom on Earth? He was overcome and overwhelmed by the incredible amount of NOISE IN HIS HEAD as well as other senses that made it virtually impossible for him to concentrate, think, or even act rationally for a period of time. TOO MUCH NOISE in his head for his brain to make sense. It didn't know what to FILTER and what to let go....make sense?
In your case, as well as every other person suffering from Health Anxiety, the same phenomenon is taking place except it is at the level of the feelings, sensory perceptions coming to you from your body's internal sensors that pay attention to pain or to irritations happening to nerves or other tissues as a result of unimportant biochemical or physical changes. BUT, the problem is that the information that goes to the brain is not processed through any filtering system and the result is you feel EVERYTHING HAS IMPORTANCE or potential importance to the point of becoming excessively worried which itself COULD beget more symptoms of anxiety, fear, even pain, headaches, lack of attention, or memory deficits and the whole vicious cycle starts again. Does that sound familiar? Somewhere along the way your filtering system, your natural barriers (which at some in the past were THERE and FUNCTIONAL) have somehow been turned off, deactivated, or are just not functioning at full power.....You have to get back to the place you were before....BEFORE you suffered from such heightened anxiety about your health....think back to when that was....everybody has a point before which these issues DID NOT EXIST. Health Anxiety is believed to be virtually 100% ACQUIRED by the individual....it does not comes about without some sort of experience or experiences which break down our brain's normal ability to filter important from unimportant sensory information about internal and external environment.
And so this is why, no matter the number of times and no matter how detailed and thoughtful, or compassionate a doctor's LOGICAL EXPLANATION might be regarding symptoms for which you are worried represent MS, or ALS, or CANCER, etc. such explanations and such REASSURANCES are only good for a fleeting amount of time before your body's attention (or maybe your BRAIN'S attention) shifts to something else that it chooses to dwell on for a spell, and then, eventually that reverberating circuit dies, BUT another picks up......Isn't this a fairly typical description of the sorts of things you've been witness to about your health over the past number of months or years or however, long it is that you are feeling these issues? Not to worry, you are NOT ALONE by any means and this problem of Health Anxiety is absolutely pervasive in our society. Some of the highest functioning, most highly educated,and logically oriented/gifted people even medical doctors who treat patients or operate on them have these problems when it comes to themselves!!
You are NOT ALONE....but the majority of people don't really ever get out of the cycle because to a large extent, doctors or other health care professionals are very happy to give them the REASSURANCES they seek...because that's how we're trained as doctors....make people FEEL BETTER after they've seen you....go ahead and perform those tests "just to make them feel better...no harm...it's good they can sleep comfortably." But the reality and the truth of this disorder is that the patient's improved psyche is as fleeting as a heroin addict's pleasure is when they finally inject themselves (I used to be the Director at an addiction clinic and have witnessed this)....but what happens 3 hrs. later in many of these people....they are on the prowl for their next fix since the first hit wore off so quickly....the settled feeling they had was an illusion and now the craving because even stronger to supplant the need to have more otherwise, anxiety starts to set in.
Health Anxiety in its purest form is likely worse than drug addiction because many doctors and nurses don't really feel it is THEIR PLACE to take proactive measures...nobody wants to be the "bad guy" and NOT give a patient a level of reassurance because really, "there's no harm in making them feel good,".....right?
Ok....I'll be happy to take questions now from you....under one condition.....they be about these feelings of obsession you have and WHAT YOUR GOALS are with respect to conquering it, or if you don't really have a plan....how making an absolute promise to think exclusively on that topic as to the development and implementation of a plan to specifically and fully address this topic....and nothing else since there's nothing further to test for or worry about. I guess I'm asking you to be like that little kid on the side of the pool who is jumping in for the first time with his father out there yelling at him to JUMP IN! JUMP IN! I'LL CATCH YOU! And of course, the kid is scared because that's a dang big pool and what his father doesn't catch him or he slips or what if the kid slips coming to the edge of the pool.....all these crazy thoughts spin in the kid's head....until finally, after enough coaxing and cajoling the father says,, 'JUST JUMP!" And the kids has to absolutely came to a decision which involves, LETTING GO of the fears, LETTING GO of what feels safe and comfortable and trusting that another person will do what he says he's going to do......right???
So, I urge you to seek out an EXPERT in this VERY COMMONLY encountered disorder called HEALTH ANXIETY. Let go of that wall and swim out to someone who absolutely can catch you with all the confidence that they're not going to allow you to go under and that you will conquer the fear you have of jumping out into the open waters!
I hope that all makes sense and that you can appreciate how I really want you to look at the glass as HALF FULL and getting fuller by the day that you are working with someone with the objective of identifying exactly where it is that this Health Anxiety comes from and exactly what path you need to take (not that it will be easy or short term because this is a PROCESS that can take months, years to accomplish) in order to become the MASTER CONTROLLER of what's happening in your body that worth paying attention to and what's not important.....
If I've provided useful or helpful information could you do me a HUGE favor by CLOSING THE QUERY and taking a moment to provide a few kind words of feedback, perhaps even stamping the consult with a 5 STAR rating if you feel so inclined?
Do not forget to contact me in the future at: www.bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi for additional questions, comments, or concerns having to do with this topic or others.
This query has utilized a total of 70 minutes of professional time in research, review, and synthesis for the purpose of formulating a return statement.
Hypochondriasis = HEALTH ANXIETY (in the modern era)
Detailed Answer:
Good evening and thank you for your question.
I've read your query carefully as well as the questions and responses of colleagues from this network which also includes looking at your lab results.
Allow me to start by letting you know that in the modern age (since May 2013) there has been a redefinition of the term HYPOCHONDRIASIS. The new term (in your case) is more likely than not HEALTH ANXIETY or ILLNESS ANXIETY DISORDER. On the surface, most patients (and physicians) see this as just a more POLITICALLY correct cosmetic change using terminology for classifying a patient heretofore considered to have a purely UNREASONABLE and FALSELY INFLATED sense of illness where none actually existed. But it is MUCH, MUCH, MORE SOPHISTICATED sets of feelings and emotions that usually have little or nothing to do with logic, rational thinking, or actual organic illness.
This is not the reason for the change in terms which is backed by roughly 20 years of in the field research and discussion among work committees as to what exactly is the best guess as to what is going on in an individual previously referred to as a HYPOCHONDRIAC. The long story "short" version is that the term Health Anxiety can be rather specific with respect to REAL SYMPTOMS, REAL FEELINGS, and REAL TEST RESULTS, interpreted by the patient as being overly broad or suggestive of diametrically opposing pathologies. Furthermore, we now know (as opposed to not truly knowing before) that those suffering from ILLNESS ANXIETY DISORDER often come from a background, family, or closely affecting situation of a personal nature or personal in the sense that someone who they know who is very close suffers with or suffered from some real and tragic disease, illness, or even death. We believe that this association is very strong and underlying to many if not most cases of Health Anxiety disorder.
Here is a great little writing from the Mayo Clinic on the topic
https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/psychiatry-psychology/news/dsm-5-redefines-hypochondriasis/mac-0000.
See what you think.
Now, here comes the somewhat unexpected twist to the answer you (and I daresay even my colleagues) were expecting. I am not to going to go into detail at all about your physical symptoms or specific complaints nor shall I give you detailed explanations of why the diagnoses of ALS/MS are not correct for your symptoms because those conversations have been had multiple times by multiple providers and hearing them once more or less will not ultimately change your mind of still wanting to find 1 more person out there who can verify it for you...if not now, certainly several weeks from now. I will say that I've thoroughly reviewed what you've submitted in terms of reports to other physicians and concur with the opinions thusfar that from a physical and neurological perspective you are extremely healthy and do not suffer from anything diabolical or terminal. You very well may have a herniated disk at T7 causing pain and if that's the case I am hopeful your doctor will find the most satisfactory way to control your pain symptoms because we do wish you to be comfortable. But I will not belabor any of the previously discussed points of your very fine health given symptoms and test results since I concur with my colleagues.
Instead, and based upon what I hope you read in the article I sent you from MAYO CLINIC, I would like to make a very brief but important case to you that your efforts would be MUCH MORE EFFECTIVELY spent financially as well as health wise on resolving to battle this beast called HEALTH ANXIETY. The truth is (as the article states explicitly) no matter how many reassurances you are apt to get from physicians (and so far you've solicited at least 4 that we know of)....they will never seem quite enough and there is a higher than average probability that you will seek yet another followed by another opinion from someone with expert knowledge.....this is the TRAP that both patients and doctors find themselves in when dealing with this problem.
Now, mind you...I am not a psychiatrist but I will tell you from experience in dealing with many many such patients over the decades that HEALTH ANXIETY is not really a mental health disorder either. It's a form of OBSESSIVE DISORDER which stems from HYPERVIGILANCE of the body and its systems which itself stems from HYPERSENSITIVITY markers the body calls out to us in the form of numbness, tingling, pain, asymmetries of form and function. Do you recall seeing one of the very first SUPERMAN MOVIES when XXXXXXX XXXXXXX first experienced his super powers when he was a child in a classroom on Earth? He was overcome and overwhelmed by the incredible amount of NOISE IN HIS HEAD as well as other senses that made it virtually impossible for him to concentrate, think, or even act rationally for a period of time. TOO MUCH NOISE in his head for his brain to make sense. It didn't know what to FILTER and what to let go....make sense?
In your case, as well as every other person suffering from Health Anxiety, the same phenomenon is taking place except it is at the level of the feelings, sensory perceptions coming to you from your body's internal sensors that pay attention to pain or to irritations happening to nerves or other tissues as a result of unimportant biochemical or physical changes. BUT, the problem is that the information that goes to the brain is not processed through any filtering system and the result is you feel EVERYTHING HAS IMPORTANCE or potential importance to the point of becoming excessively worried which itself COULD beget more symptoms of anxiety, fear, even pain, headaches, lack of attention, or memory deficits and the whole vicious cycle starts again. Does that sound familiar? Somewhere along the way your filtering system, your natural barriers (which at some in the past were THERE and FUNCTIONAL) have somehow been turned off, deactivated, or are just not functioning at full power.....You have to get back to the place you were before....BEFORE you suffered from such heightened anxiety about your health....think back to when that was....everybody has a point before which these issues DID NOT EXIST. Health Anxiety is believed to be virtually 100% ACQUIRED by the individual....it does not comes about without some sort of experience or experiences which break down our brain's normal ability to filter important from unimportant sensory information about internal and external environment.
And so this is why, no matter the number of times and no matter how detailed and thoughtful, or compassionate a doctor's LOGICAL EXPLANATION might be regarding symptoms for which you are worried represent MS, or ALS, or CANCER, etc. such explanations and such REASSURANCES are only good for a fleeting amount of time before your body's attention (or maybe your BRAIN'S attention) shifts to something else that it chooses to dwell on for a spell, and then, eventually that reverberating circuit dies, BUT another picks up......Isn't this a fairly typical description of the sorts of things you've been witness to about your health over the past number of months or years or however, long it is that you are feeling these issues? Not to worry, you are NOT ALONE by any means and this problem of Health Anxiety is absolutely pervasive in our society. Some of the highest functioning, most highly educated,and logically oriented/gifted people even medical doctors who treat patients or operate on them have these problems when it comes to themselves!!
You are NOT ALONE....but the majority of people don't really ever get out of the cycle because to a large extent, doctors or other health care professionals are very happy to give them the REASSURANCES they seek...because that's how we're trained as doctors....make people FEEL BETTER after they've seen you....go ahead and perform those tests "just to make them feel better...no harm...it's good they can sleep comfortably." But the reality and the truth of this disorder is that the patient's improved psyche is as fleeting as a heroin addict's pleasure is when they finally inject themselves (I used to be the Director at an addiction clinic and have witnessed this)....but what happens 3 hrs. later in many of these people....they are on the prowl for their next fix since the first hit wore off so quickly....the settled feeling they had was an illusion and now the craving because even stronger to supplant the need to have more otherwise, anxiety starts to set in.
Health Anxiety in its purest form is likely worse than drug addiction because many doctors and nurses don't really feel it is THEIR PLACE to take proactive measures...nobody wants to be the "bad guy" and NOT give a patient a level of reassurance because really, "there's no harm in making them feel good,".....right?
Ok....I'll be happy to take questions now from you....under one condition.....they be about these feelings of obsession you have and WHAT YOUR GOALS are with respect to conquering it, or if you don't really have a plan....how making an absolute promise to think exclusively on that topic as to the development and implementation of a plan to specifically and fully address this topic....and nothing else since there's nothing further to test for or worry about. I guess I'm asking you to be like that little kid on the side of the pool who is jumping in for the first time with his father out there yelling at him to JUMP IN! JUMP IN! I'LL CATCH YOU! And of course, the kid is scared because that's a dang big pool and what his father doesn't catch him or he slips or what if the kid slips coming to the edge of the pool.....all these crazy thoughts spin in the kid's head....until finally, after enough coaxing and cajoling the father says,, 'JUST JUMP!" And the kids has to absolutely came to a decision which involves, LETTING GO of the fears, LETTING GO of what feels safe and comfortable and trusting that another person will do what he says he's going to do......right???
So, I urge you to seek out an EXPERT in this VERY COMMONLY encountered disorder called HEALTH ANXIETY. Let go of that wall and swim out to someone who absolutely can catch you with all the confidence that they're not going to allow you to go under and that you will conquer the fear you have of jumping out into the open waters!
I hope that all makes sense and that you can appreciate how I really want you to look at the glass as HALF FULL and getting fuller by the day that you are working with someone with the objective of identifying exactly where it is that this Health Anxiety comes from and exactly what path you need to take (not that it will be easy or short term because this is a PROCESS that can take months, years to accomplish) in order to become the MASTER CONTROLLER of what's happening in your body that worth paying attention to and what's not important.....
If I've provided useful or helpful information could you do me a HUGE favor by CLOSING THE QUERY and taking a moment to provide a few kind words of feedback, perhaps even stamping the consult with a 5 STAR rating if you feel so inclined?
Do not forget to contact me in the future at: www.bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi for additional questions, comments, or concerns having to do with this topic or others.
This query has utilized a total of 70 minutes of professional time in research, review, and synthesis for the purpose of formulating a return statement.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Doc, First of all I thank you so very much for the very detailed and thought through reply. I realize it took a lot of your time and resources to type all that. For once in the past 14 years I feel that someone has guided me in a direction that I can start to make peace within myself and try to move forward. while I know this will take some time to tune stuff out and move on, My Will has always been very strong and I will fight every day to get through this. I believe you hit the nail on the head with the obsessive part as, I find myself obsessing over very petty things outside of my health.
Doc, First of all I thank you so very much for the very detailed and thought through reply. I realize it took a lot of your time and resources to type all that. For once in the past 14 years I feel that someone has guided me in a direction that I can start to make peace within myself and try to move forward. while I know this will take some time to tune stuff out and move on, My Will has always been very strong and I will fight every day to get through this. I believe you hit the nail on the head with the obsessive part as, I find myself obsessing over very petty things outside of my health.
Brief Answer:
It is my pleasure to help identify your next BEST steps from my experience
Detailed Answer:
Many thanks for the kind words on the advice I was hoping would be understood as my opinion as to next best steps. You are correct in recognizing that all of the energy you expend in checking up on your physical status is merely an extreme form of OBSESSIVENESS which only causes you to spin your wheels and get further stuck in a quagmire of more and more endless cycles of seeking validation for things that are simply NOT WRONG and do not deserve your attention.
You know to sow new seeds in order to outgrow that rut you've been in for 14 years. Please seek out specific clinics in your area that offer safe XXXXXXX and recovery from this very specific type of OBSESSIVE BEHAVIOR (Health Anxiety). If you are not able to locate any in SC we have some very good people and facilities here in XXXXXXX OH that can help you.
I look forward to hearing success stories in the future as to how you were able to take your next steps to climb out of the hole and start feeling those lungs expand like they once did.....you were whole before, time to get back there. All the best!
Do not forget to contact me in the future at: www.bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi for additional questions, comments, or concerns having to do with this topic or others. And if you feel this thread has been worthy would you consider a 5 STAR rating of our interaction and a few brief words to describe how I may have helped you?
This query has utilized a total of 90 minutes of professional time in research, review, and synthesis for the purpose of formulating a return statement.
It is my pleasure to help identify your next BEST steps from my experience
Detailed Answer:
Many thanks for the kind words on the advice I was hoping would be understood as my opinion as to next best steps. You are correct in recognizing that all of the energy you expend in checking up on your physical status is merely an extreme form of OBSESSIVENESS which only causes you to spin your wheels and get further stuck in a quagmire of more and more endless cycles of seeking validation for things that are simply NOT WRONG and do not deserve your attention.
You know to sow new seeds in order to outgrow that rut you've been in for 14 years. Please seek out specific clinics in your area that offer safe XXXXXXX and recovery from this very specific type of OBSESSIVE BEHAVIOR (Health Anxiety). If you are not able to locate any in SC we have some very good people and facilities here in XXXXXXX OH that can help you.
I look forward to hearing success stories in the future as to how you were able to take your next steps to climb out of the hole and start feeling those lungs expand like they once did.....you were whole before, time to get back there. All the best!
Do not forget to contact me in the future at: www.bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi for additional questions, comments, or concerns having to do with this topic or others. And if you feel this thread has been worthy would you consider a 5 STAR rating of our interaction and a few brief words to describe how I may have helped you?
This query has utilized a total of 90 minutes of professional time in research, review, and synthesis for the purpose of formulating a return statement.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Brief Answer:
It is my pleasure to help identify your next BEST steps from my experience
Detailed Answer:
Many thanks for the kind words on the advice I was hoping would be understood as my opinion as to next best steps. You are correct in recognizing that all of the energy you expend in checking up on your physical status is merely an extreme form of OBSESSIVENESS which only causes you to spin your wheels and get further stuck in a quagmire of more and more endless cycles of seeking validation for things that are simply NOT WRONG and do not deserve your attention.
You know to sow new seeds in order to outgrow that rut you've been in for 14 years. Please seek out specific clinics in your area that offer safe XXXXXXX and recovery from this very specific type of OBSESSIVE BEHAVIOR (Health Anxiety). If you are not able to locate any in SC we have some very good people and facilities here in XXXXXXX OH that can help you.
I look forward to hearing success stories in the future as to how you were able to take your next steps to climb out of the hole and start feeling those lungs expand like they once did.....you were whole before, time to get back there. All the best!
Do not forget to contact me in the future at: www.bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi for additional questions, comments, or concerns having to do with this topic or others. And if you feel this thread has been worthy would you consider a 5 STAR rating of our interaction and a few brief words to describe how I may have helped you?
This query has utilized a total of 90 minutes of professional time in research, review, and synthesis for the purpose of formulating a return statement.
It is my pleasure to help identify your next BEST steps from my experience
Detailed Answer:
Many thanks for the kind words on the advice I was hoping would be understood as my opinion as to next best steps. You are correct in recognizing that all of the energy you expend in checking up on your physical status is merely an extreme form of OBSESSIVENESS which only causes you to spin your wheels and get further stuck in a quagmire of more and more endless cycles of seeking validation for things that are simply NOT WRONG and do not deserve your attention.
You know to sow new seeds in order to outgrow that rut you've been in for 14 years. Please seek out specific clinics in your area that offer safe XXXXXXX and recovery from this very specific type of OBSESSIVE BEHAVIOR (Health Anxiety). If you are not able to locate any in SC we have some very good people and facilities here in XXXXXXX OH that can help you.
I look forward to hearing success stories in the future as to how you were able to take your next steps to climb out of the hole and start feeling those lungs expand like they once did.....you were whole before, time to get back there. All the best!
Do not forget to contact me in the future at: www.bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi for additional questions, comments, or concerns having to do with this topic or others. And if you feel this thread has been worthy would you consider a 5 STAR rating of our interaction and a few brief words to describe how I may have helped you?
This query has utilized a total of 90 minutes of professional time in research, review, and synthesis for the purpose of formulating a return statement.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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