I'm 41 years old and i believe this all started for me as a child (aged approx 7-8 years old) when i started having this overwhelming fear of death, worrying that my mum and dad were going to die etc.

This increased dramatically when i had my first child, to the extent of me thinking about my funeral and trying to put some sort of plan into action for my children for when the time came (writing them letters saying how much i love them etc). i have tried numerous amounts of antidepressants over the past 15 years but they don't seem to help.

I have recently turned my attention to spiritualism and found that starting to believe that there is something else once we die has for the first time certainly eased the fear of dying. I am still a very long way from conquering this fear but i feel the more i learn about spiritualism the more confident i will get that there is another existence once we die. I'm feeling positive i will improve. hope this helps.

I am so happy I found this website. I am 19 years old and a recent college graduate and for some reason i have nightmares of HIV. I've been sexually active since i was 16 and I'm in a serious relationship. But i could not stop myself from going to get tested every three months and getting pap smears.

I know it's bad, but i was convinced i would get cervical cancer. I've even been denied medical insurance because I'm always at the clinic or the hospital. Its so bad the people at the clinic know me by my first name and automatically register me.

This year i went on vacation to the Dominican Republic and had relations with an old friend. Unfortunately the condom broke and it destroyed our relationship because i felt he was HIV positive. All i hear is how aids is huge over there. i had diarrhea for the rest of my vacation and cried every night.

i cannot stop praying and having panic attacks. i already have anxiety problems. when i returned to the US I became obsessed with looking up symptoms of HIV and cancer and i became paralyzed with fear and delayed going to the hospital.

I felt dizzy, light headed, the diarrhea continued, became obsessed about asking everyone if i have lost weight, i even binge eat late at night to gain weight. i feel this huge knot in my throat and i swore i saw white patches in my throat -- sounds a lot like my fear.

I took a day off and claimed i was just going to see a friend but I ran to the doctor's office. they did full blood tests, sugar and hiv and everything came back fine. but for some reason i told the doctor to send me home with something to take and he said no, i should be happy i'm going home with nothing to take.

i left feeling the results were wrong and i still have attacks and cry at night. The eason is I was told it takes a while for HIV to appear in your system so every day I'm convinced that's the problem -- it hasn't appeared yet.

My mom told me she thinks I'm a hypochondriac and it's not funny anymore. I'm afraid to tell her half of it.

This whole thing is taking over me and I need serious help. I really want my life back. I even took a semester off from school and quit my job. I stay home and just relax or sleep, talking to myself, crying and praying. I can't believe i even take out the time to think what would people think of me when I'm gone, or how I should have a baby now before it's too late. I'm scheduling a full physical with my regular doctor tomorrow to see if i can gain some peace of mind.

I hope everything goes well, even if i have problems with my insurance. i want my life back.

i am a 15 year old male, and I'm scared of dying from a disease that i think i have. Chest pains scares me into thinking i'm having a heart attack, a slow heart rate when i lie down to sleep gets me scared because i think I'm having heart failure. The shortness of breath reminds me of respiratory depression, and yeah, I'm not taking any anxiety pills because my foster mother won't let me.

I'm a 21 year old man. I've always been kind of a hypo. When i was 13 i made my mom take me to a doctor and get blood work done to ensure me i didn't have a kidney problem. But about a year ago i had unprotected sex with a girl. Several of my friends had sex with the same girl before that. Now I'm freaked out my mind about having HIV some days to having MS others. I'm so happy other people share the same anxiety.

i am a 21 year old male and I'm not sure if i have this or not, although my girlfriend thinks i do. i have just been told two months ago by my doc that I'm suffering from panic attacks.

i was on the drug paxil for them and it started to make me think like everyone on this website is thinking.

today i stopped taking it completely and i do feel much better.

i too, have been thinking i have HIV or some other illness that will kill me and make me suffer more. But i wanted to share will all of you some of the things i do to help me stop thinking like that or stop having a panic attack.

Put your tongue on the top of your mouth and slowly take in a 15 second breath with very little opening of the mouth. then slowly exhale for 15 seconds more. this is called yoga breathing. Do this two or three times and if you feel a little light-headed, that's normal; it's the oxygen collecting in your brain. It also helps to do this lying down in a comfy spot. this always helps me with the panic attacks.

I'm going to see a psych doc to see if he thinks I'm suffering from the hypochondria but at this point i don't believe i am. I'm mostly suffering from panic disorder.

I'm 20 and turning to a hypochondriac. It's been a week now since I started panicking over HIV and AIDS. I'm not even sexually active but thinking that I might have AIDS kills me.

It started to happen when I had frequent headaches and my knees aches once in a while. So I kind of consulted my friend that I should get myself checked by a doctor.

So I did. I had myself tested for HIV and thankfully, it turned out to be negative. But I'm not really convinced that I am negative. I had my first sex and it was unprotected. So it kind of freaked me out and still looking over the internet about the symptoms and the possible case that it might turn out to be a "false negative".

Now, I'm still panicking over my health. I'm still looking up for symptoms over the internet. I've been experiencing chest pain, back pain, tension in the neck and I constantly check my neck and armpit for swollen lymph nodes.

It's killing me now. I've been to an internal medicine doctor, an orthopedist, a rheumatologist and a cardiologist. They said that my blood tests, x-ray, and ECG are ok. But I'm still not convinced and I'm still experiencing pains all over my body.

I always feel weak and nauseated. I miss my old self. I lost my appetite and always feel depressed. And the pain in my chest is always reappearing. I'll be going to have my chest x-ray tomorrow and have it checked by a pulmonologist.

I am a 26-year-old new mom who is having major health anxiety. I have worried about health and death ever since I was about eight and was fearful that my parents were going to die.

My fears have escalated ever since I had two dysplastic moles removed (not cancerous but abnormal moles) two years ago. Ever since my baby was born six months ago I have been worried that there is something seriously wrong with him or me.

Last week, I woke up with a severe pain in my side. Rationally, I believe it was a muscle spasm from carrying my baby around all the time, but I keep fearing that it is cancer. I am constantly feeling my abdomen to see if it hurts and checking myself for other symptoms. For the last week, I have barely had any appetite and this makes me worry even more that there is something seriously wrong with me.

Deep down, I believe that it is just extreme anxiety but I can't seem to stop myself from surfing the net and checking for symptoms. My fear that I have cancer consumes my mind and it is starting to interfere with my life!

I called my ob gyn and she prescribed me zoloft but I had a panic attack after i took the first pill. I don't know if it was related to the drug or just my anxiety but now i am scared to take another one.

I am going to call my regular doc monday and schedule a complete physical to ease my concerns and talk to him about my issues. hopefully there is nothing seriously wrong with me and i can get my life back on track.

It's nice to know that there are others out there experiencing the same thing. You are all in my prayers!

Over the last year I have turned into a hypochondriac. I think that every pain and small symptom is cancer or something horrible. I started having stomach and gi issues about a year ago and immediately thought the worst. Turns out I am lactose intolerant and had a stomach infection that is common. I still live with the fear every now and then.I have had numerous doctors' appointments and tests done and all were ok.

Some people don't understand how debilitating this fear can be because it grows and grows until it consumes every daily thought of yours. I had to take a step back and realize what it was doing to me and the people around me.

Once your doctor tells you that you are ok, take it. Don't second guess it and run to another doctor. Just be honest with your doctor.

I hope that everyone here finds their own peace of mind within themselves. Seeing that there are a lot of people out there like us makes it a little comforting.

I am a 19 year old female and I am definitely a hypochondriac. Even though I can admit to it, it doesn't even stop me from worrying or seriously believing I have an illness.

It all started as a young kid when I was playing with a stray cat and my mother yelled at me saying that I could "get rabies". I developed an OCD of washing my hands over and over again until my hands became raw and blister-like.

As I got older, in about middle school, I started learning about AIDS and STDs. I was convinced I had AIDS even though I never even kissed a boy. The past few years I have been worrying about everything. I've been convinced I've had multiple types of cancers, brain tumors, you name it.

I had a lump in my neck and I went to two doctors and three emergency room visits in one week. I constantly check the internet to research any symptom that I feel is suspicious. I even end up making myself actually feel the symptoms that I read about.

It's really nice and reassuring to read these posts and know that I am not the only person who goes through these. My friends, family and past boyfriends have all made fun of me and thought I was crazy.

My best personal advice I can give to those going through what I am is to seek mental help. I've been to psychologists my whole life for anxiety and OCD. I am currently on medicines that really helps me. Although they do not cure it, it does help ease me worries and make them less intense/frequent.

Thanks to everyone who has commented here - it puts me at ease to read all this and be able to identify a lot of what was written to myself!

I am 19 years old and my health worries get worse when I am stressed about something completely unrelated. Since I came back to university after christmas I have been concerned with literally one thing after another - from kidney failure to heart disease - and it's been making me even more stressed and worried. It's starting to drive my friends mad and I don't know how to stop it!

Knowing that there are other people like me is a relief, so thanks everyone!

i am a hypochondriac and i am a afraid of everything but i won't quit smoking. heart attacks, cancer, blood clots, all cancers and tumors and liver failure, reactions to medicine and foods, swine flu, lung edema, pph, pancreatic problems. You name it, I am scared.

It is so bad i can't work and i can't remember anything now. I worry about als and ma. I have jumpy and twitchy muscles. I pray it is just stress.

But like everyone else, i want to just be normal. Just pray to God for protection and great health. I only trust God and Jesus Christ.

I'm 18 years old and I am diagnosed with bipolar disorder and OCD. However, my OCD is more along the lines of hypochondria.

I've always been terrified of going to the doctor because I always expect the worst. I've been convinced I had cancer, HIV, molar pregnancy, and many other rare diseases.

What I recommend for anyone suffering from this is do not search for the symptoms on the Internet. Instead look up information on hypochondria.

WebMD is the worst website when you are trying to diagnose yourself. All the symptoms are so vague they can turn the common cold into AIDS. Here is an AIDS statistic only 600,000 people in America were diagnosed with AIDS in 2007. This is a very small fraction of the population.

When I was young I used to think I was pregnant. This was before I knew what pregnancy even was. Recently I also had this issue. It was literally impossible for me to be pregnant yet I still went to go buy a pregnancy test. Guess what! I'm not pregnant. This past week I've had a paralyzing fear of the big old HIV.

I've already started to plan on what I'm going to do before I die. Truth is we all die eventually. Chances are you have the rare disease though is highly unlikely.

I'm a 20 year old female and boy am I glad I found this website. Though admittedly, my fears seem to be a little different than most of the ones named here. I used to never be like this, however, I can't recall a "life changing" event that might have "made me" into a hypochondriac. I just suddenly... was. At first, I was mainly afraid of diabetes. Then I became afraid of taking medication-- even medication I'd been taking for years with no problems.

Now I'm afraid of food allergies. I'm terrified of peanuts, tree nuts, pine nuts, any type of nuts. I've even been avoiding food that was made on equipment that processes nuts, or food that "may contain trace amounts" of them.

I used to love sushi and shellfish, and now I'm terrified of eating it. I'm trapped inside my own little world of fears and I don't know why.

You can imagine my eating habits have significantly changed. I tell myself it's fine, because do I really need that food anyway? I'm overweight as it is.

I just don't know what to do. I feel totally lost. I eat something (I ate a pop tart that might have trace amounts of almonds in it) and I start freaking out and have a panic attack.

The worst part is you can have reactions to things hours later, so the "take a few bites and wait, then see how you do" deal doesn't work for me anymore. I'm literally afraid of everything.

I really hate myself sometimes. I don't know what to do.

Hypochondria is definitely a disease of its own, and the bad thing about it is that there is no pill you can take and no juice you can drink to make it go away.

I suffer from it myself I find it helpful to consider this: If you have any of the diseases you worry about having (though you really don't have anything) you're going to die, If your health is perfect eventually, you're going to die.

However, concerning yourself over nothing is as bad as having something, so weigh the possibilities. What are the real chances of you having aids? cancer? Rabies? (I have thought that I had all three at some point) what are the chances you're freaking out over nothing? The best thing to do is to avoid things that are the cause of these diseases and to live healthy, go to the doctor every six months or so for physicals, pray, pray, pray, and try to live a normal life.

If in between doctor visits you get sick and you're certain it's not your mind playing tricks on you, go to your doctor. Eventually you'll have to conquer what is really wrong - your fear of death. It won't go away by pretending you're sick -- you are still at some point going to die, so you may find it helpful to research religion and determine what you believe and use that to combat your fear. Otherwise you are not going to be able to live!

Could my mother have this?

My mother is back and forth to the doctors almost weekly with this and that. Iver the years we have had so many doctors I've lost track!!

She has never worked anywhere too long. She always left because she was sick or because she had to make sure my 17 year old brother was driven to and collected from a school that is 15 minutes down the road, for fear he might get run over or worse?

Most recently she fell in her room. Nobody saw this and her ankle was not swollen or bruised? i treated it as i have done, with first aid, but she still wanted us to take her to the A&E where she was told it was just tender to go home and rest.

When we brought her home there were hours of her moaning in pain and insisting she had torn her Achilles tendon (i think its called) followed by panic attacks and we took her back to A&E three times after this, where she was told the same each time.

Now four months after, she still walks with a limp?

Also she convinced herself she had a stomach ulcer. She had the camera down her throat and they found no sign of anything. When she was told this news she insisted they had broken her tooth while she was under.

She suffers with depression and also has panic attacks. I'm getting worried bout her as this is only a taste of what she is like.

If i try to talk to her about anything she starts crying and can't catch her breath. Should i visit our doctor about her?

I'm a 21 year old female and I’m not really sure if I’m a hypochondriac, buy my fiancé seems to think so.

My fear of dying seems to be a lot higher than normal. As a child I was not scared about getting ill though I do remember feeling extremely upset quite often about the fact that we will all die someday.

In the last few years things have gotten a lot worse. It started with me thinking I had a serious STD as my fiancé's ex was a slag and I had a lot of symptoms that I had seen on the net. I had that fear with me for a couple of years until I finally had the courage to get a blood test which was all clear, thank god!

After that I thought I had a thyroid problem as had most of the symptoms but again I got the all clear.

For the last year or two I've had breathing problems, but I only went to the doctor about it last week and she said it was something called "breathing hunger" without even doing tests and from what I’ve read on the internet I could have a serious heart problem. My breathing has since gone worse, I now have a pain in my throat and chest when I breathe. I'm so scared that I have heart disease, throat or lung cancer!

I've not really been sleeping lately because I'm scared of dying in my sleep. I hate hearing stories about people dying of serious diseases on the news, I hate adverts on telly about cancer etc. I won’t watch any films or TV programmes that has anyone dying of an illness in it. I find it very disturbing.

I had a baby a few months ago, and throughout my pregnancy I was scared that something would happen to me during labour. I didn't have any pain relief during labour out of fear that I might lose control of the situation and die. I'm most scared about not being around for my baby. I hardly ever go to the doctor and I also don't believe I have every illness out there. Do you think I’m a hypochondriac?

I am 52 years old. My father had early onset alzheimer's. I have read that this is hereditary and each child has a 50/50 chance of getting the gene which means a certainty of getting the disease. He developed it at around my age + or - a couple of years. I am scared all the time.

i am a 56 year old female. i am sure that i qualify for this board also. Eleven years ago, i had ovarian cancer and was on chemo for four months. i have been cancer free since then. i am totally healthy and come from healthy people. but, since my dx., i am convinced that i am going to have to relive cancer again in some way.

every time i get a bump, sore, or a cramp, it must be a sign of cancer. i find myself checking everything, even my bowel movements for size and color. it is a miserable life and quite a lonely one. my husband is sick and tired of looking in my throat for things, and is starting to tell me to shut up. i am a grandmother of five and want to live life, while i have some left. what is wrong with us, that we can't just let go?

as we age, we get aches and pains, and moles, and bleeding on occasion. that is a living hell for people with this problem. Help! i want to be loved, not resented.

I'm 17 and male, and I believe I'm a hypochondriac, though two of my brothers started having the same problems I do, and another thinks it's simply hypochondria.

I suffer from indigestion, and as such I possibly have reverberated gas(completely harmless) that flows over my heart, making me think that I'm having a heart problem. This then leads me into a panic attack and I begin putting my hand over my heart all the time to check for any sign of an offbeat or something else.

I then have shooting pains in my arm, and chest, back and upper shoulder, and mid-leg pain that is all on the left side, with other odd pains ensuing elsewhere. The panic attack leads everything into such an exacerbated extreme that I feel as if my heart is going to explode from beating too fast. (my father died of a heart attack at 59, which is where I get my worry.)

I started staying up until 8 a.m., when my heart started to return to a normal beat, because I thought that I would die in my sleep because my heart was beating too slow.

My brother had all of the same symptoms I did, and he had tons of tests, and everything always checked out fine. He doesn't suffer anything but shoulder pain now, and that's probably an effect of the brain's stimuli believing there was a problem for such a long time, that it effected the nerves, which doesn't do any more than just give him chronic shoulder pain.

However, if I just stop feeling my heartbeat, and ignore my headaches and odd pains, I start to feel a lot better. My blood pressure returns to normal and all I'm left with is indigestion and some burping. *chuckles* Both of which can be dealt with quite nicely.

Thanks for the additions everyone, typing it out and reading from others of my particular age range helped me out a lot. I think I'll return to normal and finally be free from anxiety, depression and fear-induced insomnia.

*bows* Post, it feels good.-- Maniacal Deviant

I'm 22 and have been a hypochondriac for 10 years, I've suffered panic attacks for the same length of time. the scary thing is that we genuinely believe that we have these imagined problems and say things like '' this time its for real'' and panic. the important thing is to find a good doctor, and the next time you go to your doctor stop short of telling him your imagined problem and tell him that you are having anxiety attacks, cant sleep and need help

At some time in everyone's life, they realize their own mortality and it can be a really scary thought.

I think the best way to get beyond this and hypochondria is to accept this inevitable fact. The easiest way to overcome your fears is to face them. Accept death, and almost embrace it, in your daily life and you will find that life will be so much brighter and the future will have a much better outlook.

I wish you the best.

I'm a 19 year old college student, a smart one in that, and I strongly believe I am OCD or a hypochondriac. I have been perfectly healthy my entire life; I rarely get sick and am in great shape.

I was recently diagnosed with HPV and since then, I have had serious emotional issues. In most cases (like mine), HPV does not show any symptoms (but rather shows up as an abnormal finding on a pap smear) and will go away in just a year or two. My doctor assured me that HPV is not a big deal and that 80 percent of individuals will have an HPV infection in their lifetime.

Despite knowing the facts, I am so freaked out. Because of this diagnosis, I constantly research the symptoms of STDs, especially HIV. Whenever I hear the word HIV or AIDS, I freak out. Just looking at the words typed on my screen scares me. I seriously need help. I'm so glad I'm not the only one suffering.

My doc thinks i have hypochondria. my symptoms are nausea, severe bleeding while urinating, and a large mass on my stomach. Also low white blood cell count.

He sees all those and says its hypochondria. I feel so relieved its not cancer or anything else serious!

I am 22 and a hypochondriac. It started a year ago when i had a bad headache, paresthesia and weakness. I thought it was a brain tumour but it was a bad bout of flu.

But this started an escalation of problems. I had the cold shortly after and was coughing up blood thinking I had lung cancer. I have had my testicles checked twice even though it's the epididymis. I've been to the doctors for mouth ulcers thinking oral cancer. I've got a 'scarred lymph node' on my neck and i thought I had lymphoma even though it's been there for a good few years.

I thought i had skin cancer on my foot--all of these problems in one year till today.

May god provide you health and be with you all.

Hey guys, I'm seventeen and for sure a hypochondriac. It all began a couple months ago when I had a panic attack, the scariest feeling I have ever had in my life.

Ever since then I have ha little sharp pains that lead me to believe something is wrong. Also I have a horrible bad habit of always checking my pulse and any irregular beat I feel freaks me out and I begin to panic.

It's hard not to think about anything when you truly believe your not going to make it to dinner that night, it's sad because I've written letters to everyone in my family in case I die because it's the worst thought thinking you're soon going to die.

Anyway, I hope this is all in my head and I don't in fact have any heart disease although it would prove all of my friends and family wrong. Hope this helped someone. Good luck guys.

It's great to read all of these posts, and it most certainly helps me. I have been a hypochondriac since I was about 16 years old. I am now 25. It started during health class when they told you to check for lumps on your testicles. Well, I found one and it got to the the point of me getting an ultrasound done. I had it checked by my regular doctor and he couldn't tell what it was, so I was referred to a hospital in Boston where I had my ultrasound. It came back that it was nothing. I now fear that I will have a heart attack. That is what makes me the most paranoid. I've been to the hospital before thinking I was having a heart attack, and it turns out it was nothing. Even still I get chest pains on my left side and I immediately think the worst. Man it sucks being a hypochondriac. It's good to know that I'm not the only one.

I think I am a hypochondriac because every little problem seems like a symptoms of a huge disease. I think my doctor is even tired of seeing me as I am there all the time with myself or my daughter. Sometimes I can't sleep at night -- I am too worried about my health. I find that sometimes because of this I have anxiety that feels like a panic attack. I look up everything, and then after I do, I am certain I have that disease, but I don't. It's hard because I really feel like I don't make up the symptoms but no one believes me anymore. I think my biggest fear is that the doctor will miss something or that if I ignore a symptom, I could get worse.

Its a hard condition to control when we really believe we are right and that the symptoms are in fact, real. I was sick when I was younger and I think that plays a part into it.

I have had a number of issues with hypochondria that has created a real panic disorder. I constantly check my pulse. Just this morning i thought i may be a diabetic because my head was a little foggy. I ate an apple and suddenly felt better as if my blood sugar was low and now suddenly was back to normal. I believe this all started when i was 19 and diagnosed with "bacterial meningitis" which I came close to dying from. I currently take a klonopin or two when I feel an attack coming on but they take a long time to kick in (30 minutes or so for me). I try to tell myself it's all in my head but sometimes I'm not sure. I am a 28 year old man, do not smoke, eat healthy. Just wish i could stop acting like i have everything under the sun. I am paranoid to the max and reschedule my doctor's visits for physicals because i am nervous about what they would find and I'm living in denial. wow. I'm a mess. lol

i don't usually post on websites, but it helped me to read other peoples experiences so here is another. I'm a 25 year old female and definitely a hypochondriac. mine has gotten worse recently without a cause, just because i feel I'm getting older. any little pain scares me. currently one of my arms feels a little numb so i suspected motor neuron disease or a trapped artery. last week i had a very slight lump in my throat so any minute i thought it might grow larger and stop me breathing.

i liked the person who said look in the mirror and say to yourself 'you are healthy'. I'm going to try it.

I'm the same way as everyone here. There is always something wrong with me but my biggest fear is cancer. I've thought I had about almost every cancer. right now it's nut cancer. i've seen a doctor but I still think he's wrong. I'm 19 year old male. it all started about a year ago in 12th grade health class. after learning about all of it I thought I had it. I just wish there was something I could do. my wonderful girl friend I know is getting sick of it but just doesn't want to show it. I was never like this. I was the opposite. I never went to the doctor till I started health class. I never cared about little pains. now when I have then it's like I'm dying. Dying and cancer are my two biggest fears in the world. I just want to be normal again and live a fun happy life with little worries. I could keep on going all day with my problems. Thanks. It's nice to know you're not alone.

I too have a husband who is a constant complainer about his health. He never used to be this way when we met and all throughout our marriage. But a few months ago he just started complaining about things that he thinks are wrong with him. Every day it's something different. After my long, hard day at work i come home to ask him how his day went and he just starts telling me about what he feels is wrong with his health today. When we go see family or friends the first things he starts telling them before we even get to sit down is the list of things that were wrong with him this week. It's very embarrassing. In the beginning I had patience, but he has quickly worn that out. My husband sometimes wakes me up at 3 in morning to tell me what's ailing him now. I"m tired of it. I feel like I'm being extremely insensitive and I feel like he knows that I'm getting frustrated when he starts to talk to me about these things and I just roll my eyes. I've told him that I believe he has hypochondria before. Sometimes he laughs it off and sometimes he gets mad. But I don't think he ever takes it seriously. And I don't want him to feel like he can't come to me when something is wrong. I also recently found out that when his dad had a heart attack when my husband was 17 years old, he started getting paranoid and trying to take pills afraid that he was himself going to have a heart attack at 17 years old. I was dumb founded! If anybody has *any* info or advice please let me know. I'm tired and fed up! Anything would be greatly appreciated.

I am working in a foreign country where very few people speak english.i had tonsillitis so i visited a doctor and managed to point out my problem. Medicines were prescribed and the tonsillitis healed well but during treatment i started feeling pain from a different dimension at the back of my jaws close to the ears. i have visited the doctor several times. Explaining how i was feeling and the type of pain i was feeling was a nightmare. The doctor saw nothing wrong but the pain is real. I went home for a short holiday and visited my local doctor and he diagnosed me with some kind of throat infection. However my stay was short. I started feeling better during the treatment but i had to leave to go back to my work country. The pain started again and it felt like i had an ear infection so i visited the same doctor as before, who said there was nothing wrong with me. But the pain is still there and very uncomfortable and i feel it's more than what meets the eye. Now i am damn worried and i have never been worried like this because it's now close to four months feeling like this.

This sucks. That's all i have to say. i have diagnosed myself with at least 50 diseases, including aids and cancer, and i always feel like im sick. this wart on my wrist has made me feel 100 percent sure that i have skin cancer, and i feel so stupid but i can't get it out of my head! i have been 100 percent sure i have every STD. i feel a tickle in my side, and i looked up "tickle in my side." i'm 16 and i think i'm going to have a heart attack soon. this really is no joke. hypochondria sucks.

I check my blood pressure all the time and constantly think I have high BP. My four year avg is 126/69. How can I get help to assist me?

i'm definitely a hypochondriac too, but then again, i'm not so sure. i think that i have rabies but no one in my family believes me! i'm really scared that i'm going to die soon because i think that the rabies is going to spread into my brain and mess up all of my bodily functions. I need help!

I have a husband that maybe a hypochondriac. He thinks he is sick. But he has been taking blood pressure pills due to his high blood pressure and he is also taking St John's wort, for his moods. He has a bad temper and he was diagnosed with adhd. But he does not want to believe he has adhd. How can I help him? How can I find a doctor who can help him?

Just read all the posts and am quite relieved to realise I'm one. Thank God for that! Thought I was the only one and I can't remember the last time I felt well! But from today onwards every time I get a new pain and that wave of panic sweeps over me I'm going to look in a mirror and say, "You are *healthy*" and believe it.

i think i may be a hypochondriac. i researched the net for my symptoms and thought it was prostatitis. my doctor checked me and said i don't have it. i thought maybe sciatica but he says no. now i feel a pain in my kidney and i feel like throwing up. he says it might be a kidney stone but there's no way to know unless i get an x-ray but i can't afford one. I'm worrying myself everyday what if it's this or what if it's that i know i feel this pain. i don't care what anyone says i feel it something's amiss. how long does a kidney stone take to pass? it's been almost a month in a few days. i don't know what to do. i searched the net looking for the answers to my phantom illness.

I've missed out on so much because of this mental illness. In August of 2007 I ended up having a full hysterectomy at the ripe old age of 35. Two months after the surgery I started getting horrible pains in my jaw, arms, chest, shoulders, back, etc. Since Oct of 2007 I have been to the ER 40-plus times. I constantly think I'm having a heart attack. It eats at me from the moment I wake up until the moment I close my eyes. The pains are there, but no doctors can find anything wrong. People please do not get annoyed with people who have this illness. We need love and understanding. We feel very alone in the world. But then I may truly have clogged arteries or a bad heart. Sometimes I think doctors bring on this illness because they are either too stupid, or just don't care enough about human life to do future investigation. Either way people like me are screwed.

I think I had it when i was younger when my parents were going through a really rough divorce and I thought I had throat cancer. Cancer in general was my big fear. I wouldn't eat, I couldn't sleep and I was constanly afraid I was going to die if i did go to sleep. I am now in my 20's and have no problem with it, but i have a loving child and husband, but I know how it feels to be in that state and just to tell you if you haven't gotten help you need to seek a doctor that can talk to you about those things. Just to let you know you're not alone. God Bless you all and good luck in the future.

i'm 23 years old. i'm not officially a hypochondriac. i didn't meet with a psychotherapist, but i have the feeling that i'm sick often daily (past two months), like brain cancer etc. i'm losing my concentration sometimes and i'm depressed often. Although i don't have any 'real' pains like in my shoulder, abdomen, leg or anything, i only feel bad in my head and i'm tripping that i'm suffering a cancer or something. i was starting to google symptoms of cancers and swine flu, because i had some little sore throat one month ago, and i came on that i have swine flu and i was in panic really. the panic went away after some time. i was not worried for my health for 10-15 days but it came back now, and at the moment im 'suffering' from something in my head. i have to say i'm not going to visit any doctors or to go analysis because i'm too scared for that (always been). just took few main ones 'blood sample, chest regimen, heart checks' everything was fine. Well definitely one thing is sure: do not try to search any diseases or symptoms, because sooner or later, your brain will get you to think about that, and all end up having that disease, but only in your head, which is twice as bad as the real disease. My advice is to keep yourself busy. That way you'll think on your health a bit less.

I suppose I have been like this since I was about 19. I am now 51. I have been constantly hypervigilant about every heartbeat, temperature change, rash, mole, even other people's moles. Must be to do with insecurities and lack of attention as a child in a very large family. Although I have had serious illnesses like whooping cough and pneumonia and as a toddler I had chest complaints and serious throat and tonsil problems then endometriosis as a young woman. All resolved though. A womb polyp last year nearly threw me over the parapet of sanity, but it turned out to be benign. Now with perimenopause symptoms and allergies and a phobia of some of them together with sun sensitivity I am now at the height of all my fears -which in turn make any symptoms worse. I've known many people who have died who never wasted a moment of their lives worrying unnecessarily - they were truly alive. I feel like I've wasted a lot of mine.

Im 19 i think im a hypochondriac. I always feel sick, but i think i trick myself to believe im actually sick. i'll take pepto bismol and it's like as soon as i take it i feel better. my biggest fear is to catch a stomach virus. i carry a can of lysol and hand sanitizer every where i go. I hate feeling the way i feel. i just don't know what to do any more. i don't know about how to get help, who do i go see?

i am a 26 year old male. i was reading all of these posts and realize that i have the same issues. i too joke about being a hypochondriac but the joke's on me. i can't sleep at night. i have bad dreams i find everyday every morning something new is wrong with me. i surf the web all day looking for symptoms. i have had unprotected sex and symptoms came up i had hiv or herpes. i got tested and nothing -- maybe cancer. i have suicidal thoughts, write letters for my funeral, lie around all day and can't get motivated. i, like everyone else, want a normal life, but if i don't get the answer i want from the doctor i go to the next disease i think is wrong. it's got to be something. I am paranoid, even though I'm perfect in health. I'm fine after i get out of the doctor but two weeks after i think something else is wrong.

Hello, I am a 15 year old female who is definitly a hypochondriac. I don't know why, but a few months ago was when I really started thinking about death and all the fears that could go wrong with me. It all started when I was watching a scary movie with my best friends and suddenly I started feeling very faint. This happened three times to me in one night. I got really scared and thatt's when I developed the hypochondria. I'm so obbsessed with my health. Every little ache or pain I get I think of the worst thing it could be. My main thing that I'm worried about is cancer and brain tumors. I'm constantly looking up brain tumors and what not on the computer. I can't help it. My granmother gets annoyed by it and so does my grandpa. This is so hard for me because I'm just thinking about death all the time. Ugh. I wish there was something I could do. I thought about yoga and stuff, but that didn't ever take my mind off of things. I just hope that there will be a day that I could do something about this. -15 yr old girl

The root problem of hypochondria is *fear*, fear of sickness and fear of death. Your enemies are the thoughts of fear that torment you. Fear is an expected outcome of evil that immediately thinks the worst. You have the choice to accept or reject the thoughts that come to your mind. If you sit and listen to them long enough, the fear becomes larger. I read what the Word of God says about fear and your thought life. 2 Corinthians 10:4 talks about spiritual warfare in combating thoughts. It says, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations and every high thing (thoughts) that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." When the thought comes, take control and cast it down or away. Don't let it sit in your mind, or it will become larger. We're told to put our trust in the Lord. He is stronger than fear or sickness or death. Here is an excellent scripture for those who fear. 1 John 4:18 (one of the last books). It's about God's love for you. "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love." If you're fearful, it makes you feel like you are going to be judged and it hinders your ability to know how much God loves you and cares for you. Fear is definitely your enemy. It will obsessively bully you and cause you to constantly worry. Toss the thought out, learn how to recognize and combat it. Give it no place. The Word says, the devil walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. In other words, he's looking for someone who will let him, those who allow him to attack their thought life. Every time Jesus spoke to Satan, he said, "For it is written..." You combat a lie with the truth. You have complete access to God because he sent Jesus to die for your sins and rose from the dead to provide you with total access to God. There is power in the name of Jesus, call on his name. We're told there is salvation in no other name given to mankind under heaven. Cast your burden and put all your trust in the Lord. He will help you. Fear is just a tormentor who tries to appear as a big bully in your mind. Boot him out, no matter how many times it takes you. Dismiss the thought. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Jesus said the devil is a liar and there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks his own. For he is the Father of Lies. Fear says oh no, God isn't helping, it's getting worse! Are you walking with the Lord? He says "fear not, for I am with you." He is our Savior and Healer. Nothing is too hard for God. With him, all things are possible. Put your faith in the Lord.

i honestly believe than this person "anon" needs to seek immediate medical advice.

I am 28, female. I am definitely a hypochondriac but at the same time I can't get rid of my thoughts that there is something wrong with me. I have been suffering with pains in my legs and I am terrified of the worst happening to me. I got an X-ray and blood tests and everything seems normal. I started attending physio and she thinks everything is ok, just nerves in the back causing the pain. I can't believe this. My doctor can't reassure me and he has referred me onto someone else but it's taking *ages* for an apppointment so every day for me is a nightmare.

More recently I had rectal bleeding and although it's probably nothing and doctors seem confident, I am thinking the *worst*. My results will be out in 3 weeks. I have paid thousands to get seen to quick and have taken out big health insurance too, now as I have so many things going on. It's like a nightmare that won't go away. I have sudicial thoughts and do think about death a lot. I have to keep strong for my daughter who is five but I feel so bad most days, I just don't know what will become of me. My family are very worried but they don't know half of it.

I find praying is the only thing that gets me through the day. I carry my medal from Lourdes also. Maybe I need a trip there?

When I get some more money together I will have to start attending a psychologist to deal with this as I feel it's a mental disorder that no medication can cure.

I think I have so many things going on that I cant even begin to write them down.. . :-(

My Mother is a hypochondriac. It has been going on for 60 years and I am way beyond frustrated with this disease and her antics. It is tiring listening to her. If she does get a cold in the winter, it lasts longer than the normal person. She never gets better even if it is five days after medication has been given to her. It is never ending and I have given up. Any advise?

alright I already know I'm a hypochondriac. i have literally all those symptoms and i do have bad posture also. i know how to slightly control it but i just want to know if there is a way to completely get rid of it on my own without any professional help.

I have some of the same systoms fearing i am dying and something is wrong with me, and nothing is wrong.

Hi, i'am 18 years old. I constantly worry that i have an std. I'll have constant panic attacks. almost daily now. The fear gets so bad that i'll sometimes not talk to, or go near anyone cause i think i'm infected with some sort of std, such as AIDS, or herpes. I don't know what to do. I just recently made an appointment to see a doctor but had another panic attack, and didn't go. I think i'm just too scared to even see the results. Anyone have advice? help! Please!

Hi, i'm a 15 year old male and i believe i have hypochondria. I stress all the time about thinking if I have heart problems, cancer, diabetes, ulcers, or if I am at risk of having a stroke. Every time I hear a disease that accompanies a certain symptom I think that I have that disease/sickness. My mother and grandmother have told me I am a hypochondriac and I don't know what to do. I am so confused and scared. I can't even go to sleep at night without wondering if i'm going to have a heart attack or something. The smallest pain or ache in my body scares me and every day I stress about dying. I have now developed a phobia of dying and I am so scared. Not only that, these problems I am having are causing me to have panic attacks all the time and I don't whether it's a heart attack or not. Advice?

Im 25 and Im a hypochandriac. I have known that I am a hypochandriac for awhile. I kind of joke about it. In truth, there are worse things wrong with me, so I just kind of live with it. At present, I'm stressing out that I have mercury poisoning. I was actually googling mercury poisoining symptoms a few minute ago. My boyfriend caught me and made me look up hypochondria symptoms. I'm kind of optimistic that there is treatment for this. I've had psychosomatic symptoms for years, and told my doctors, "hey, I have psychosomatic symptoms, but they just shrug it off. Stupid thing is, just becuase you know it's not real, that doesnt make it go away. More about me being a hypochandriac, I also think I have cancer -- all sorts. I diagnose myself with something new on a daily basis. I also always think I have contracted herpes somehow, even though I'm monagamous. It makes no sense.

wow i'm 14 and i feel like i'm a hypochondriac. ever since my friend told me that her friend died of a brain tumor, i've just been obsessed. i play my video games to get my mind off it but everytime i make a misstep when i feel like i can do it, i feel like my brain is deteriorating and it's because of some tumor growing inside it. before when i heard about diseases i used to wonder and forget later that day but now, i've been completely convinced i had some cancer or neurological problem or a brain tumor.

i started telling my mom and then that became a habit then she coined me a hypochondriac and to show you how obsessed i am with illnesses, i came to look this up. she told me i was one when i forced her to do a made up neurological test of mine that both she and i failed. she just said i was a crazy hypochondriac and left. i've been obsessed with cancers and tumors for a long time! i'm hoping i can just cure myself but i think i have OCD because when i'm convinced i'm not doing something until i'm done with something else,that's the way its gonna go. sometimes i'm so obsessive i'll unintentionally harm myself by overworking or whatever.

-14yr old girl

Hi, i'm 16 years old and i know for sure that im a hypochondriac. It all started when i was maybe 7? and my family and i were headed to a funeral and i threw up in the backseat. Ever since i have been scared of throwing up and stomach problems. I always worry about food poisoning, contamination, and whenever my stomach makes a noise i'm scared i'm either going to throw up or i have an ulcer or even cancer. Every day im so obsessed about the foods i eat and i have annoyed many of my friends and family and truth be told i even annoy myself. This has really taken over my life and i'm afraid that it's too early for this to be happening. if anyone had any advice on how i could calm down and not obsess if someone coughs on me and i'll feel like i'll get very sick? thank you.

Hi, I'm 16 years old and I think I'm a hypochondriac. it all started when I was maybe about 7 or 8, and I was on vacation, in a hotel room, and I had taken a very hot shower. After that shower, I felt really woozy and sick to my stomach. I tried eating dinner, and suddenly obtained this huge fear that I would choke on my food. ever since then, my fears about my health have just gotten worse. I've worried about heart issues, constantly feeling my pulse and my heartbeat to make sure it sounded regular. I've gotten a good amount of panic attacks due to worries about my health. Now I'm on to fearing brain tumors or something with my brain because of this strange reoccurring pressure in my forehead that I've never gotten before in my life. >_< Gaah, why can't I be normal!

I'm 24 and i think i have hypochondria. My worst fear is the worst std (AIDS) and my fear is so strong i keep research all the time about the statistics! those figures really scare 36 million people and i keep thinking and thinking and thinking. i cry myself to sleep sometimes thinking about my mom and how i wish i could tell her about this big worry i have. i can't even tell anyone because i'm so scared to go for any check ups because i really have no idea what to do. I really wish i didn't worry about this constantly.

i am 17 and my fear is of STDs. i got a small bacterial infection once about a year ago. Since then i have been frightened of getting a sexually transmitted disease. i am constantly checking and worrying if i have something. even kissing a guy i worry about a pimple and freak wondering if its just a pimple or herpes! i need help.

these small worries keep me up at night worrying and then i panic and start to breathe heave and my heart beats fast, and all for nothing. just because i freak out!

i'm a 23-year-old, and i am really sick of worrying about getting a serious illness. it started when i was about 6 or 7 when i thought i had been bitten by a insect and thought it would give me some sort of disease. i felt so overpowered with worry, i couldn't shake it off.Then when i was getting older i started to convince myself i had a brain tumor. my grandad died of one, and i started to to imagine the symptoms (sick, dizzy, blurred vision). i was convinced the doctor was wrong. that lasted a long time, and now i am still worrying about being ill. it's mainly cancer that i worry about. it's gotten to the stage where i cant say the word out loud. i just say the ''c'' word! I think if i say it will come true, crazy i know but i really cant help it, i lie awake at night in a panic. luckily my boyfriend is very understanding. he helps me out a lot. i just really wish i could just stop freaking out about the smallest thing but i cant. i'm always convinced that it's going to be major. it makes me feel better knowing that i'm not the only one like this. i just relly want to stop this feeling and thoughts that run through my head.

I am 20 years old and I am a hypochondriac. I worry excessively about my reproductive health and it has taken over my life. I have trouble sleeping on a night, my mind racing, imagining that theres something going wrong inside me that will stop me from conceiving.

I constantly worry that I have damaged fallopian tubes and that I won't be able to conceive naturally. I have seldom used birth control because of this. 3 years ago I did actually become pregnant with my long term partner, but my world was shattered when he convinced me to abort the child. My life fell apart for a while, and I did actually suffer from Post Abortion Stress Syndrome.

I recovered emotionally after about a year, and for the meantime at least I was reassured that I could have children. My relationship with my boyfriend ended and I met somebody else - but it turned out to be a very abusive relationship. As well as being violent and cruel to me, the man gave me an STD - chlamydia of all things, which is renowned for making women infertile. Being so in tune with my reproductive area, I knew something was wrong straight away and went to get it checked out. I had the chlamydia treated quickly but it brought my hypochondriasis back with a vengeance!

Thankfully I left the abusive relationship and met a nice new man who I have been with for just two months. I am desperate to get pregnant with him. My desire for my own child outweighs everything. I envy pregnant women so much it hurts.

I don't feel like a real woman. I feel like an outcast. I convince myself beyond uncertainty that the chlamydia I had has blocked my tubes leaving me unable to have a child. All I want from life is to be a mother. I want so badly to be pregnant, to have a bump and to then raise my *own* biological child. I want it more than life itself.

I think back to those 10 short weeks 3 years ago when I was actually pregnant, and think how lucky I was because I will never experience that again. I search all day on internet sites convincing myself that I have a fertility problem.

I have imagined two ectopic pregnancies and even imagined 'severe' pain in my womb - which led me to be shaking and crying down the phone to the docter, convinced that I was about to drop dead and my tubes would be ruptured. Each time I havn't even been pregnant. Which then torments me futher because I begin to again question why I am not getting pregnant.

Who can I go to for help?

hi, im 17 years old, and ive been to the doctors way more times than others my age. i'm glad there are many more others out there who are just like me. i just hate that my hypochondriacal experience happened so soon. i try to reason with myself, but what do you do if you actually have something wrong but you try to force yourself to believe it's nothing serious? i dont want to avoid that, but i know that pain doesnt just pop out of nowhere, but sometimes it does. but is it all in my head ? i hate seeing symptoms of severe things, and symptoms i have. im going crazy, and im way too young to be doing that. ive tried praying, but i guess im not praying hard enough. i'll keep trying though. anything to have some kind of peace of mind during this life of mine. <3

Hello. I'm a 33 year old hypochondriac. The main fear I have is with my heart. I sometimes get benign arrhythmia's, PVC's, PAC's. I have had several test including: EKG, stress test, echo, lab work, chest x-ray,and all have shown that I'm living with a healthy heart. This may comfort me for a couple weeks or even a few months. The first sign of pain in my chest or PVC or flutter, and I'm freaking out. If I get dizzy or feel tired I automatically jump to it being my heart. I think about it most of my waking hours. Sometimes I have really good days though where everything seems normal again. I've found that praying really helps me. I hope this helps.

Hi Im female 40 years old Im a smoker of cigarettes and cannabis, but don't drink alcohol. Im fairly active. I've suffered from pains often daily, occuring in my neck, right shoulder to the upper middle part of my back. sometimes when i breathe, i have sharp pain in my left foot. it feels tight and sore when im walking from sitting down. i have fibroids on my uterus, abdominal pain.I worry it's more serious than it is, and feel my doctors may be missing somthing my heart blobs out i've had xrays but every thing is aparently ok but i m not so sure... am i hypochondriac

I discovered I was a hypochondriac not too long ago. One thing after another seemed to be going wrong with me. Sometimes all at once. I thought, can one person really have this much stuff wrong with them? It is very unlikely!!! My symptoms seem to pop up or worsen when I am under emtional stress, such as being seperated from my family and friends. It it is not triggered by work stress, because believe me I've had alot of that. But whenever I experience emotional stress, I can have a variety of symptoms that can last for months. When I am experiencing these symptoms I feel depressed, I feel like no one understands what I am going through and I feel the fear of dying any minute. Talking to people about it doesn't help. You become defensive if someone even says "You'll be ok." I have to stop and take a step out of the picture. I have to look at myself and say.."Stop this! This isn't real! I have to ignore the pain. The more you ignore it, the less and less you will see it. What this whole diseanse boils down to for me, is my fear of death. A hypochondriac spens every day thinking and discussing their inevbitable possible death, but never *accepting* it. I had to learn to accept the fact that *yes* I will die some day, it could be now, it could be 10 years from now. But I am going to live this moment to the fullest and not let this fear prevent me from experiencing all the wonderful things life has to offer.

I'm 25 and I'm a hypochondriac. I have annoyed friends family and my fiance. To tell you the truth I annoy myself. I constantly rant and rave that there is something wrong with me like I want to kill myself off. I dont understand why I do this. I cant live like this. there has to be a way to get over this horrible feeling of always thinking there is something wrong with my health. I hope that this passes because I dont want to eventually stress myself out to the point where I do get a stress induced illness(you see what I mean trying to kill myself off). anyway I hope everyone can get over this stupid illness. I just want to be happy but how can I when I worry all the time. Wishing you well, hopingforhapiness:)

*im a hypochondriac.* no matter what, im *always* worrying about whats wrong with me. im beginning to think now im manic depressive because i have mood swings. i also think im depressed sometimes because i worry too much. my worst fear is cancer, i always think i have it. whenever i get the common cold or even a fever, i think its gonna lead to my death. this sucks, i threw up once and thought i had some serious illness even though i was fine the next day lol. brain tumors also scare me. this sucks!

After reading this I am 100 percent sure I am a hypochondriac! My biggest fears are cancer, deep vein thrombosis, and a few other things. It's unbelievable sometimes. I'm now worried that nobody will take me seriously if I really have symptoms of something although I can't even be sure if what I feel is real or not. It sucks to spend so much of your life worrying about things like that but I always end up doing it even if try hard not to.

I am most definitely a hypochondriac. I'll get the smallest ache or pain and I suddenly think I have AIDS or cancer. I research the symptoms of such diseases, *constantly*. I honestly cannot get my mind off of it. It overwhelms me each day. I know, more than likely, it's irrational thinking. I'm an eighteen year old girl and have never had any serious health problems. However, I have OCD, so I'm thinking my hypochondriac characteristics might stem from that.

After I think to myself that I have some crazy disease or disorder, I *try* to ease my own mind by telling myself I'm acting irrational and it's all in my head. But, it doesn't work. The worrying continues, the anxiety continues, everything continues. I don't know what to do...

I'm starting to wonder if I'm becoming...like that. The past few months, I've been terrified of getting sick. Every time there's something wrong with me, I automatically assume the worse.

I didn't do this a year ago. Only recently and it's scaring me. I'm terrified of dying all of the sudden!

I am beginning to think I have this disorder. Though all my health problems are very real to me, it doesn't make sense for one person to have so many things wrong with them at once. So either there is definitely something really wrong with me that the doctors just haven't found yet or I am a hypochondriac.

Heck, I am a hypochondriac. I just stopped looking at a disease in one of my health books. But I don't plan my own death even though I think I'll die sometime this year. *shrugs* This started when I was 13 and it sucks. My main fear is meningitis and brain tumors. I never should've watched that ER episode.

Other than that I am able to get through life. Sometimes I convince myself out of thinking that there is something wrong with me. But something new does come eventually.

I am having a similar problem with my mom who is now 62. She has been obsessed with going to the doctors and always thinks she has something serious. My grandfather had throat cancer and for 2 years. My mom was sure she had it too. She had numerous tests done and they were fine, but she insisted she had it. she has claimed to have breast cancer, but never has. She said she has had 2 heart attacks, but never has. My grandfather recently had a heart attack and within days my mom went to the hospital complaining of chest pain and thought she was having a heart attack.

She is in the doctors at least once a week with something wrong and the doctor cannot find anything wrong. She demanded a bunch of tests last year thinking she had a tumor or something wrong and after many tests the doctor told her she was very healthy and could find nothing wrong...she went to another doctor for a second opinion. I am at a loss at this point and do not know what to do about this. Any advice???

My mother is a hypochondriac. Every time my father is ill, she contracts the exact "illness". He had a heart attack, she was convinced she had heart trouble no matter what the doctor said. He had a stroke, she was convinced she was stroking out---once again, not so. My father was diagnosed with diabetes--now she is convinced that she has diabetes. She told me she had very severe CAD but couldn't get surgery because she has a "blood condition" that precludes the surgery. We make things up just to see if she gets the "sickness" we mention--she does. Her doctor just listens to what she has decided is wrong with her and writes her the prescription she says she wants. When I was growing up, she was seriously addicted to Valium. Any suggestions as to why she's doing this? By the way, she is as healthy as a horse.

My husband is a chronic complainer about his health. His imagined or real ailments always last much longer with him than with other people. I have suspected for years that he is simply a hypochondriac, but I am fearful of brushing aside something that might be a real symptom. He rarely contracts the ailment for which he complains of imagined symptoms. I am at my wits end. He gets mad at me for not taking his complaints seriously, but 30 years of it is a long time to deal with it. Is there any cure for this ailment? How long does it take? What is the cure rate? Thanks for any information you can share with me.

Hi, I am a 47 year old female caring for an 83 year old grandmother. She has been labelled a "hypochondriac" since I can remember but has never been diagnosed as such. She not only constantly worries about everything from her scaly skin (it goes away when she uses lotion after bathing) to someone getting in her mailbox but also dramatizes about others and tries to connect a serious condition to them as well. Her Internal Medicine Doctor has confirmed that she has Osteoporosis and she has begun visiting a physical therapist, but throughout her life she has really been healthy. She has been on a handful of medications for bad nerves along with a few that are medically needed such as blood thinner and a diuretic for fluid retention, she also has a pacemaker. Her skin is fragile so it tears easily but this comes with old age, she however, blots the area thus keeping it bleeding (purposefully) to create a panic and get attention. My sister and I are beginning to think she may be bi-polar as well. This lady drives herself around, walks fine when she needs to (i.e. following the grocery store worker to find a product)and even the doctor says there is nothing else wrong with her (many times) Anyone experiencing these? She also has severe mood swings, one day she'll be all giddy and joking and in a split second turns into this evil person and says things that are nasty and mean and her body signals are threatening. Quite often brought on by her actions. Later, she will profusely apologize and say her nerves were getting the best of her and she doesn't know why she said or did those things. We're at our wits ends here in Grandma's land. anyone have advice???????? Thanks.