Do people think you're a hypochondriac........?

by Frannie Banannie 8 Replies latest watchtower medical

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  Frannie Banannie

  Do people in your family or people you know think you're a hypochondriac? Do you think others who claim illnesses are hypochondriacs?

  I had one of those "state-of-the-art" or "in" health conditions beginning back in the '70's. I knew I had hypoglycemia, simply because of the symptoms I was experiencing. Of course, many thought it was hypochondria on my part......however.....in the 90's a doctor finally administered the GT test (glucose tolerance) and I was officially declared to be hypoglycemic.....and now I have diabetes because the overproduction of insulin over the years finally wore my glands out and I don't produce enough now.

  I know there are REAL hypochondriacs out there. I've seen a very few. They're about as rare as someone who has "Munchausen's Syndrome," where the parent deliberately causes illness or injury to a child for the attention, sympathy and concern the parent can get in relation to the child's illness/injury.

  I've also seen a whole apartment building of people ALL come down with leukemia when I was living in Maryland back in the late 60's. It must have been attributed to something in the environment in the building.

  I wish people wouldn't be so quick to judge others who claim physical weaknesses. Witnesses do that.

  Hugs,

  Frannie
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  looking_glass

  No, but my mother is one. She has had every disease known and not known to man. However, she is the first to throw stones when someone says they are sick and cannot make mtgs or go out beating on doors.
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  Frannie Banannie

  She has had every disease known and not known to man. However, she is the first to throw stones when someone says they are sick and cannot make mtgs or go out beating on doors.

  LG, she sounds like a genuine hypochondriac. They usually lay claim to having every disease or disorder they learn about.

  Frannie
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  looking_glass

  That would be her. And when people claim to have the same disease as her, she has to out do them as to her sickness being worse than theirs. Very strange indeed!
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  blondie

  Hypochondriac...

  I am suspicious when people are too "sick" to help you do some work but suddenly are cured when something fun comes along 5 minutes later.

  I figure in the end it is between them and their doctor.

  Blondie
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  Frannie Banannie

  That would be her. And when people claim to have the same disease as her, she has to out do them as to her sickness being worse than theirs. Very strange indeed!

  LG, it's a wonder people that do this don't get a clue as to how obvious their behavior is to others.

  I am suspicious when people are too "sick" to help you do some work but suddenly are cured when something fun comes along 5 minutes later.

  I figure in the end it is between them and their doctor.

  Blondie, I call that the "bait & switch" excuse....it's obvious when they immediately go do something "fun" that they truly aren't sick, just not dependable to work when there's fun to be had.

  Have yall ever seen people that begin to actually talk themselves into getting sick when someone near them has a virus or something? I have. I watched my cousin do it one time. It was amazing! She didn't have symptom one and she began talking about someone else she knew (family or friend, I don't remember) that had a virus and decided (without having one symptom prior to her discussion of their symptoms) that she was beginning to get sick and within the hour, she was hurling.

  Frannie
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  J-ex-W

  Sorry, but that statement about your cousin sounds, to me, not fair. Granted, I don't know your cousin, but communicable virus symptoms can and do come on just that fast. They can blow over almost as quickly. I remember being amazed at one such viral run myself as a kid, how I felt perfectly fine one minute, then suddenly symptoms came on hard and were completely resolved within 24 hrs. The only difference is, I found out later that it was going around (rather than before).

  And yes, I know about the hypoglycemic stuff, too, and how elusive diagnosis can be--especially if it's the kind called 'reactive hypoglycemia' as opposed to the kind called 'fasting hypoglycemia.' For years, many doctors denied that reactive hypoglycemia is real; they have since learned to recognize it as a precursor to type II diabetes. [Lot of diabetes on both sides of my family, and I have always had reactive hypoglycemia symptoms--which are tied to having too many carbs and not enough protein in your system at a given time.] Reactive hypogycemic people need a very high protein diet/ low carb menu and to eat several small meals/ snacks throughout the day--the exact opposite of our typical American diet. As for fasting hypoglycemia...I'm better off having not eaten for 12 hours or so, as long as I've had enough protein in my system prior to that time, than I am having a high carb [even if it's good carb] ratio to my meal, with symptoms starting either immediately or 2-5 hrs. later.

  I think most people who get labeled hypochondriacs are, in truth, dealing with poorly understood or multiple (confounding) health issues simultaneously--as well as very unsupportive community people. And the stress from which, of course, only aggravates the symptoms! Grrrr! Although, it sounds like you are already quite acquainted with this fact.
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  looking_glass

  Fran, I know exactly what you are talking about. We always had a running joke in our family that if you started coughing because you swallowed down the wrong pipe, you would have to say to my mom, I'M NOT SICK, I JUST SWALLOWED DOWN THE WRONG PIPE because next thing you know she would say "oh, I have the cold you had, you know where you were coughing".

  I also know for people who claim to be hypoglycemic, at least the ones I have come in contact with, those are the same people that eat crap all day long and then if they want to get out of something say, "oh, I can't, I don't feel well, I think my blood sugar is low because you know I am hypoglycemic".

  Candida was the other disease that JWs claimed to have in the 80's. That seemed to die down. But there was a period of time when they all were on the candida diet. It just gives them an excuse to complain and act like victims.
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  blondie

  The only people qualified to know if I am a hypochondriac are my doctors.

  But if people say they have a condition and act counter to the treatment recommendations of their doctors that they tell me about or are self-diagnosed, I do wonder.

  Blondie