Share your hypochondria here

[FishProf]

You DARE?!

Well, it was only a little stupid.  A fence that separates my driveway from my neighbors yard was blown down.  So i cleared out the fence parts, and then cleared the brush and debris so I could plant new hedge forming cultivars.

Those funny little underground hairy runners?  Poison ivy (which I'd never seen hiding behind the fence).  I have one spot on the back of the first knuckle of my right hand.  Which I must have rubbed on my eye.   

My left arm got it worse, but that's just par for the course of gardening in the wilds.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

You DARE?!

Well, it was only a little stupid.  A fence that separates my driveway from my neighbors yard was blown down.  So i cleared out the fence parts, and then cleared the brush and debris so I could plant new hedge forming cultivars.

Those funny little underground hairy runners?  Poison ivy (which I'd never seen hiding behind the fence).  I have one spot on the back of the first knuckle of my right hand.  Which I must have rubbed on my eye.   

My left arm got it worse, but that's just par for the course of gardening in the wilds.

:)

Yikes! Poison ivy is never fun. Hope it clears up soon.

[FishProf]

I am pleased to report that Prednisone is working very very well on it.

But this is a hypochondria thread.....so what ELSE is it doing?

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I am pleased to report that Prednisone is working very very well on it.

But this is a hypochondria thread.....so what ELSE is it doing?

Hmm, worst case scenario- it's masking a secondary infection like impetigo (but that's usually found in kids)? MRSA?

[clean]

Hmm, worst case scenario- it's masking a secondary infection like impetigo

Or maybe Covid Eye!

[smallcleanrat]

Serious question(s):

How upset would you be if your arms and legs inexplicably became prone to shaking or spasming, sometimes lasting more than an hour?

And if one of your hands involuntarily squeezed (tight enough to hurt) into a fist for about 30 seconds?

And there are unexplained pains in your forearms and loss of sensitivity in your hands?

I'm...not that ok with this. I at least want an explanation for why it's happening. The doctors I talked to each nonchalantly said "hmm...not really my area". When they tried to move on to the next thing, I stopped them and pressed for advice on where I could go to get checked, I got a casual "oh...is it bothering you? I guess you could try to get a referral to a neurologist"

I'm not imagining I have some lethal disease; far more probable there's a completely mundane cause. But is it really odd to be a bit upset by your body manifesting some unusual glitches?

[FishProf]

Serious answer - Get that checked out.  Neurological is indicated, but it could also be electrolyte imbalance kinds of stuff.  But it is not trivial and not necessarily benign.  Especially if the onset has been sudden.

[clean]

MD says:

nonchalantly said "hmm...not really my area"

Reply," Ok, then what specialist will you be referring me to see next week?  Im not going to put off investigating the cause of these symptoms any longer than a week.  I expect that YOU will be calling them to pave the way for my visit and not leaving this to your office staff to get me in for the 'sometime in the future'
appointment."

IF you are not your own health advocate, then no one is!

[namazu]

How upset would you be [...]

Very!

But is it really odd to be a bit upset by your body manifesting some unusual glitches?

Not at all.

Do you think they're blowing off these concerns because of the psych diagnoses in your chart?  (It happens all too frequently.  :(  )   Or are they just lazy/overworked doctors with terrible bedside manner?  Either way, you shouldn't have to suffer for it.

Do you need a referral to a neurologist, or does your insurance allow you to make an appointment without a referral?  Definitely seems worth an evaluation, pronto.


-------------------------------
On my end, the recurrent, unexplained bleeding turns out not to have been a sign of life-threatening occult hemorrhage, but of a small, irritable blood vessel, so that's good!

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

SCR:

I'd be pretty damn upset and I would find another doctor. Like FP said, it could be a number of things, but I would definitely take it seriously.

[the_geneticist]

Small Clean Rat:

Anxiety can manifest in physical symptoms too.  That doesn't make them any less real or any less urgent to treat.  I know that I had several during a period of intense anxiety: cold intolerance (feet and hands always freezing!), "crawling skin" sensation on my arms, tension in my neck, "fluttery" feelings in my ears (from a muscle spasm), upset stomach, etc.

If only one hand/arm is tensing up, that's very worrisome!  In general, if you think "huh, that's weird", but it's present on both sides of your body evenly (like having overly flexible joints), then it's most likely normal-ish.  Emphasize that its only ONE hand and not both.

Please find a good specialist!

[smallcleanrat]

Small Clean Rat:

Anxiety can manifest in physical symptoms too.  That doesn't make them any less real or any less urgent to treat.  I know that I had several during a period of intense anxiety: cold intolerance (feet and hands always freezing!), "crawling skin" sensation on my arms, tension in my neck, "fluttery" feelings in my ears (from a muscle spasm), upset stomach, etc.

If only one hand/arm is tensing up, that's very worrisome!  In general, if you think "huh, that's weird", but it's present on both sides of your body evenly (like having overly flexible joints), then it's most likely normal-ish.  Emphasize that its only ONE hand and not both.

Please find a good specialist!

Thanks, everybody. I feel a bit better knowing other people would be upset by these symptoms as well.

One side of my body is definitely more severely affected than the other; much more frequent and intense spasms and shaking, arm/hand and leg/foot.

Ended up at urgent care when the pain in the bad arm became much more intense. Got a diagnosis of tendonitis and advised to wear a wrist brace until the pain improves. Told the urgent care doctor about the spasms.

Urgent Care doc: Ok, so what has your regular doctor said about this?

Me: Just that it doesn't sound serious. But if it bothers me maybe he can get me a referral to a neurologist.

Urgent Care doc: Did he order a blood test to check your electrolytes, etc...? And has he given you that referral?

Me: No and no.

Urgent Care doc: [unimpressed face] Well, I'll order you a blood test. And I can write you a referral; my office will give you a call tomorrow with the names of a couple of neurologists. Try to schedule with them ASAP.

Wonder of wonders, they actually did get back to me (not how things have typically gone down for me). Now I have a couple of numbers to try calling tomorrow. Maybe there's a chance to get this sorted after all.

[spork]

I am pleased to report that Prednisone is working very very well on it.

But this is a hypochondria thread.....so what ELSE is it doing?

Possibilities include anxiety, Cushing syndrome, and osteoporosis.

About two weeks ago one of my toes quickly developed a large blister that was filled with blood and pus rather than water. Twelve hours after it appeared I drained, cleaned, and bandaged it. It has not reappeared. The blister did not look like a chillblain but I'm wondering if it was Covid toe. And if not that, could it be a sudden onset of toe cancer?

[ergative]

When I was in grad school I got some iron-deficient anemia, which manifested as shortness of breath (not even fatigue--just difficulty taking a satisfying big breath). I went to the doctor, got a blood test, started taking iron supplements, and haven't had a problem since. I've stopped taking the supplements, and as a vegetarian menstruating person, I've always been aware that the problem could recur, and keep the supplements in the medicine cabinet.

Of course, all of this knowledge is meaningless when you start having shortness of breath these days. No matter how identical it feels to the grad school anemia, and how utterly absent any other symptoms are--symptoms such as coughing, fever, anosmia, or, apparently, chilblains (wtf? smdh)--I am obviously beset by the rona.

[Caracal]

Small Clean Rat:

Anxiety can manifest in physical symptoms too.  That doesn't make them any less real or any less urgent to treat.  I know that I had several during a period of intense anxiety: cold intolerance (feet and hands always freezing!), "crawling skin" sensation on my arms, tension in my neck, "fluttery" feelings in my ears (from a muscle spasm), upset stomach, etc.

If only one hand/arm is tensing up, that's very worrisome!  In general, if you think "huh, that's weird", but it's present on both sides of your body evenly (like having overly flexible joints), then it's most likely normal-ish.  Emphasize that its only ONE hand and not both.

Please find a good specialist!

Thanks, everybody. I feel a bit better knowing other people would be upset by these symptoms as well.

One side of my body is definitely more severely affected than the other; much more frequent and intense spasms and shaking, arm/hand and leg/foot.

Ended up at urgent care when the pain in the bad arm became much more intense. Got a diagnosis of tendonitis and advised to wear a wrist brace until the pain improves. Told the urgent care doctor about the spasms.

Urgent Care doc: Ok, so what has your regular doctor said about this?

Me: Just that it doesn't sound serious. But if it bothers me maybe he can get me a referral to a neurologist.

Urgent Care doc: Did he order a blood test to check your electrolytes, etc...? And has he given you that referral?

Me: No and no.

Urgent Care doc: [unimpressed face] Well, I'll order you a blood test. And I can write you a referral; my office will give you a call tomorrow with the names of a couple of neurologists. Try to schedule with them ASAP.

Wonder of wonders, they actually did get back to me (not how things have typically gone down for me). Now I have a couple of numbers to try calling tomorrow. Maybe there's a chance to get this sorted after all.

I want to stipulate that it definitely makes sense to get this checked out, but given other things you've talked about, it could also be anxiety. One of the crummy things about health anxiety is that you can sometimes manifest symptoms by thinking about them, or magnify really minor things.