What about a forum for health-related anxiety/ hypochondria? This would be getting bodily symptoms and a person gets extremely concerned about it. I used to (and still sometimes do) get chest pains fearing it was a heart attack. These started last year when I was 41. Plus my father died three months after getting a heart attack. I went to the ER several times; the EKG and blood tests showed no enzymes were released thus no heart atttack. I also last year had an echocardiogram and wore a heart montior on a halter for 24 hours. Both were normal. My stress test in 2005 (I didn't take one last year because my asthma had gotten chronic) was also good. It took several months for it to sink in that I had costochondritis, a syndrome of chest wall pain that is due to inflammation of the cartilage and bones in the chest wall.

did you know that sometimes astma is a leading cause to put you in a panic / anxiety attack I am not shure if you knoew that or not thats what all my DR.'s told me just thought I would pass that along to you ... take care hun and 9 times out or 10o its not a heart attack .. take care ..

I completely agree! I've always wanted a hypochondria area in this forum...

I would help add to the popularity of this specific forum. If I were a guinea pig, I would've had a heart attack long ago and be long-gone already from my different symptoms and fears of them. Okay, in case you don't understand, I've heard that a guinea pig can die from extreme fright!
Have a great evening,
Heather

i was also told i had costochondritis when i was in the ER one night. its like, if i try to grab onto my lower ribs, it hurts pretty bad. sometimes i feel it more than other times, sometimes even when i breathe. i think there are too many medical labels for stuff to be honest with you. like, costochondritis. the name scared me more than the discomfort ever did. dritis! itis! inflamation, something wrong. its like, why can't they just say "some peoples ribs and chest area hurt. no big deal." just like IBS. i was diagnosed with IBS. a syndrom, to which they can put me on medication. why don't they just say "look, you worry constantly about everything, your a nervous wreck every time you feel a pinch or poke in your body, so your messing your stomach up." they have to label everything. i personally don't care what i have as long as its not life threatening. just like when i was in the ER and Dr for my bad stomach pains. its like, just tell me if i have cancer, or anything else that can kill me. if my stomach just sucks, and i'm gonna crap alot, yipee, i'll buy stock in imodium and live my life. please excuse my small rant on costochondritis, lol. just hearing a label of a "disease" or "condition" i have triggered something in me. so now i'm sure my "IBS!" will be acting up for complaining about my other condition the Drs made up because they feel the need to label everything. hmph. but yeah, costochondritis, supposedly no risk at all to your health, so if thats all ya got, i wouldn't worry, however the feeling it gives you is not pleasant at all.

yeah..that's a good idea. It's always a reassurance when you can talk to others about your body symptoms & hypochondria issues & find someone else has the exact same thing. Makes it less scary. We could just use this one to talk about it... So I'll start..this week I had a few fake heart attacks, I couldn't swallow one night..the mechanism seemed not to work...which of course it did it just freaked me out, I have bad headaches which this time I"m thinking is hormonal imbalance & last time thought it was a brain tumor or something. Ummm..I'm having a lot of chest tightness which is scaring me from exercising & a "heavy" feeling in my chest. My heart is racing & pounding so hard, which I"m on an event monitor right now for. Doctor says all the events I sent were "tachacardia" which can be caused by anxiety. So..I'm sure there's more..but hey..we can talk about that another day! I say this with a smile now because at "this moment" I have no symptoms..but it is very painful to worry over such things all day. The body symptoms really bother me the most. I try so hard to talk positive through them but they can be so strong & severe that it seems impossible for me to "talk over it" sometimes. Anyone relate? I'm determined that I'm gonna get better. I HAVE TO! I want to live my life! Oh..and "costochondritis"..hmm..maybe that's what I have. I have chest pain & tightness & the docs say "hmmm...probably stress"

Thanks for all the input.

christinaluck,
Thank you. With asthma and anxiety (1) they have overlapping symptoms like chest tightness and (2) I have heard similar to what you said and it's "the chicken or the egg?" Which came first? Did the asthma cause the anxiety or vice versa? I just keep in mind my dr label the asthma as mild and I did really well on the breathing test--better than other guys my height, weight and race.

Sporadic,
Sorry you too have got costco and IBS. I hear what you're saying about labels and disease names. Every non-medical person I mentioned to said, "What is that?" Suprisingly I've one or two drs also not know. Prior to last year I never heard this word or ailment. Here a couple of links for you.

http://www.answers.com/topic/tietze-s-syndrome?cat=health

http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/sprainsstrains/a/costochondritis.htm

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/costochondritis/article_em.htm

sick&tired,
I'm not a dr but the symptoms you spoke of seem to be anxiety related. Kudos on your determination to get well! Go for it!

I think a forum for health related anxiety is a great idea. It would be helpful to those who really get worked up about their health (me included). I'd like to know about other people's anxiety and how they deal. I hope MWC considers adding it to the forums.

Hi everyone, I think a forum about hypo's would be GREAT!! I am one, I constanly think the worst about my health, it is really the only thing we have been able to pin point to my anxiety. Cause I get obcessed with my bathroom issues. Some days I am fine then other days I just go to the bathroom like 4-6 times, not the big D, but soft stool. It is so hard to get out of my head that I have colitis, or Chron's disease. I know it is a slight case of IBS or my nerves, but when you don't get replies from here you worry even more and I think a forum for people like us would be great, that way we would all know about how we all are and I don't know about everyone else, but talking makes me feel better....

Celeste1 and maggiep,

Thanks for your additions to the thread.

Count me in

I would love to see this too!

Thanks Kristen and daughterofsarah.

Great idea!

Thanks for the post CarolM.

Sorry I just noticed it.