Do you think that some doctors think their patients are just hypochondriacs?

I’m glad to say I have a doctor who takes everything seriously. He goes above and beyond. I wish I’d had him when I got sick a year ago. It wouldn’t have slipped by him and my life would be completely different now.

I have to think every doc is faced with people wanting prescriptions for BS aliments just to get high or take the edge off of stress in their lives.

It’s probably unavoidable that doctors will come across patients who are “hyper vigilant” about their health issues and how they feel, expressing anxiety about every ache and pain and what it may mean.

My doctor laughs whenever I mention that I checked the internet on the symptoms I am having.
Funny how often they are right, though.

My daughter is a bit of a hypochondriac. I take every complaint of hers with a grain of salt. Last year she claimed to have meningitis, mono, throat cancer (twice) and a broken toe. What she really had was strep throat, a sinus infection, a cold, and a broken toe. I told her to stop using the internet to diagnose her issues.

Absolutely. I think doctor’s think of me that way, I guess I might be a challenging patient. Doctors usually don’t like me much I don’t think, because I don’t trust them to be competent. I am the opposite of a hyperchondriac. I avoid the doctor, I never think I am dying, I never think I have cancer. The only time I actually admittedly get a little worried is when my heart arrythmia is acting up. I live with it for day’s and weeks sometimes hoping it will just resolve itself with a tweak of my thyroid medication.

I will wind up dead one day because I am not enough of a hyperchondriac, tied in with being a nervous wreck about going to the doctor because I leave crying or angry so often.

I surmise most doctors would have several patients who might loosely be described as hypochondriacs, learning to deal tactfully with those patients while remaining open to the possibility that they could just be right this time must be a real art.

People don’t realize that the insurance industry has put most physicians under a stop watch. When I look back on the leisurely visits to our pediatrician when I was a kid, and even my own kids’ doctors, I was really appalled when I hauled the grandson to His doctor. There was a palpable feeling of urgency in the place, and the staff reminded me of pit mechanics at a NASCAR event. I don’t think the average physician is really granted time to familiarize himself with his patient, and then again there are bound to be a few people who genuinely are hypochondriacs.

My doctor sure does. He’s also correct I am a hypochondriac. On that spectrum I can be convinced I’m ok but there needs to be evidence. After several full work ups and no issues found I finally accepted that my symptoms were stress related. (they also coincide with seasonal depression) I still struggle with it on occasion but rationality ultimately wins out in my case. (If I can stay off the F*&^ing internet) For many it never will and they are truly suffering. The trick is to find a doc who will help you work through it by providing the evidence you need to determine if that is really the case or not. They are used to seeing quite a few hypochondriacs and some are more compassionate than others. He once told me flat out that engineers are the worst patients because we simply don’t take a Docs word without external or secondary confirmation. If I could just leave the “trust but verify” mentality at the office I’d suffer a lot less anxiety when medical things pop up.

Yes. And for good reason. Some patients are hypochondriacs.

Probably, but I like to think it’s their duty to check the patient out, and then decide.

Some docs do, for sure. My mom tells me those patients often end up eventually seeing someone in her specialty, rheumatology, and discovering they had an autoimmune disease. There was a recent New Yorker article about this.

@JLeslie: I think I remembered you saying in the past that you go to the doctor a lot, even in other states when you are on vacation. Here you are saying you avoid the doctor. I am confused or am I mistaken?

Yes. Some patients are hypochondriacs. As a dentist and therefore, a doctor, I can tell you this with certainty. However, many of these ‘hypochondriacs’ just don’t feel heard. They just need to be listened to. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Most doctors don’t have time for this. It’s a complicated thing. There are those, that want to come in and challenge, and there are those, that just need to be heard. And you have the next patient, there, and waiting. It’s difficult. I have found that most patients I perceive to be ‘hypochondriacs’ are just needing a good ear, and some time.
(and there are those that want your opinion on mercury removal treatments and all their ‘symptoms’ and bowel cleansing and green leaf teas and and….)

@jca I go to the doctor for things I have to go for. I go twice a year for my thyroid, although I am hoping my doctor will let me slide by with once a year, because I am still using the one in TN. I tried a doctor here and really disliked him for more than one reason. I do get lab work every two to three months.

I go to the GYN once a year, unless something comes up. When I first started having my GYN problems in my early 20’s I went to many many doctors, pretty much a waste of time. Eventually, I found my doctor in NYC who treated me.

A few years ago I did get an appointment right away at the GYN when the tissue on my clitoris appeared discolored, whitish. I was having a lot of pain during that time. Discolored tissue can mean cancer, but I didn’t know exactly what to look for so I went to the doctor within a few weeks. My doctor was unavailable so a different one in her practice. He looked at it and wanted me to schedule surgery to remove the tissue. Under general anesthesia. Serious surgery, removing enough tissue I need general. I made a second appointment with my doctor and asked her to test for HPV there, which she agreed was worth doing. It was negative. She didn’t see the need to do surgery and thought let’s watch it. So then, I went back to my GYN in my old state, who I trust very much, because I have one doctor thinking I need to cut all that tissue away and another saying let’s sit and watch it. My old GYN said, and this is classic him, “I would not want to cut that area away, if it needs to be done it should only be done by a surgeon who does that specific work a lot.” Then he made sure I got in to see an oncologist at Vanderbilt (a few hours from where I lived) who specifically works with the vulva and clitoris. It is extremely common, for clitoral removal to result in chronic pain for the rest of your life, not to mention losing your clitoris! The oncologist said it definitely is not cancer. That first doctor would have butchered me. How dare he. How dare he treat that part of my body like that. It wasn’t removing a mole from my leg. Am I a hyperchondriac for seeing 4 doctors regarding that issue?

When I had discomfort in my left breast and a small cyst many years ago, I showed it to my doctor at my regular yearly appointment. It was perfectly round and I did go ahead and get a mammogram and ultrasound. The doctor wasn’t worried and neither was I.

I see a cardiologist once every 5–10 years or so. I have a murmur and an arrythmia. Probably now that I am getting older I will try to go every 5 years.

I have seen fertility doctors as you know.

I get a colonscopy every 5–7 years. I probably am supposed to do it in 3 years this time since they found a polyp on my last one, but last time it took 7 years in between polyps. I am bleeding right now every time I go to the bathroom, but I started eating raw salad again, so I assume it is that, I definitely am not running to the gastro doctor. I do have colon cancer in my family, my maternal grandfather, and I have had polyps since my early 30’s. My BIL (not related by blood) just got through chemo, radiation, and surgery for rectal cancer. I still will ignore the bleeding for a long long time and hope it resolves.

The thing is, when you really are sick, and do have to go to the doctor more than average, and God forbid your illness is difficult to diagnose and difficult to treat, then you appear to be a hyperchondriac, but really you just want to get better. When the doctors are not helping, you try to help yourself, so you read up and become more knowledgable. Doctors usually don’t like that. You also have tried multiple treatments, so when a new doctor suggests something and you know it doesn’t work for you, many doctors decide you are combative.

The last few days I have felt my arrythmia a lot, feels like I might not wake up alive. I’ll just get a thyroid blood test and hope it corrects if I adjust my medicine like it usually does. Is getting the blood test hypochondriacal? I say no. About 90% of the time when I feel symptimatic regarding what I relate to my thyroid I am right, I need to adjust my medicine. Most thryoid patients only get tested every 6 months to a year, but they are more stable than I am. A lot of them aren’t stable and they really are not tested enough. They feel like shit all the time and their doctors don’t really work with them to feel better. I happen to have a heart arrythmia which I feel more when my heart rate is very fast or very slow. Which the thryoid affects. If I didn’t have that heart problem I could ignore my other thyroid symptoms longer probably.

Well! when I read, ‘clitoral removal’ I have to admit I was stupified. Who, excepting certain tribes, doe this? And, regarding the thyroid, have you tried you tried Armour? I have heart murmur too and have had bacterial endocarditis. I have a valve replacement in my future. If you have rectal bleeding, go at once. But, you are going to hate me, stop reading and stop reading about your symptoms. Except Armour for thyroid. Read about that. Let me say that lots of people in their 40’s and above have growths and other such weirdness and it is fine. I will say that, and I tread very carefully here, investigate something other than the physical for your manifest symptoms. Pray, I do not and hope not to sound insulting here.

@trailsillustrated I switched to Armour (thank you for suggesting it) and it was too much T3 we think, so now I am taking Unithroid at a lower dose than I previously did and a mini does of Armour. So far I think it is a very good combination. I still may not be perfectly stable for a year at a time, but I do think the ext T3 makes me less symptimatic whe my T4/TSH is a little high or low, so I am very happy with it overall.

I don’t really worry about my heart. As I said I go to the doctor every 5–10 years for a check. It just is a symptom along with hair falling out andnothers to know my thyroid meds need a tweak.

I don’t worry about little growths or weirdness at all. I go once in a blue moon to the dermatologist to get several things removed and don’t think about it again. We are supposed to go to the derm once a year, I have never done that. I usually go when something needs checking or treating, and even then it can take me a year to make the appointment.

I’m not going to the doctor for rectal bleeding. He will want to do a colonscopy and I am pretty sure it is what I have been eating. It will take a few to several weeks to resolve, because those things don’t heal quickly. He won’t be able to tell anything with a regular exam only a scope, which I won’t do right now. It will be a waste of time and money to go the doctor right now for it.

I’m not insulted. It’s not psychological if results show up in blood tests, if I am bleeding, and if the doctor is also witness to tissue changes. I guess you feel it is hypochondriasis also. But, you are part of the medical field, so it doesn’t surprise me. I don’t mean that in an offensive way either. I have spent years ignoring problems and not going to the doctor and living in pain and discomfort. I just live with it, I don’t research it online daily, or talk about, or anything. I have friends and family when they find out tell me to “see another doctor” or as you are saying to go to the gastro doctor. I have had shrinks tell me to see another doctor and not let a doctor who doesn’t listen stop me from pursuing health. If anything the people around me want me to see more doctors and focus on my problem more than I do when they hear what I live with.

What choice do I have? Doctors have done some horrible things to me. I can either ignore my problems or focus on them. I do both intermittently. I ignore much more than I focus. But, I definitely don’t think every twinge or growth is cancer and run in to see the doctor. My husband had a kidney stone 6 months ago, we diagnosed it ourselves, meaning we guessed what it was from his symptoms. He had an attack on Saturday and I told him to wait until Monday to go to the doctor. He said, “what if it is cancer?” How is it going to be cancer?! Ugh, $2000 later and spent time at the ER for nothing. It was a kidney stone and it passed a couple days later. Why am I the hypochondriac?

@trailsillustrated I want to remind you that you helped me with my husband regarding a dental treatment suggested by his new dentist. When my husband told me what they wanted to do I was hesitant and told him I don’t him to do anything without a second opinion. That for his cleaning I wanted him to go to a different dentist, he was pissed at first. Annoyed I was so distrusting of doctors and annoyed that he thought it sounded like a good idea and had agreed with the dentist and now in his mind I was calling him an idiot. I asked you about it and you supported what I thought, although I always realized you are giving your opinion online and did not have the opportunity to evaluate him, I would never hold an online doctor responsible for any decisions I made. He did go to a different dentist, because I am a pain in the neck, and right too often. The other dentist didn’t feel he needed any special treatments at all. How can I not question many many things doctors tell me?

Also, remember the things I listen above a over many years, it isn’t like all that is going on at once.

@JLeslie rectal bleeding needs immediate attention. No ifs, ands or (pardon the pun) butts. It’s no joke. Please go. Even an extreme diet or whatever you are eating is no excuse. To you and anyone, if you have rectal bleeding GO GET CHECKED it’s not normal. And, I drink alot of wine and have weird coloured poo to be frank and I get up to all sorts, I am telling you, go to a board certified gastroenterologist or some such but please, go. Yeah it’s embarrasing I go over my heart and all that crap but if my butt hurts i’m embarrassed and dont’ want to go. GO. And yes I remember and that dentist was full of crap. You are not an ignorant patient nor an uneducated one. You are not a ‘hypochondriac’ , we only get a certain time allotted to each patient; when it goes over we sweat the next one, waiting. We progressively run later, and later, to each patient’s ire. Your us system is especially bad for this. It’s very difficult. It’s very hard in the us system to address all the patient’s needs. I hope you don’t think I was alluding to that you are a ‘hypochondriac’ because, I of course don’t think you are, I think you are trapped in a system that is very time constrained.

Yes, some are hypochondriacs, but some aren’t. And there seem to be some doctors who can’t tell the difference. On another thread I told the story of a friend of my bosses who went to the Dr. complaining of chest pains. He dismissed her, sent her home with some instructions to eat aspirin and call him on Monday. She died of massive heart failure that night.

When I got sick I had gone to see that same doctor 2 times, in Sept and Oct, complaining of shortness of breath and back pain. Each time he put me on muscle relaxers, patted me on the head and sent me home. The 2nd time I saw him was a couple of days before Rick got home from a week-long trip out of town. When Rick got back he took one look at me and took me to the ER. From there they sent me by ambulance to Wichita because my right lung was 80% full.

Rick said that when he was gone, and he’d call, I was talking out of my head. How could a doctor miss all of that, and a layman take one glance and see something was seriously wrong?

Anyway, I’ve changed doctors. If insurance has doctors under the gun you can’t tell it with this guy! He’ll spend 3 times as much time as allotted answering all questions and explaining, in detail, what’s wrong with you. I hate getting appointments after 1:30 because I know I’m going to be waiting for hours because he does the same thing with every patient.

@trailsillustrated The bleeding happens every time I eat salads too much. It was happening about 6 months ago and it eventually resolved. I have no other symptoms for colon cancer. It isn’t discolored poo, it is blood. Blood in the toilet and on the paper. It’s like a cut or tear inside my rectum I guess. I have bled much much more than this over the years and it is never cancer. It is what brought me to the doctor in my 30’‘s initially. Don’t worry. I appreciate your concern. My biggest concern is I already run low on iron.

I’m not embarrassed, like I said I already have had 3 colonscopies and I am 46.

I had misunderstood, I did think you might view me as being a hypochrondriac, because you seem to imply I should get therapy for it. I’m glad you clarified. I do think I can use therapy for how I handle having to deal with doctors, that I freely admit. I hope I didn’t come across harsh, that wasn’t my intent, I wasn’t angry or offended in any way, I was just trying to explain myself.