What are the Symptoms of Hypochondria?

I am 17 years old and I think I am a hypochondriac. I constantly live in fear. I always go on the internet and type what I feel at the time. and just because I show two symptoms out of the 50 for schizophrenia I think I have it. I also believe I have OCD or extreme anxiety and I probably do since I live in fear.

I have asthma (this I know for sure) and now I feel that some of my asthma is related to the way I live. I have always done ocd type things like touching the door two times before I got to bed and making sure I touch my bible before school and make sure it's placed on the left side of my dresser. I am in my last semester of high school, and although I am having a great time in my last year of school, if I didn't live like this or really, if I didn't have a mindset like this, life would be even more enjoyable.

I have never had anything horrible happen to me and all my family is healthy for the most part. So why do I constantly fear that something horrible will happen? My fear, anxiety, craziness, or whatever it is has gotten really bad the last six months. I feel like I am crazy and I fear others will think so too. I hate myself sometimes and wish I could stop but I can't. I also fear that I will die. Yes, I know one day I will, but I fear the slightest pain is a pathway to death

I am depressed but I think I do a good job of hiding it. At school, I am happy and friendly. I am editor of the school newspaper, but in my own mind I am screaming for help. I have a great family, awesome friends and a great boyfriend, but somehow I feel alone, I feel I am the only one crazy, but I am not. And actually, I am not crazy either; I just need help

Tomorrow I turn 18 and I wish for my birthday that this could all go away. I don't wish to die or kill myself but sometimes I just want it to be over. I am tired of it – fed up. I know I am a strong person as we all are who deal with hypochondria, but I am not happy with myself

I want to be emotionality and mentally healthy. Running is my passion, but I had to stop because my asthma was too bad, and that's when my extreme worrying got to me. I am now starting to train for a marathon and I want to prove to myself that I can do it with my asthma and that I can provide medicine to my fears and anxiety by doing things that I love

Everyone who deals with the stuff I do are my heroes because I know now that I am not alone and not crazy. I just need to get on the right track. So thank you to everyone for giving me hope. I do have the strength to conquer my fears.

I thought I am mentally ill. I went to several doctors already and they found nothing. I will tell them that my head is aching, that I feel like an elephant is sitting in my chest and that my neck is aching radiating through my shoulders and ribs.

They did chest x-rays, cervical x-rays and blood tests and all turned negative for any illness. They prescribed pain relievers and vitamin supplements and advised me to rest and not to worry too much. They also asked me if I am depressed or worried about something.

A doctor told me about this possible hypo condition. I don't know what to do. I've been over the internet like crazy looking for a solution. I always feel tired and don't want to go out of my house, because I worry about my condition. I just want to be in bed all day and just monitor myself. I miss my old self. I miss the times when I just feel so right.

I think i have severe hypochondria. In the last six months i have been diagnosed on the internet with: Leukemia, colon cancer (small amount of blood in stool caused by a simple tear), lymphoma (slightly enlarged lymph node), oral cancer (a canker sore), bone cancer (pain in my knee), thyroid cancer, etc. I am so frustrated and always checking my body for strange lumps!

I even diagnose my family (my mom and dad) with cancer even though none of them have a history of cancer in their families. When i hear my dad cough i get really scared. This is a nightmare and I'm afraid to tell my parents because they already think i am a hypo.

I read stories about misdiagnosis on people and it freaks me out that i have an untreated cancer. I need some advice. I can't even concentrate on my daily activities and every time I have a computer in front of me or on my blackberry i begin searching symptoms and diseases.

Please, i need help.

@anon140936: You need to see a counselor. Period. You are going to make your children neurotic if you don't get some help for this.

I lost my dad to diabetes when I was 28. We were also very close. But you have to get past it. It sounds like you have something along the lines of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which would certainly be understandable, considering what you've been through.

You need to get help. Your doctors aren't taking you seriously because they do know what you're like, and this obsession with illness could get you in serious trouble one of these days. This is why you need to talk to one of them about getting a referral to a psychiatrist who can help you. You need to do it for yourself and for your children.

i ama hypochondriac. I am so tired of over thinking every ailment i have or my children. i have become so sick and tired of myself i just pray to god to kill me already!

i am a mother of three boys, five, 3 and a half and my baby is two.

In october 2009, my father died of stage four cancer. we literally found out in the afternoon he had cancer and by wednesday evening he was dead. i was really close to my father. He was also my neighbor and my friend.

Six months after my father died, my mother had so many medical tests done and she was as healthy as a horse. she died in April form a sudden heart attack.

i have always been a bit of a hypo, but i never really took myself seriously enough to scare myself.

when my father died, i suddenly became overwhelmed with the thoughts of dying from cancer. cancer has become something that i constantly think about. cancer has become my worst kind of obsession, looking for any kind of lump under the skin, indicating a lymphatic cancer, breast cancer. a lump could be anywhere and in spite of visiting numerous doctors, I do not get reassured by them.

i have become the butt of family jokes. my only conversation is about i am getting sick and my children are going to get left behind. I have already told my whole family what i want done after my death and even given permission for my husband to continue his life, to love and get married. Sometimes i fear if i stop fearing cancer, it'll sneak up on me.

Just five minutes ago, i was reading a book and the boys were playing and i felt an ache in my upper arm. I felt a lump and now I know it's cancer of the lymph nodes (is there such a thing?) or breast cancer.

I am so tired. I am so tired of worrying and thinking of dying, but i am so tired of wasting my life with thoughts of death.

It would not be so bad but my hypochondria has also made me not only worry about myself but about my children. If my three year old vomits he has a brain tumour. My son had an infection in his throat and his glands swelled. I am so scared. Could this be the start of leukemia? I am just so sick and tired. I'm sick and tired of being like this.

I want out. I just want out of existing in this constant fear. My poor son (5 year old) had picked up on my fear, that a couple a days ago he swallowed chewing gum i told him that a thumb will grow in hi stomach. It was something that my mum told me. My son became really scared and though that when he slept that his fingers and thumbs were going to chop off, and i don't even know if I'm being a hypochondriac about that incident.

Anyway I'm just so tired of being me. I wish my parents were here. I know I'm thirty and a mother of three and i have basically a good life. Why am i so negative?

I'm always in constant fear of sickness but i feel that my doctors are not taking me seriously enough because that know I'm like that and then they are going to miss the cancer in either me or my children. god forbid.

I am most definitely a hypochondriac. Though this constant fear that I have some kind of cancer, or some sick mosquito will bite me, passing on all the deadly diseases.

My parents reassure me that I have a very small chance of getting diseases such as cancer, as no one in our family or in my ancestors ever had cancer. But I am still so scared!

Currently, my side hurts and is swollen, therefore I must have colon cancer, and I feel dizzy, so I must have anemia as well.

When I tell my parents that, they remind me about our healthy relatives and family, but they also remind that my ancestors and my family have all experienced this fear, and are basically all hypochondriacs.

What I suggest for all of you out there, is that you visit the doctor if there's actually something bothering you (as I am doing), and to relax, take deep breaths, encourage yourself to think about something else. Turn on a favorite Disney movie, and laugh your way through this fear.

Also, I suggest that you keep writing on this site and expressing all your feelings. It definitely makes you relax. Read some other people's posts as well. It will remind you that you aren't alone, and make you relax.

I had a panic attack about four months ago now and had a drinking problem. I was convinced that my liver was failing and had kidney disease. The doctor told me otherwise after tests but said that my blood pressure is high (180/90) so then I was convinced something was wrong with my heart (the panic attack I had previously reassured me of that, fast heart beat etc), and not to forget the vitamin deficiency I thought I had for a little while in between.

Still really worried about my heart (doctor is finding it difficult to bring down my blood pressure) and obviously the blood pressure is caused by cancer of the adrenal gland, but now I've started worrying about mouth cancer (had changes in my tongue), nurse at walk in center said that it looks as though I'm sucking on it, which anxiety can cause.

Also feel my neck uncountable times a day to feel a little lump which I'm now obsessed is cancer. Oh and not to forget the bowel cancer I have because I keep getting a bad tummy (could be due to the anxiety and blood pressure meds).

It's ruining my life and has come out of nowhere. I am too scared to tell the doc this in case my symptoms are not hypochondria.

I just want my life back and right now I don't have one. --Dave, 22 UK

i keep thinking i have oral cancer or throat cancer and its getting me off the deep end, I'm a 14 year old and I'm crying because I'm losing my mind and i keep thinking "It's nothing!". Then i feel 5 seconds of relief. Then i get scared when i think "what if it isn't?"

I'm going to go to a therapist because i can't take it anymore!

For the past few years I've found myself obsessively looking online for answers for pains or when somethings sore even when I may just have a cough. Today there were numerous times I thought I was having a heart attack because of some pains in my body.

I'm only 19 and perfectly healthy so having a heart attack in my shape would be nearly impossible. I'm pretty sure it was just indigestion caused by worrying about what the pains were.

I'm pretty sure I have hypochondria, but I'm afraid that once I ask to talk to a doctor about it, my parents and relatives will never believe me about whether I'm sick again. Because so far when I complain I'm sick I truly have been sick. I just tend to take simple symptoms to some extremes such as heart attacks. Should I ask to see a doctor about it?

I feel all your pain. in the last four or five months, I've had a heart attack, lung cancer, stomach ulcer, water poison, brain cancer, bad heart, thought i was going blind, deaf in my ears, internal bleeding and so much more.

Lucky me, i was able to say hey, look. you where never right before maybe you're just wrong. The way I've been working on beating this is just ignoring it. At the moment, i do feel a little from brain problems, but have had a headache for a long time which now i think is just my neck (stress) and from sleeping on the sofa.

I also think I have oral cancer because i smoke and have a little lump on my gum but i think i felt it move so i calmed down from that. The best way to beat it is in my eyes try to reverse it. It's just our minds telling us we are sick and stressing us out. i mean, it's hard but trust me: I'm 18 and starting to feel better, with no more panic attacks or bad symptoms.

What we all fear is death, but you must realize that everyone dies when their time comes and there is no escaping it, so just face it.

Second, you tell yourself you're sick and then you get used to feeling sick, and hell, you start to think something's wrong when you're feeling normal and feel normal when you're sick.

Well, switch it around and try and keep a positive mind and say I'm not sick. i feel great. Live each day as if you were dying, so even if you feel horrible go out anyway because at first you still have symptoms but once you start having fun and get your mind off. Just think wow --i forgot i was dying and felt normal. maybe it is in my head.

but just remember once you can accept death it pretty much stops. good luck to all. hope all the best for you.

I'm 15 years old. For the past year or two I've been a hypochondriac. It's nice to know that others out there feel the same way I do. I may or may not be a hypo is a better way to put it.

In the past year I've "had" add, ocd, kidney disease, bad knees, and a tumor on the back of my head. That's not too much but I guess you could say it's a start. I'm too afraid to tell anyone about my problems. I think some of it might have to do with my sister who is a mental case.

I'm also depressed but again, no one knows that. Depression may be the only true one (along with hypochondria). Should I talk to someone? I'm really nervous. I don't want to make my future family have to deal with this. I too have prepared for death. I've written two wills and I have written a letter for someone to read at my funeral. I keep thinking drugs, suicide, or cutting myself will be the answer but I don't want to have my family talk bad about me behind my back like they do to my sister.

I research my problems for hours a week and I just... I don't know, I'm confused. But at least I know what's wrong for maybe sure. For now it's an excuse. But how can I let my family know? Do I wait until I have a serious problem for real and then confess?

I'm not sure if this post is still active or not, but I am definitely a hypochondriac. Like many of you have stated before, I constantly worry about every little symptom that I possibly have.

It started with heart failure and diabetes and is now on to any and all types of cancer. In a three month span I have literally thought I had a brain tumor, testicular cancer, colon cancer, and now lung cancer.

Everything I do throughout the day revolves around my symptoms and possible diseases. I am 22 years old and this has been going on since I was 19 or 20. Its simply taking over my life and I'm terrified of doctors and diagnosis. The internet is probably the worst thing for me to use since most medical sites always list worse case scenarios. And of course, my current cough is surely lung cancer and nothing else.

The worst part is that in a few weeks, I'll be on to something else. I wish I could just relax and stop worrying about diseases all the time.

I'm 20 years old and for the past four or five years and all I've done is worry about my health. When i feel a pain somewhere in my body i think I'm having a heart attack or a stroke, when i feel a lump i think i have cancer!

I had a brain tumour when i was young and i think this is why i have the problem. It starts to take over your life, every day i have something wrong with me. I also start to think silly things in my head, and then I'll think I'm going mad! It drives me mad. Wish i could be 'normal' and get on with my life.

thank god something makes sense about why i always feel sick, or think I'm dying.

i have little things that bother me, from a UTI to a yeast infection, but the only thing i don't understand is if i feel like i have symptoms, how am i just imagining it? and I'm afraid of if i am a hypo, if i do have something wrong, how will a doctor know if I'm making it up or if there is seriously something wrong,

I'm so afraid of being diagnosed. someone please tell me how to handle this.

Even from the time I was little, I've always been a worrier. Now I am 18 and in college. I really am truly blessed. I go to a great school, have amazing family and friends, and the best boyfriend.

But somehow lately I have been feeling so down and my hypochondria has really been getting to me. Every time something goes wrong I search and search on the internet, looking up information about diseases. This is probably the absolute worst thing I could do. But I can't stop it. I'm not sure if I should see a therapist or not.

Basically I've convinced myself that I have a brain tumor, lymphoma, a heart problem, an STD and fibromyalgia. Sweet.

I just don't understand why this is happening to me and I want it to go away so I can go back to being happy and enjoying my life. I feel like all I ever do is cry and worry now and it's hard to focus on important things like school work.

Thank you every one for you posts- I feel like I am not alone. Good luck to all of you.

ahh, the land of my people! JK. I just can't believe that you all feel the same way I do -- it's incredible! I think I've been a hypo since right out of college (I'm 39 now).

I think my mind was really preoccupied up until I graduated and got married and then everything settled down and my mind took over.

My first freak out was when I convinced myself that I had Lyme's disease when I got a virus and I had barely even seen a tick before, much less being bitten by one. The rest follows: brain tumors, spinal tumor, liver cancer, gallbladder cancer, thyroid and bone cancer, lupus, skin cancer, fibromyalgia, breast cancer and on and on. I actually look up thumb cancer tonight because my thumb has been hurting and wouldn't you know that you can have that too?

The internet has been really bad for me but before then I would just go to the library and look in medical books. My husband just found a lump on his stomach and just blew it off and said, ah, it's nothing and went right to sleep and hasn't thought about it again since.

I would have been up all night looking online and contemplating an ER visit because I wouldn't be able to stand it. He just totally and literally forgets about things like that and it blows my mind.

I obsess over everything and can't get it out of my head unless every little symptom goes away but then something else just comes up immediately after whatever I'm worried about resolves.

Oh, and October being breast cancer awareness month almost sends me over the edge. I often won't buy things that have the symbol on it even though the money goes to a great cause.

I can't take it every time I grab the juice container that I am reminded that I could have breast cancer! It's insanity! I will pray for all of us. Jesus is my Rock and Salvation and we have nothing to fear in the end.

I would like, though, to learn how to just give it all to Him and finally lay to rest this torturous mental habit of worry. My best to all. I know exactly how you feel!

I'm 15 years old and after reading these comments I'm definitely a hypochondriac. Lumps, bumps, aches, and pains. I was sure I had AIDS when I was 11. I currently believe I have testicular cancer, a brain tumor, and an intestinal infection. I thought I had a heart attack last Friday. I'm depressed and anxious.

I can't eat or sleep or think about anything else. I've had a small bump on my testicle for roughly five years now, and I go through periods where I'm sure it's killing me. I'm finally going to the doctor to put an end to my worries.

Reading these comments has made me feel exponentially better and not so alone. I constantly feel guilty that I have a terminal illness and that I'm going to die, and leave my mother, father, and little sister. I'm sick and tired of living life this way.

After I visit the doctor, I'm going to seek professional psychological help. My heart goes out to all who have to suffer from this indescribable terror -- it certainly sucks.

I'm seventeen years old and a senior in high school. My mother, two aunts, and grandma had breast cancer. I was barely sixteen when I found a lump in my breast. It was surgically removed this past August. It was 3.5 inches.

Recently, a supporter of my cheerleading squad and my art teacher passed away. Since then I've been struggling emotionally.

I've developed tension headaches every day and severe migraines nearly once a week.

I've been seeing a therapist for the past few weeks.

I'm happy to know that I am not alone. It seems as though every ache or pain I have is MS, ALS, GBS, or anything neurological. It's debilitating. It's extremely frightening. It's affecting me in ways I cannot even explain. It's comforting to know that I don't have to fight this battle alone.

I'm surprised that I'm in the same situation with all of you. I'm 25 and it all started when i was in the eleventh grade. i feel like that I've acquired HIV even if i never had sex without a condom. I'm always in pain but I'm afraid to go to doctor and diagnosed to know my status. i prefer to treat myself as if I'm HIV positive. Eight painful years passed without diagnosis or serious manifestation of opportunistic infections, but I'm in a hurry to get things done before I'm severely ill. Now I'm doing my masters degree in public health. the point is, I'm really touched by the stories you guys have and I've found that I'm one of you.

I'm 15 and for as long as I can remember, I've thought I've had some disease of some sort. It's usually cancer. For a while I was obsessive over lung cancer: coughs, colds, anything.

We then studied TB at school and I constantly worried I had it, even though I didn't really have any systems and I had the jab. But now, for the past year or so I constantly freak out that I had a brain tumour. I tell myself not to, but I look up symptoms and persuade myself I have a tumour.

My brain remembers every detail and symptom so if I am always thinking what I could have. I can't stand to hear people talk about it. My heart starts beating faster and I panic and I have to change the subject.

If cancer cones up in my favorite tv show I instantly stop watching it, I can't stand to. I used to have panic attacks, but I've stopped now, but I constantly fret and worry. I know I should go to the doctors to get myself checked out but I can't. I dream and imagine the situation when I get the results back and it's bad news. I can't bring myself to tell anyone. I hide myself and put on a face.

I just wish someone would realize and help me but can't admit it. Sorry for going on, but I had to let it out, and I felt so much better after reading these comments and seeing that I wasn't alone. If anyone has any advice- please?

I constantly check my body and my mind is always preoccupied with one vague symptom of a serious illness. Please help me?

My name is maricella. I have believed that i have had every kind of illness known to man, or maybe not even known.

I have convinced myself time and time again that i have these illnesses to the point i think I'm mad. Just in the last year i thought i had a brain tumor, lung cancer, a decaying knee, broken rib,i am slowly dying, i am mental, ADD, ADHD, and OCD and so much more.

I have been a hypochondriac since i was six years old, maybe not even a hypochondriac. Maybe i do have these problems and my parents have just made me believe I'm a hypochondriac. What if i am slowly dying? What if i am psychotic? i need help.

My name is WBB and i am pretty sure I'm a hypochondriac. Hell, I'm looking up symptoms to see if i have a psychological disorder, about thinking i have things wrong with me medically all the time!

I am always looking up symptoms of diseases or things like pulmonary embolisms and stuff like that. If i have throat cancer, oral cancer, lung cancer, deep vein thrombosis, retinal tearing, ADD, and i do it for my boyfriend too. I'm scared when he gets sick. Every time he coughs i think it's because he has lung cancer, but here is the thing: we smoke cigarettes and i know that that has a lot to do with it.

my grandma recently died from cancer. She was a smoker. I need to quit smoking. Don't smoke. It will kill you and you'll think every day, is this little stick going to cause a serious illness that kills me slowly, or will it be something that kills me quickly and i won't even know what hit me? I'm going crazy!

I'm a 15 year old female going on 16 next month. I'm pretty positive that I'm a hypochondriac.

I'm always constantly worrying about problems every day. There is always something wrong. I get rid of one problem and as soon as that happens a new one comes right along.

I hate being like this and I know it's driving my parents crazy, but I don't know what to do! I'm scared of dying and I'm always depressed because of this! I'm scared to go to the doctor because of what they might say and it's not like I would believe what they have to say anyway!

I've already gone two times in two or three months, but I had some kind of feeling they were wrong. I heard things about that office also. I'm also scared because now I'm never going to know when something serious occurs! Anyone have any advice?

I am 23 and suffer from hypochondria. It started last year when I thought for four months that I had ALS after some muscle twitching. I was so nervous about it I raised my blood pressure after numerous tests everything was fine.

I also thought I had scleroderma, cancer, diabetes, melanoma, brain tumor, MS, Parkinson's, pinched nerve, hepatitis, etc etc. The more I worry about the disease the worse the symptoms got, which are really from anxiety. I truly believe sufferers of hypochondria have something in their life that they are not happy with and it translates to worrying about dying because they have not accomplished anything or have something that they cannot get over in their mind. They also fear losing control or worry about the future instead of living in the present.

For a lot of hypochondria sufferers they also experienced the death of a loved one or maybe fear of death of a loved one that they manifest and believe they too will get sick.

The true cure is to put your mind somewhere else and tell yourself that serious diseases are rare (especially in young people) and try to tell yourself it's all in your mind.

Also, it sounds harsh but "get a life." Usually, people with hypochondria have too much time on their hands. The biggest rule of all, do not look up your symptoms online! Go to a doctor and get the proper tests if you truly believe you have something wrong.

I am 35 years old, and I have read several of these entries. According to the description of a hypochondriac, I am that. Saying I'm a hypochondriac is still the same thing for me. I always say, Oh that's me. I have that." For me, my obsession with medical research a diagnosis came started from three areas.

I was an EMT and became fascinated with all things medical, especially because EMTs last famous words are, "i am not a doctor. I can't diagnose you."

My grandmother was not diagnosed with cancer until she only had three months to live back in 2005 she died.

My mom was just diagnosed with cancer a few days ago, just five years after my grandmother's death.

I made all of my appointments with the local cancer treatment and screening center without any diagnosis. I have had numerous tests, and the only thing that has turn up is an abnormal endometrial biopsy.

So, am I a hypochondriac? All I can think about is that I really do have cancer but they just haven't found it yet. How do I recover from Hypochondria?

Im a 17 year old male, soon to be 18 and currently i have a fear about having an STI and cancer. i have had renal ultrasounds, blood work, urine work and a chest x-ray and so far everything has came back fine.

I had unprotected sex when i was 13/14 (don't remember what age). But she said she was clean, and i believe her.

because i get a rash somewhere on my body, like my hands or my arms or legs i automatically think i have some sort of STI. it's a terrible feeling and im sick and tired of this! I go to the gym three to five times a week (which might be where i get my rash), but these uncontrollable thoughts are constant and pester me daily! It all started 8-10 months ago when i started getting these shooting pains in my head, which automatically linked to me thinking i had a brain tumor, then it was MS, Aids/hiv/ all sorts of STIs.

I also had a diabetes scare, and when i go to the doctor my blood pressure is always around 145/95! It's all anxiety and hypochondria.

I know it is because all these physical symptoms don't seem to be getting worse! I've been to the doctor three times this year, for two blood/urine tests, chest x-ray, heart monitor, and I'm currently about to start a 24 hour urine test (which frankly I'm not afraid of).

I am terrified of getting all these tests done, due to the fact I'm afraid of finding out results and finding out I've been diagnosed with a serious disease. It's torture and it's ruining my life! I just want to be myself again!

If your doctor says you're fine, take his or her word for it! The worst thing you can do is research symptoms up on the internet because websites make the common cold sound like an STI or cancer or something! Live your life, and don't let your hypochondria get to your head (easier said than done right?)

Run 20 minutes a day. It's a stress reduction and will drastically reduce your negative emotions. I'm no doctor but take my word for it! After i run it always makes me feel better.. Physically and mentally! Remember: it's all in your head!

I am 21 years old and have been suffering from hypochondria for as long as i can remember. I remember when the west nile virus scare was going around, coming up with symptoms at the age of 10 and seeing the doctor at least once a week.

Now that I am older I think every time I have a headache the doctors will find a tumor, or that I have HIV, and so on. I get tested so often and my friends are going crazy dealing with me. I have such a hard time sleeping at times because now not only am i worried about me, but i have a two year old little boy whom I am so scared for. In his first month of being born i had him in the doctors every other day, and i spend hours researching everything.

I hate being like this, and I know that I over react, any ideas on how to help?

I am 19 years old and i have been a hypochondriac since i was about 13. Recently i have had a lot of deaths in my family and it just keeps me worried. Every day is a new symptom. Every day is a new disease and it's controlling me and has even turned me into something of an insomniac.

Every day i am scared for my life health wise. I just want to go through my day feeling healthy instead of thinking i have cancer. All day i constantly look up stuff online about these diseases, mainly cancer. i used to see a therapist and psychiatrist but since I've moved to this stressful island i call Guam it has gotten much worse.

It is definitely helpful to see other people feeling the pains and aches that i feel and that i am not alone in this sickness.

Listening to all of you makes me feel a lot better knowing that I am not the only one. I too am constantly worried about cancer, hiv/aids, diabetes, even Alzheimer's, and I'm 23 years old!

For me however, this started about 8-10 months ago. I don't know what has happened in my life to make me feel this way, but it has. I recently went to the doctor and got a full physical and the doctor said everything was fine. I still however feel that the physical isn't accurate and doesn't test for any diseases/illnesses.

I just wanted to post on here as everything I'm reading, i have been through.

I've seen my doctor about everything and every time he has told me i do not have cancer, my toe is not falling off, i don't have rabies! I've thought i have had everything! I'm 23 and this started when i was 18. It got much worse when i was pregnant and i was convinced i had cervical cancer.

when my doctor would not give me a smear (pap test) i swapped doctors, and they would still not give me one so i lied about symptoms until i got one! My first pregnancy i was worried about the blood tests and was worried they were going to tell me i have HIV but they did not. I'm pregnant again and now worried again about the same thing even though there is no reason for me to have HIV, with the same partner and everything!

I stopped drinking caffeine and it got 99 percent better and i stopped taking my anti depressants and my lorazepam and have felt great for almost two years, but now I'm pregnant and I've had to have a blood test I'm feeling awful again! Planning on going back to my doctor! I got so bad last time i was pregnant i just wanted to die instead of thinking i was all the time! Thanks.

Now i am convinced i am a hypochondriac. It all started when a friend of mine was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at age 23. I am 21 and every symptom i feel leads to any kind of cancer.

i am convinced i have a serious disease and i am the only one who knows I'm going to die soon. I look up for symptoms all day long! i hate this! help please, asap.

I am beginning to think I am a hypochondriac as well. Anytime anything is wrong I immediately think I have cancer and will be dead within the year. I have sugar in my urine and an odd protein and immediately I have myeloma.

The doctor is doing a biopsy on my kidney, not because he thinks I have cancer but because he just thinks my kidney tubes are spilling protein and sugar. I am not diabetic but I immediately think I will be on dialysis. Why do I go to the worst case scenario? I hate it. I have committed to stop looking things up on the internet.

I love Mayo Clinic and Web MD but gosh I keep going to the worst thing first.

For as long as I can remember, I have always freaked out over the slightest health issues. Never worried about a cold, or flu, etc. Those were familiar, and I am not sick often. But this year at 26, I had a cold sore for the first time. Within a month, I had a yeast infection. Understandably, it could have been brought on by the antibiotics I was on for the cold sore, or any number of things (hormone changes, moisture, stress, anything) but of course, in my mind I have turned these couple of inconvenient health issues into something bigger!

In my life, I have had four sexual partners, the first in my last year of college at 22. I have now been in a monogamous relationship for over a year. We had dated previously, broke up, each saw another person for a brief period, and reunited. In each relationship, I did not have sex many times and I always used a condom, with the exception of my current partner.

I am so unnaturally frightened of having an illness, whether sexually transmitted or a type of cancer, etc. and it affects my life daily. I lose sleep, and go through weeks of anxiety until I finally rest my fears for a little while. I am due for my yearly female exam and am so tempted to have a whole arsenal of tests run, just to ease the anxiety and worry.

I have always had normal exams but cannot help but think something was missed or something new has developed.

In my mind, I can turn a cold sore and a yeast infection into a suppressed immune system issue, such as diabetes or HIV/AIDS. A horrible headache becomes a tumor or neurological problem. Weight loss or fatigue surely can't be normal, when in fact, these things are likely brought on by my severe month-long anxieties which bring lack of sleep, decreased appetite, isolation from family and friends, daily stress and mental preoccupation.

What's funny is I know that I'm being ridiculous, but I need the constant reassurance that I am fine. My big problem is even that only lasts a little while. I may get a healthy pap smear but I still worry in the back of my mind.

I know I have had few sexual partners and have used protection, but the fears linger in the back of my mind, no matter what tests and checkups may indicate.

Since high school, I developed fascinations and fears of terminal illnesses and diseases. Researching symptoms can take up hours. I do not carry that happy-go-lucky attitude that "nothing can happen to me" and in fact believe that anything can.

When I had that cold sore, my anxiety entered the picture and of course worsened everything. It couldn't just be that I had a cold sore. It had to be a sign of something bigger -- even though most people have had at least one and many people have them every so often. I repeated these statistics in my head time and time again.

I'm thinking I should once again put my fears at ease by booking an appointment with my doctor, and then perhaps talking with someone about this. It couldn't hurt to sit down with a professional and try to learn to deal with this in a better way. I feel for all of you out there who deal with this as I do. I am wishing you all the best and will keep us all in my daily prayers.

I'm feeling the exact same things as most people posting on this site. Six months ago a really close friend dropped dead of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 42 (I'm 28). He didn't have a great lifestyle, drank way way to much, smoked like a chimney and never ate any good food.

I was heavily involved in supporting his partner and family at the time it happened and was by his side when they delivered the news that he would not recover.

The week previous to that my grandfather (who i was very close to) died peacefully in his sleep of natural causes, and again recently another family friend died of another brain hemorrhage.

For the last six months I have been worried sick that I'm going to drop dead of something but mostly my fear is a brain hemorrhage. I get all the symptoms: headaches, pains in my head, tingling face, panic attacks, the lot. It's crippling me.

I used be such a happy go lucky bloke, but now i find it a struggle to even plan an outing -- just in case.

I have three beautiful children, and my lovely wife is expecting our fourth, but i just cannot get excited about it because of the fear of suddenly dying and leaving them all.

I have been to loads of doctors who have taken all kinds of blood tests, etc., and they cannot find anything wrong with me. They have all said it's stress and suggested I see a bereavement counselor. Which I did yesterday for the first time.

That was excellent because they told me that what I am feeling is totally normal. Some people (not all) will experience these felling/thoughts/symptoms after losing a loved one/friend as it makes us realize our own mortality.

The brain is an amazing thing and controls everything in our body. So if you're like me and the thoughts of dropping dead or you're terminally ill, are constantly resonating in your mind, you will start to feel physical symptoms.

I can't say that im feeling better and back to normal yet as I've only had one session. But, the counselor said that they will help me break the cycle (of thinking I'm suddenly dying). And I will start to feel better and get back to 'normal.' She said the main thing is that I'm not going nuts. It's completely and totally normal.

She advises to go for walks get some exercise as these will all help you to feel better and is the best thing for anxiety/stress.

Hope this has been of some help. It's actually helped me writing it down.

I just want to be normal. I'm a 43 year old female. Does anyone know if perimenopause/ menopause cause these symptoms? What about herbal supplements? I take bilberry/lutein, omega 3 fish oils, vitamin c, and glucosamine chondroitin w/MSM.

Honestly, I think the symptoms got worse after I started taking the bilberry but at least my eyesight improved. What about toxins? Could food or environmental toxins be poisoning me? Or do I just have too much time on my hands since being laid off? I fear I may not live to see 2011.

I think I have some rare disease that doesn't have a name yet, AIDS, cancer, heart problems, diabetes, mental problems. I can't trust anyone. I get these strange sensations of warmth (not a fever). My legs hurt. I'm depressed and anxious. I can't think straight, can't sleep. I just can't seem to be able to cope with life and stress. This is a living hell!

I am 14 years old and I believe I am hypochondriac. I have constant fears and I think that the slightest things are huge diseases!

I am 24 years old and married with two kids. I constantly have shooting pains in my head and blurred vision which makes me think I have an aneurysm.

I also have been to the doctor repeatedly because I felt "kicks" and movements in my stomach and just knew I was pregnant. Every doctor told me I wasn't and I even took multiple home tests and they turned out negative. I thought I was going crazy because I knew what I felt.

I now think that I have some kind of parasite inside my stomach, or ovarian or cervical cancer. I constantly think that a blood vessel will pop in my head and I'll die. I've even gotten comfortable with the idea of death, and picture my family after I die. I've just accepted it. I'm always looking for diseases and symptoms to diagnose myself. It's never-ending. I just know something's wrong with me, but I'm terrified to find out if something really is. I hate being this way, I'm extremely depressed and have had several anxiety attacks.

I don't sleep at night because I think I'll die if I do. It's too much to deal with. I just want to be normal again.

I am 25 years old. I have always been a bit of a hypo but after a friend of mine died four months ago from a blood clot (at 24 years old) I freaked! I have been to every doctor under the sun.

I have convinced myself that I have everything from oral cancer to a brain tumor and back to a blood clot. I even got checked out for lupus. It is putting a strain on my relationships and my mental health. I wish it would all just stop and I could live happily. I look at people on TV who have no cares and I get so jealous. I'm planning on seeking help ASAP.

oh my goodness. I am so saddened to hear all of you feel the same way i do.

i am a 33 year old mom to two great kids. for the past 10 years i have had this fear of cancer. Every little ache or pain is definitely cancer and i go to the doctor about two times a month with different symptoms. thank god for a great, understanding doctor. in the last month i have thought i had ovarian or uterine cancer and now I'm thinking i have leukemia. i will research my symptoms and when it comes up with the disease, i all of a sudden have every symptom.

i just wish i could stop this feeling.

I am 20 years old and i think am a hypochondriac. it all started i think when my mother died. i was 14.

first i started to take germ x and wash my hands all the time at school. i didn't like to hug people because i was afraid that i might get something. then i started to get stomach aches and low back aches all the time, and even headaches.

just within the past year i have noticed more things and i go to the doctor at least three times a month. At first, i kept thinking that i was pregnant because my periods have been crazy. i have one period every two months. then i went to the doctor three times in a three month period for a pregnancy test, but all were negative. but then i started to think that i have some kind of sexually transmitted disease. what should i do please help me?

Thank God for this site! First, my mom and grandmother were both huge hypos. I watched my mom suffer with panic attacks and think she had ever disease in the book throughout my childhood.

I told myself there is no way I'm ending up like that, but here I am. I'm 30 and have a two year old and ever since then, I think I'm dying all the time. Like everyone else, each day or week I have a new symptom, cancer, or disease. Typically, I worry about cancer (esp. because it runs in my family) and lately it's been worrying about low blood pressure or low blood sugar.

I find that I also fear being alone or even out in public for too long because I might pass out and no one will be there to care for my son. Most days I dread getting out of bed because I know all of the panic and fear that lies ahead. I can't stop taking my blood pressure and researching illnesses on the internet.

It makes me so sad to see all the teens writing on here with this as well as panic attacks. You teens should be care free, not stressed. I have found that putting away all medical books, as well as researching on the internet for disorders and cutting out all medical type shows on tv seems to help.

I also practice yoga and meditation. I think the key is to try to relax and not think too negatively. Lately things have been better for me, but I'm obviously not cured since I'm even on this site. Best of luck to everyone!

I am quiet relieved to hear your stories, but at the same time felt sad that so many of us have to live with this dreadful mental illness.

I too, would like to share my story, in order to be in the same pool as you guys are. I am 34 year old male. I am married and have a kid. I was a sexually active male when i was in my adolescence (age 20 - age 28), but i stopped having sex after i got married. Then onwards i became true to my wife.

But when i was age 32, i went on a trip with my friends, far away from my house in official work. We drank in the night, my friends wanted have fun. So they had sex with female sex worker. I too was drunk and could not abstain, and therefore i also had sex.

The moment was a turning point in my life. Afterward i started feeling guilty, and a negative feeling started coming in my head. I frequently thought of the incident and had a great regret and was constantly in grief. Days passed by but my regret, guilt and fear of infection from HIV AIDS started growing. I thought day and night about the incident and hated myself. I was very much worried that i might have been infected with the incurable disease and die soon. But the fact was i had protected sex and used a condom. my past tests also confirmed negative.

I went for HIV tests twice and was diagnosed negative, but i constantly fear having the disease, although after that i have never had extramarital sex and will never do it again. I spend the whole day, evening and some parts of night researching the disease. I go through the internet to seek information about it. If i read anything in the magazine about HIV/AIDS i feel very curious. If the story is about new possible invention i feel glad.

But i often fear about the disease and think about it all the time. I am always afraid that i may infect my wife with the disease, therefore i limited having sex with her, even though when i have sex with her i regret it and feel stressed and panicked. I even avoid my daughter as i feel that when i talk with her my saliva from my mouth will infect her.

I also don't want share any food from her plate or ice cream, fearing i will contaminate her. When i see any sign or symbol, patient, news of HIV/AIDS i feel anxiety and agitated. I spend each second of it thinking of the awful disease which will kill me in the future.

Oh God, i am so obsessed with the negative thoughts sometimes i go crazy. However, nobody in my family or workplace knows about it. I seem a normal person outside but inside the awful thought is killing me. I know that i am clean and negative as i used condoms while having sex and two of my tests show that i am negative but still it is bothering me.

But dear friends, we have to fight this bloody, cruel illness, and live the life. I am trying my best. I didn't have any one to share this with -- not to my wife, my family, or my colleagues as they will think that i am crazy or bad person.

Therefore, i am sharing this to you all. I hope you will all understand my situation. Love you all. Take care! --omsairam

i believe i am a hypochondriac. a couple months ago i felt a small lump in my breast and found out that it was nothing but i didn't believe it, but then i thought i was going to have a heart attack. like every second of the day i would be very fearful of being alone.

i thought that i needed to be by someone so when i fell to the ground (from this fake heart attack), that no one was going to be there to do CPR on me. that is still going on now.

it used to be breast cancer, then leukemia and now it's heart attack and stroke. And in my brain i imagine me being dead and someone finding me on the ground, in bed, wherever, which gets really annoying at work and school.

i think this all started when my dad was diagnosed with heart failure last summer. it never goes away, but it does feel better to see other people almost as crazy as i am. lol.

I'm 20 years old and i am in constant worry of my death. every day i have a new "deadly illness." every ache or pain or weakness i have i think the worst. i can barely eat or sleep its gotten so bad.

i constantly check my head for a fever and my pulse. I'm scared i have a serious illness and its going untreated since i haven't checked it out. i hate feeling like this but it's nice to know other people feel the same way.

I am 13 years old and I think I am a hypochondriac. Thing is I feel my hypochondria gets to me but my brain keeps coming outside the illness saying hey you aren't feeling this way now. feel it because you have this disease. My mom doesn't know I feel this way, but she has taken me to the doctor for my symptoms.

I feel people with hypochondria or think they do really do have it because if they think they have an illness that is thinking you have an illness then it probably is.

If anyone can help with information or help with trying to be diagnosed with this because I am not yet and I really feel like I do please give lots of information. Thank you.

I'm 18 years old and I am hypochondriac. Every day its another ailment. I mainly focus on breast cancer and angina. I think there is also something wrong with my tonsils. I also think I have a panic disorder and back aches. I feel dizzy and lightheaded a lot of times and like my breath is leaving my body. I also have heart palpitations and breast aches.

Sometimes i feel like there is a hole in my windpipe and i twist my body to hear it. I've had it for a year now. When i was in jamaica i didn't because no one talked about diseases much but here in america there is another commercial every ten seconds.

I also think i have fibromyalgia. I check my breasts for lumps at least seven times a day. I also think I have amnesia and I am anemic. It's so hard living like this. I pray about it all the time and hope God will give me some relief. It's hard living like this especially with college and work.

I think i have a sprained muscle in my chest which causes my chest and back to constantly hurt. I also thought I had a brain hemorrhage once. I'm so paranoid about my health. I worry about my cholesterol and blood pressure. And i think I might have type 1 diabetes.

I sympathize with fellow hypochondriacs, especially those like me who have no medical insurance. It's a horrible disease.

I am 24 years old. I know i am a hypochondriac! I just don't know what to do. All day every day i think about possible ailments. I cry every day, including right now.

I spend most of my days researching symptoms on the internet. Unfortunately, i can't forget the things that i research, therefore these symptoms stay in my head and at the slightest twitch or pain i know i have whatever the ailment is. I cannot stop researching, my mind won't let me. My mother won't speak to me anymore regarding being sick (other than in the head). i have no friends, no boyfriend, no doctor, no one to talk to about any of this at all.

I do have a four year old son whose father was killed in a fire. He suffers too, because i cannot play! Sometimes i think if i was just dead, all this insanity would stop. That scares me very bad because my beautiful son would all alone. The good lord has greatly blessed my life in many many ways. I am currently enjoying good physical health in reality, just not inside my head.

I have no health insurance and no money, therefore i cannot seek psychiatric help!

Since I have been extremely nervous about my own health, constantly checking my pulse over and over just to make sure my heart is still pumping, and on top of that I find it so hard to fall asleep because as soon as I feel the feeling of going to sleep I jump up because it gives me the sensation of death. Then whenever I feel the slightest tingle in my eyes or lips I freak out, thinking a stroke is coming on.

I'm also so relieved that other people have the sensation of a lump in the throat and all my prior symptoms. I know I won't get over it anytime soon but reading these posts really helps me out.

I'm sobbing right now. I've been a hypochondriac for as long as I can remember. Today, I felt some tingling on my lip and all day I've been freaking out about having a cold sore. I looked it up online and matched my symptoms and automatically felt so anxious. This is the case for every disease I diagnose myself with.

This is taking over my life. I feel like I complain all day, every day, but I also feel as if I have to tell someone. I am convinced that I am going to be sick just like my mother, especially because as a kid, doctors tell you about illnesses that are hereditary. Genetics. Well, hello hypochondria!

I have a feeling that i am hurting the myself and the people around me. I did not know that there are other people like me out in this world. I feel so dumb sometimes when I complain, but it feels so real to me! I can honestly say that I've finally accepted the fact that I am a hypochondriac. I think I am finally ready to get some help.

My brother is only 13 and he believes that he is dying. It all started after my grandpa died of cancer about four years ago. My brother keeps saying that he is having these headaches and he believes that he has a tumor in his brain. It is affecting him, but mostly our family.

My house has become such a stressful place. I dread coming home because I know that there is going to be some sort of fight later on. I just want him to be a normal boy and live his life before it is too late. We took him to get blood work and everything turned up normal, but now he thinks that he has some new disease that no one knows about and would not show up on the blood work.

It's killing not just him, but our family and I don't know how much longer any of us are going to be able to deal with this. If anyone has any advice please tell me. Thank you for listening.

I just wanted to burst into tears when I read some of the stories on here.

I'm 16 and I know I am a hypochondriac. (I think I get it from my grandmother) It all started early this summer when my hair started falling out and tingly sensations in the arm and leg. I was positive I had some type of disease and went to the ER, only to find out I was low on vitamin D. This stunt really got my parents and since then, every time I complain of an ache or a pain, they'll just ignore me and say I'm making it up.

I've conjured everything from strokes to heart attacks to a lung clot, my most current one.

Every time I cut myself, I think I'll contract a flesh eating virus and every time I feel an ache I think I've got some type of muscle injury. Of course, who knows what's real or not and complaining to my parents about it makes me feel stupid and unsure because all they'll do is yell at me to stop.

But, of course, it's hard because I'm always so convinced I had that disease or illness once I look up symptoms.

And who knows what I'm making up and what's actually real?

I hate living like this and I hope it's just because, since it's summer break, that I've just got too much time to think. I'll lie around and mope and sulk over feeling this way because there isn't much I can do about it. It frustrates and scares me to no degree.

I am so happy I am not the only one here ho has been this way. I am only 15 and I have already thought that I had breast cancer, ovarian vancer, leukemia, and a brain tumor. I can't help feeling anxiety and thinking the worst, but it mostly happens during the summer holidays when I have so much time to think.

I'm a 15 year old boy and in shape and it's good to know I'm not alone! Lately I've been having panic attacks dizziness and a tight chest even though my breathing is fine.

Every day i have the symptom of the day which, could mean anything. I've convinced myself I have diabetes, leukemia and other things from minor symptoms. This really has taken over my life as I can't go to distant places anymore or even go to the movies without having a panic attack and always worried but honestly, most of the symptoms we have are just anxiety. But anyway God bless you all!

I have been going through anxiety hypochondria over analyzing and even some OCD obsessive compulsive behaviors because of this.

I am 22 years old but have had this as long as I can remember. I have always been a worrier since I was little and I have always been on edge. I mainly believe this is from growing up in a household full of fighting and yelling and my mother would snap any second. I believe this made me always nervous and as I got older I would start thinking that I had something wrong with me cancer or aids or anything I heard about.

I became pregnant at 18 which was the best and worst time for me because I was so excited but worried about a million things daily about my baby being okay and my pregnancy but everything was fine and a hundred percent healthy. It still continues now as far as different diseases, and even though I am not high risk for small things, if things don't go exactly as I planned them or things are not perfect it literally drives me insane in my head.

I feel like worry is my normal state of mind. If I am not worrying I don't feel normal. I will find something new or old to worry about daily. I feel like my mind cannot stop and let me relax. I really don't know what I can do because anxiety pills don't help. I try to do exercise to release stress and it helps some and I try to just work hard and ignore it but fear I will always be this way.

And for people who say it is about attention don't really understand and obviously don't suffer from this and shouldn't be posting anyway because it obviously isn't severe or exists for them. I'm sorry for other people suffering but feel better know that I am not crazy or the only one. I hope this can be overcome because I don't want to waste my life this way and then become sick because of worrying and stress.

I'm a 17 year old male and I'm from Serbia. The first time i experienced hypochondria was at the age of 15, that was the year 2007, and that summer was living hell because i thought i had like a million diseases, from the silliest to AIDS, cancer, brain tumors etc.

I recognize myself in every symptom and i can say now three years later that I'm less of a hypochondriac than i was but i still fear of diseases (breast cancer and aids), and i am afraid that this will continue throughout my life.

I really can't live like this worrying about illnesses when i should be enjoying life and not spending hours on end searching the internet and learning symptoms of diseases and self-diagnosing myself. I pray to God than i will get better one day.

I see here that we all are sharing our stories but there is nothing on here on what to do about this.

I myself believe i am a hypochondriac. It all started when i was bulimic. I started to get really bad panic attacks to the point where i broke out in hives and my vision went all hazy. But now this has gotten worse!

I'm 29 and in constant fear that I'm going to die from a heart attack or brain aneurysm and just drop dead. That is my fear!

I have constant chest tightness, headaches, dizziness, etc. etc.! I've had ct scans and x rays and they came back fine! I have a disk out in my neck but it's not touching the nerve so it's not that bad, but the docs said that is the reason I'm getting headaches.

I believe otherwise. Is there a cure? can the doctor give me any medication to settle me down or anything? It's hard to sleep, think and to live normally! I have a 10 year old daughter and i don't want her to see me like this and me in fear of doing anything! Please help me!

I am a 23 year old male in fairly good health, and I believe I am a severe hypochondriac. I have had tendencies of this disorder for at least half my life, but over the past year or so it has gotten out of control.

First it started with me thinking I had anal and colon cancer. When I got checked at a doctor and was told I was fine I was still skeptical. Now I feel like I have mouth and throat cancer, as well as stomach cancer. I am living in a complete nightmare, and I can't do anything without thinking I have something wrong.

It's pitiful but I'm trapped in my own thoughts of these diseases. I feel like I have brain tumors too, and I'm losing it. I don't want to feel like this anymore. I want to move on with my life but I feel stuck because of these racing thoughts all the time! Any advice?

I am 37 years old and also starting to believe I am a hypochondriac. Although I know the odds of me having certain diseases are slim to none, I can't help convince myself I'm fine. The slightest ailment, like a sore throat, and I'm dreading the worst.

Lately it's been bad and I have trouble focusing on other things and want to do nothing. I am going to try a psychologist now and see if that helps. But I believe this is something we can never truly shake.

I'm 14 and definitely think I'm a hypochondriac.

I fear I have pancreatic cancer, asthma, heart problems, diabetes and a lot more. i can't sleep because I'm afraid that I'll die in my sleep. I now believe i have a brain tumor because i feel tingly all over. i didn't feel this until i looked up the symptoms.

i constantly tell my mom there's something seriously wrong and she's so annoyed with this she ignores me. i constantly have panic attacks and feel faint when thinking about cancer. when my ears are plugged i think I'm going deaf.

i have terrible vision and always have had. i see floaters and i fear going blind. i can't stop thinking about it and always think I'm going to die. i even fear having a stroke. Someone please help me.

i am 36 years old and i suspect i am also a hypochondriac because for the past couple of years I've been worrying about getting a serious disease such as aids or cancer or an aneurysm. it's like a living hell. i just wish it will just go away.

(referring to post 138): How, someone could even think that this is something that someone would do just to get attention? This is definitely not something I would wish upon anyone else, but when someone says something like that, I wish you could feel just one symptom that i have to live with every day of my life. It's definitely something much stronger than you can imagine, and if it could be controlled, the people who are suffering from this illness would not be living there life in fear.

So before you make your uneducated comments on a subject you clearly know nothing about, i recommend getting your facts straight!

I think the words "attention seeking" say it all -- that's usually the payoff for hypos. What they need to realize is that there are other ways to get attention that don't ruin the lives of everyone around them.

I've been suffering all my life. i watched my mother go through this. She is now better, but I'm constantly worried about having ms or a brain tumor and it's taking control of my life.

I constantly feel off balance and have a headache, vision problems, and am faint, dizzy, or shaky with numbness! yet and mri scan and mountains of blood work all are fine! I've seen endless amounts of specialists yet no answers!

My family is going crazy. I'm going to a psychologist in two weeks fingers crossed. good luck to all.

i thought it was just me. I'm always fearing that there's something wrong with me, like I'm always scared I'm going to get sick,or that I'm going to die, etc.

i have panic attacks and i hate it. what will happen is my chest will hurt, and it'll feel like i have trouble breathing. i really just wish none of this would happen to me. but it is kind of making me feel better that I'm not the only one this boat.

It really is nice to see that there are other people out there who understand what i am going through. I first realized i was a hypochondriac when i was about six years old and my dad had 60 Minutes on and they and they were talking about skin diseases and i thought that i had one of them.

Since then i have been to the hospital numerous times because of frequent panic attacks. In the fifth grade i thought that there was something seriously wrong with my heart and i went to the doctors and had all the tests done and it turned out to be nothing.

I don't like to go to the doctor anymore because i am afraid that they won't believe me. they will just think, oh here comes the hypochondriac.

i feel like the boy who cried wolf and everybody stops believing me. I'm nervous that seeing as nobody believes me now what is going to happen if i really do get sick?

I am 12 years old and I'm constantly in fear of getting seriously sick. even the smallest thing will scare me into researching whatever illness i believe i have. if i have a headache i fear a tumor.

Recently a started getting a strange feeling in my throat, like a golf ball was stuck in my throat. i suspect that my tonsils my be swollen but i have none of the other symptoms of tonsillitis. this time i really do feel like there is something wrong, because i found a bunch of stories of people with the same sensation on the internet. but of course, my family knows about my hypochondria and so when i told them about my throat, they immediately dismissed it as my imagination.

I also have constant panic attacks, (the longest panic attack i have ever had lasted for about three hours.) i was wondering if anyone knows what i should do.

I'm 15 and live in constant fear of having aids.

Good to know I`m not alone. Also sad to know others suffer as I do. Am 22 and have been worrying about my health excessively for two years now.

Mostly scared for my heart. I get palpitations, chest discomfort and have rapid heart beats. I've done a lot of tests such as blood tests, ecg, event loop monitor, 24 hr bp test, echocardiogram and stress test, which all came back normal.

I've suffered through countless emergency visits due to panic and anxiety attacks. I've seen three different therapists and even a spiritual healer but nothing has helped.

Hoping to get better one day. I'll hope for you too.

It is good to know I'm not the only one out there who is a hypochondriac. I'm seventeen, starting college just in a few months but with my condition, I can rarely concentrate on it.

Every time I hear of a disease I convince myself I have it, and the stress has become greater with the years and I've hit burnout a couple of times.

I hate feeling like this. It's something that has haunted me forever, but ever since arriving to the US has actually worsened. I grew up in a small country where diseases like cancer etc..weren't much talked about as much, and even when it was ignorant I preferred the blindness of it to cruel reality, for awareness only called my extreme hypochondriac thoughts to surface. Hitting senior year it only became worse when school-related stress collided with hypochondriac-related worries. If I don't think about it, I feel great, but once a thought hits I spend hours researching and overthinking. It's become a pain to live like this but I have no ideas how to handle it. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I'm 23 and I'm convinced I'm a hypochondriac. i diagnose myself constantly with illnesses, blood clots, brain tumours, heart problems, so much so that i have regular panic attacks, where I'm in and out of hospital having blood tests. i don't know what to do anymore. my boyfriend is really supportive but he will never understand. does anybody know how i can fix this?

It's so great to know that I'm not alone in this.

Since I was a young child at about age five, I've been somewhat labeled as a hypochondriac. I am now 14.

Watching medical shows as a child really turned my mind toward all the frightening things that can go wrong and since then, it's been hard to shake such thoughts from my mind.

As a child, I've had nights where I feel like my body is going to paralysis, simply due to a charley horse. I've been convinced numerous times that I had a brain tumor, due to only a few minor headaches. I've spent many a night just lying awake in bed, too afraid to go to sleep, for fear of death.

Tonight, for example, I'm lying awake at my friend's house (she's asleep), too afraid to go to sleep because I hit my head on a towel rod two days ago and it's a little sore and my nose is stopped up.

And, really, until now, I've never really confided in anyone until posting this. I don't run to the doctor every day for tests and I don't talk about it with people. My mother, of course, has seen a few of my breakdowns, where I cry for hours out of fear. She always does her best to comfort me, but it's so hard to find solace when the future is unknown.

I pray often, but rarely even find comfort in it, which makes me sad. I really don't know what to do about it, other than not let it control my life. I have found that it's very rare that I think about it during the day, when I have something to do. I can read, watch a movie, have conversations with people, scrapbook, write, listen to music, sing, etc. without thinking about it.

All of you are in my prayers. Thank you for comforting me in a way that no one else has been able to do- I am not alone.

I think I am also a hypochondriac. My dad died when I was little and I think that started my fear of death. Then my mom died of lung cancer two years ago. After that, I am convinced that I have cancer (all kinds of different cancers). I am afraid that any ache and pain is a cancer symptom.

I've had blood work, ultrasounds, numerous doctor visits within the last few months. My mom had melanoma when she was my age (32) and since I turned 32 i have a fear of melanoma. I don't go out in the sun anymore. I have been to the dermatologist four times recently. If they find nothing then I think they missed something. I have pelvic pain and am convinced that I have some sort of cancer.

I used to be a normal happy woman but now I spend my time online trying to find out what every ache and pain means. I don't want to die and I am thinking that I am close to death all the time, even though I look healthy and my tests come back normal. I would give anything to not be this way.

I don't trust doctors. They scanned my mom over and over and said she had nothing yet she died of cancer right after. So it's a combination of my father's death when I was young and my mom's cancer that has turned me into this obsessive person.

It may be in my head, it may be real. I don't know yet. It is nice to see that I'm not alone here.

I have noticed that when I keep my mind busy, I don't feel as much pain. I also try to tell myself that as I grow older, I may feel aches and pains but that doesn't mean I'm dying. I hate these morbid thoughts. Exercising, riding my bike and being with friends helps me. Hang in there. Good luck to all of you.

I feel so relieved after reading all your posts. I am 29 and I am a hypochondriac too. It's been a year since I am suffering from hypochondria.

It started when a neighbor died of a heart attack at the age of 39. My panic attacks started from then on. I have been to more than five doctors and got ECG and echo scan done. Even after the doctors assure me there is nothing wrong, my mind is constantly thinking I have some or the other problem.

Recently I went to the doctor to get a mole tested and he assured me that it was just an ordinary mole. In spite of that, I keep checking these websites.

I check my body for new new moles at least 10 times a day. I know it sounds crazy. I started meditation and yoga and I feel much more relaxed now. Wishing you all well. Eat well and exercise.

I'm a 14 year boy and i guess that i can say i sort of have hypochondria. i don't know what i have.

Every day i play video games and i die in the game and i have suicidal thoughts, then i think I'm going to go blind for looking at the screen so much, then i play guitar and think I'm going to forget something new i just learned.

I never feel like i like anything, sometimes i do, but only for like five minutes. Hypochondria sucks. I've only had it for about two years and i already hate it, and i hate how it started. Sometimes i get relief from hurting family members and my pets, but then i tell myself what if i were in their shoes, so i stop, and then the hypochondria acts up and it pisses me off so badly.

I'm never going to kill myself though. I always know that there is another day around the corner for things to get better and i always pray that they will, but i still think about it though.

I have cried while reading all this, because now i don't feel alone. I'm 23 years old, I have a four year old, and I've had two miscarriages..

After this past one i have been so different. With any little thing, i feel like i have hiv or cancer -- throat, brain or breast cancer. i don't have a reason to think that because the last time i had unprotected sex with someone, was 10 months before i got pregnant and well, all the results of blood work and things like that came back fine during pregnancy so I don't know what to think anymore.

I need to see someone who can help me because i feel like I'm going to die. I always make my little four year old sick. he has swollen lymph nodes because of his bad allergies, and well, it makes me think he has something bad like leukemia, hiv or cancer, even though five different docs have told me it's normal. what can i do?

I'm 16 and have been a hypochondriac for as long as I can remember. My mom is a hypochondriac, but she has hers under control.

Over the past years I have thought that I've been going blind because i woke up in the middle of the night with that film covering over your eye, a heart attack because i felt a slight chest pain, appendicitis because i had a slight twinge in that area, brain tumors because i get a lot of headaches, but i usually get them during the summer, and i found out it was because my body doesn't like heat so i get headaches.

Right now i feel like I'm having some heart problems because i felt pain in my chest, to realize i had pulled a muscle. that information eased my mind for one night, and then after that i think I'm having some heart condition.

What i hate the most is the sleepless nights. every time i think i have something i don't sleep, i stay up thinking if i go to sleep I'm going to die.

I want to have my mind back, and stop constantly thinking I'm going to die, or i have some serious disease.

Even though my mom is a hypochondriac, i know she gets tired of me complaining that i have some serious disease, or i complain about some pain i have. I have kept her up several nights talking to her about some pain i felt.

When i feel myself about to go in to "hypo mode" i tell myself it's nothing, and it's all in my head, but of course it never works.

i just wish there was something out there to stop this, but my mom says I'm going have to get over it over time. the only thing i would want to "cure" is the sleepless nights, because i can't take not sleeping for more than two days.

Even now I'm not sleeping because think i have some disease. please come out with something to help!

I'm glad that I decided to look up about Hypochondria. After reading what everyone has said about it, I see that it really does describe a lot about me. I've been going through this for several months now and wish there was a cure or how to go around on dealing with this.

I often find myself looking up the littlest things that are going wrong with me and make it such a big deal when its really probably not. I'm also constantly mentioning it to everyone and now that I think about it. I can only imagine what my family or my husband must think of me.

I also have visited with my doctor many times, have been through several tests, anything you can think of. Recently I was told I had a heart murmur and my doctor said that I was OK. Instead, I ended up going to a specialist to make sure. I often find myself reading on someone who has an illness or someone I know who is really ill and thinking I have the same thing.

I'm really glad to know that I'm not the only one. I have spoken with my husband about this and I hope that he can help me get through this. I keep telling myself that I'm okay. And I'm trying to turn to the main person to help me and that is God.

I wish all of you the best and just know you are not alone!

I'm 33 years old. I ran onto this site when I stepped back and took a good look at myself. I can say with confidence that I am a hypochondriac. Since the birth of my last son, two and half years ago, I have diagnosed myself with several diseases, been to numerous specialists, to the the ER countless times (they know me by name) and exhausted my family and friends with my complaining.

It started with chills, then horrible bone pain. It went from that to checking my throat and mouth for signs of cancer. Complained enough about throat pain (lied really) so that the doctor would remove my tonsils so I could see behind them better. Always thought there was something hiding behind them. Nothing was wrong.

I have had nearly every type of test: blood work, x rays, ekg, mri, CT, everything. Over and over.

I was convinced I had ovarian cancer, breast cancer, leg tumor (one leg is slightly bigger than the other. No one else can notice it, but I would check it several times a day. Some days it would be fine, others it would really stand out to me and I would think the tumor was growing), every autoimmune disease, etc, etc, etc!

Nothing would show up -- ever!

A simple cough was a sign of lung cancer. Allergies, nasal cancer, a headache, brain tumor.

Now I have noticed that my focus has shifted and increased on my kids. Not only do I worry about myself, but I worry my kids are going to die.

I keep trying to remind myself that kids get sick. Doesn't help. I convinced myself that my seven year old has a gluten allergy. Relentless!

On top of all of this, I am a Christian and am torn between my beliefs and my hypochondria disease.

By the way, I've never been officially diagnosed. Too afraid something will really be wrong and no one will believe it.

I'm a 28 year old dude. I've always been a worry wart, but this past year it got out of control. I've had it all: Aids, cancer, Lyme Disease, the bubonic plague, tumor, heart attack, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, balding, testicular cancer, UTI, kidney stones, enlarged prostate, prostate cancer, prostate infection, Parkinson’s. Paralysis by car accident. Paralysis by fall. Choking on food. Choking on mucus. Asthma. Rabies. Last summer I thought I was going blind and when my ears ring, I'm going deaf.

Recently it’s been Lou Gehrig’s disease, otherwise known as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. I watched a movie and some guy had it, so I looked it up and that's all I can think about. The symptoms are: twitching, muscle cramps, falling, and dropping things. Ever since I read it, I've been tripping, twitching, cramping and dropping things and I can't stop freaking out.

I'm constantly looking up symptoms on the internet. One minute I laugh it off, telling myself I'm crazy. Then next minute I'm sure I have it and I make appointments for MRIs, CT scans, blood work, X-rays. My doctor thinks I’m crazy.

I find the best way to get over it, is to immediately think of something else as soon as the thought, "I think I have..." enters my mind. I think "Black, white, I like ice cream, cars are fast, humans have skin, that girl's pretty," until my mind is on a different subject. It's hard, but when I do it, it works.

I think i may be hypochondriac. I always find myself on the web looking up the smallest of things like ear popping, loss of balance, vision, slurred words, headaches heart palpitations, constant scratching when there is not itch; and just out of curiosity I'd look at other things like fears and other psychological states (which because of it i ended up having agoraphobia and maybe multiple personality).

I am 15 now and have been going to the doctors since i was 13 because of odd pains that made me uneasy up to the point that i was rolling on the floor screaming for my mom and dad, throwing up. I was so convinced it was my kidney and that it may have been a hernia. It was a cyst. it was after that that i started telling friends of mine that i had adhd and that i was schizophrenic and so on.

It's been a constant thing and i actually started freaking out when i saw the symptoms online. i was practically speaking in tongues before i could get the words "I need to see a doctor" out.

We visited the doctor. His solution and my mom's solution were posture, body fat (which i am pretty average but since I'm a white latin my hips will not shrink). i had neuro tests, ct scans, mris, x-rays and certain therapies -- all came negative. Brain= 100 percent fine, nerves= 100 percent fine, but it turns out that my neck muscles are pulling numerous vertebrates out of place and that that's what may be triggering the head aches and twitching, discomfort, blah blah blah.

Sadly i think that's a load of bull crap, so i kept saying they're wrong they're wrong and somehow i still think i have nervous issues. My left hand (which had a third degree burn at 11 months that harmed nerves that could kill me that still needs to be operated) keeps failing on me and won't open. i use it just as much as i use my right hand.

So anyway, there's more but I'm guessing people are going to keep telling me the same thing "its all in your head."

i believe that i have these issues.

I need help. My mother has classic Münchausen syndrome. She has worn out her welcome at every doctor's office and all the hospitals within a 100 mile radius of our home.

Because I grew up in this environment, I'm completely disconnected from my own body and completely uninterested in my health. If and when I go to the doctor I have trouble telling them where or how I hurt. I have a couple of medical issues now which are going to have to be dealt with.

I've been to the doctor, I've had the tests and I'm on treatment for my Rheumatoid arthritis and am determined to stay active. My gallbladder is shot, but I just can't get up for the operation so I am using diet as a means to ease the pain when it flares. I haven't had a breast exam for 16 years and I haven't had a pelvic exam for 11 years.

My ailments are standard old age ailments but they have taxed my strength. Now comes the part I need your help with. My little sister is the most precious thing in the world to me, and she has always been a bit of a hypochondriac but now that we are getting older it's become almost unbearable. I love her and I want to be as close to her now as we have always been but I'm so tired.

Lately she has had some real issues come up and she heads straight to the worst case scenario. Phone calls all night every night, panic attacks, back to back appointments for months, new doctors because the old one was a quack because he couldn't find anything. Over and over and over.

She has me go into the exam room with her now and I have been assigned the duty of keeping track of what they say. When a doctor comes up with a diagnosis she finds unspectacular or too nonspecific, she gets angry and we huff out of his office to begin our search for Dr. Gregory House, her favorite show, of course.

She is online all the time researching the most heinous illnesses she can come up with, like Scleroderma with pulmonary fibrosis, totally forgetting she hiked up a mountain the day before while smoking 1/2 a pack of cigarettes. She is surrounded by assorted medical books and is rarely found without her Merck Manual within arm's reach.

She differs from my mother because her aches and pains are relatively new. She had panic attacks when she was in her early twenties, and when she was sick she was really sick but with an impressive flare for the dramatic. Now she is losing it and I'm too damn tired to deal with it.

Note: If I even hint that she take it down a notch, she will storm out and we will be on the outs and I'm too damn old for that kind of drama, too. Help! What can I do for my hypochondriac sister?

I'd gladly donate my liver but I just can't take humoring her anymore. I can't act sympathetic anymore because frankly I'm not. Do hypochondriacs ever get their poop in group?

I need help. My mother has classic Münchausen syndrome, she has worn out her welcome at every doctors office and all the hospitals within a 100 mile radius of our home. Because I grew up in this environment I'm completely disconnected from my own body and completely uninterested in my health. If and when I go to the doctor I have trouble telling them where or how I hurt. I have a couple of medical issues now which are going to have to be dealt with. I've been to the doctor, I've had the tests, I'm on treatment for my Rheumatoid arthritis and am determined to stay active. My gall bladder is shot, but I just can't get it up for the operation so I am using diet as a means to ease the pain when it flares. I haven't had a breast exam for 16 years and I haven't had a pelvic exam for 11 years. My ailments are standard old age ailments but they have taxed my strength. Now comes the part I need your help with. My little sister is the most precious thing in the world to me, and she has always been a bit of a hypochondriac but now that we are getting older it's become almost unbearable. I love her and I want to be as close to her now as we have always been but I'm so tired. Lately she has had some real issues come up and she heads straight to the worst case scenario. Phone calls all night every night, panic attacks, back to back appointments for months, new doctors because the old one was a quack because he couldn't find anything. Over and over and over. She has me go in to the exam room with her now and I have been assigned the duty of keeping track of what they say. When a doctor comes up with a diagnosis she finds unspectacular or too nonspecific she gets angry and we huff out of his office to begin our search for Dr. Gregory House, her favorite show, of course. She is online all the time researching the most heinous illnesses she can come up with, like Scleroderma with pulmonary fibrosis, totally forgetting she hiked up a mountain the day before while smoking 1/2 a pack of cigarettes. She is surrounded by assorted medical books and is rarely found without her Merck Manual within arms reach. She differs from my mother because her aches and pains are relatively new, she had panic attacks when she was in her early twenties, and when she was sick she was really sick but with an impressive flare for the dramatic. Now she is losing it and I'm too damn tired to deal with it. Note: If I even hint that she take it down a notch she will storm out and we will be on the outs and I'm too damn old for that kind of drama too. Help!! What can I do for my hypochondriac sister? I'd gladly donate my liver but I just can't take humoring her anymore. I can't act sympathetic anymore because frankly I'm not. Do hypochondriacs ever get their poop in group?

I'm 15 years old. and for the past couple months I've been absolutely convinced i have a brain tumor. i saw a doctor for the headaches and he assured me that nothing was wrong, but that i should keep tabs on the headaches so if they continued he could find a treatment for me.

i have also been convinced i have testicular cancer, and heart disease. i know these conditions are rare, but i just can't get them out of my head. It's good to know I'm not the only one with these concerns. Good luck to all.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who feels this way.

I've been obsessed with disease (heart diseases in particular) since I was very little. (I'm 19 now). I would freak out whenever we would learn about the systems of the body or anything like that in school, and it's just gotten so much worse over the years.

I get panic attacks and palpitations, which of course don't make it any better at all.

I've recently been put on birth control, and the fear of blood clots has almost overtaken my life. I had nightmares about it for a week or so. I even started taking baby aspirin for a short time, and then was scared to stop it, because I read a bunch of crap on the internet about how stopping aspirin can cause a rebound effect or whatever. But I had to, because I'm getting blood tests in two days.

I'm even more worried because my doctor misread one of my thyroid tests, and that is why I need to go be re-tested. It frightens me that doctors can be wrong, and it's just become overwhelming between that fear and the clot fear and just everything.

I'm constantly talking about being sick, and I know it's driving everyone nuts. I wish I could just be normal so badly. It stinks so much.

It's just good to know that I'm not alone.

I'm 20 and I believe that I may be a hypochondriac, but I'm really not sure. I'm obsessed that I have a heart condition. It started with minor, I mean very minor chest pains.

So i went to the doc, got some thyroid tests done. They came back fine and he said it was most likely that i had pulled chest muscles, which in fact relieved me -- for a day or two.

I am currently on the depo shot and have been having minor chest pains. I am scared to be alone, because who will help me if I'm having a heart attack?

I am also scared of getting blood clots. I think i may have pulled chest muscles (arms too) because i carry my 15-month-old a lot. I feel trapped. I can't even go out in the "bush" walking with my boyfriend because i am scared that something will happen.

Help! Please help! This has only been going on for about two or three months, and i can't even drink coffee anymore or eat anything with sodium. I am trapped inside myself!

I'm 51 years old and i have suffered with this disorder since i was 18 years old. i was blessed with an awesome and very loving husband, thank God, because without him. i don't think i would have survived.

It's really sad to check your pulse to see if you are still alive when you know you are breathing and the panic attacks that come with this disorder, the shortness of breath, all the aches and pains and the headaches and the fact that no matter what you do, you just can't stop.

I remember being so weak from not eating because i was scared the food was not good for me. It's so depressing. I'm not that bad anymore but i do have my days when i think about something bad happening and dying and it's scary.

God bless everyone with this because it's so scary and we can't live normally.

I'm an 18 year old girl and I'm a student at university.

Within the past year, I have gone from believing that I have skin cancer in lots of different places on my body, brain tumor, breast cancer, diabetes, bone cancer, leukemia, retinal detachment leading to blindness, aids, heart problems and seizures in my sleep.

I am convinced that I'm dying. I constantly phone my parents and friends to ask for reassurance, and have been making regular trips to different doctors and opticians, with nothing really being said to be wrong with me other than stress and tiredness.

My friends and family are growing tired of my constant need to talk about my symptoms and look them up on the internet, and have expressed that it is all in my head.

This is seriously beginning to rule my life and it's all I ever think about. I feel depressed and anxious all the time.

Half of me thinks I'm being irrational, but the other half is like what if I do have cancer, and if I leave it I will die?

My symptoms are tingling in my hands and feet, and I see dots and floaters in my eyes.

After reading all the above comments, I feel reassured and not alone! Hypochondria appears to be really common, and stressful life events can intensify things. Plus the worry and anxiety over symptoms makes them worse, it's like a vicious cycle!

Even after reading all of this, though, a little part of me is still a bit worried, but the only way is to reassure yourself and trust your doctor because they know what they are doing.

Hope this helps.

I'm 13 and am always searching up symptoms thinking all of them apply to me. my mom is starting to worry. and i think most of the symptoms i look for are actually true which they are.

I'm only 16 and have been suffering with hypochondria for two years. I'm on antidepressants and valium to keep me calm because i always get panic attacks.

I'm even scared to go to school. I always get pains everywhere and i can't enjoy my life. All i think and talk about is dying. My friends think I'm psycho and my boyfriend just broke up with me because he said he can't put up with it anymore.

I'm always weak because i don't sleep. Nobody can mention the name of any illness around me or I'll panic like mad.

I have to sneak my laptop because i always look up symptoms of every little pain and think the worst of it. I always go to the doctors.

My mother is even sick of me.I try so hard to stay clam and relax and forget about it but i just can't.

I am 14 and i am constantly worrying. I always think there is something wrong with me and when i think there is i am constantly looking up any little symptom i have even a little pain on my head.

I just want to know if there is something really wrong with me or is it only in my head because i have always had this problem but i just want to know if i really have an illness like cancer or is my brain just making it up.

The past six months of my life has been nothing but a series of panic attacks in regards to my severe fear of getting HIV.

I am 25 years old, I was then 24, and I dated this guy who appeared to be really great and honest, but it turns out he was a pathological liar.

After we broke up I began thinking he secretly had HIV and was lying to me about it. He told me he had a got tested and the fact he was in the army they did testing. I did not believe him. I went to my general doctor (who was voted #1 in ny a few years back) and my gyno (who was also voted best doctor a few years back in ny), in addition to a really well known dermatologist. So it's not like I didn't have accurate testing.

I went to my general doctor about three months following the panic, and he ran so many tests. I went to my gyno weeks after the panic, he found that I had HPV and removed it. He said it was common and easily removable.

So, the panic set in. I continued to go back so many times, he ran a second set of blood work three 1/2 months after having sex, and still no HIV. I have missed work, school and social engagements because I am either in bed worrying or at the doctor.

My gyno and general doctor both confirmed there is no way I have HIV and something would have shown up abnormal and all the three rounds of blood work, ecg, paps, cultures, etc. would have shown some symptoms.

I am convinced all the tests and doctors are wrong. I take dozens of vitamins every day, because I think when the doctors find the HIV at least my immune system will be in good shape. In the past six months I have not had so much as a cold or fever, and have been perfectly healthy, but my fear does not go away.

I spend hours online looking up symptoms. Recently I had a skin rash (which I have been prone to all my life). I went to two different renowned dermatologists and they said it was fine, and it was in no way an HIV rash. I of course dismissed their claim.

I cannot take this. I won't have sex or go near the opposite sex because I am afraid I will give them HIV, which the doctors said I don't have.

I feel like I am losing my mind. My therapist thinks I've developed this because I was so traumatized by the guy I dated lying to me, and i am punishing myself for allowing myself to have unprotected sex with him.

I cannot take this; does it ever go away? My doctors won't run any more tests for another few months, and they think I am crazy, my family and friends are tired of hearing of my health issues.

Does this ever get better? Whenever this guy I dated comes back to NY from his army base, I begin to panic that his reason for coming back is because the army found out he had HIV and he was kicked out. Every day is a complete mental nightmare.

i think i can relate to everyone here. I started obsessing with my health since last year and it's gotten worse ever since. I constantly check my breasts to feel for lumps, am scared I will have cervical cancer in future because of the men i have been with, i once was convinced i had Aids until i forced myself to get a blood test.

My annual pap smear is coming up and I'm worried sick. Every time i think of making the trip down to the doctor, i feel myself getting cold feet. I'm delaying it as much as possible but the due date is coming up soon.

I'm always worried i will get cancers, and will get depressed when i find out so and so has cancer and is dying from it. I get depressed when i look at the obituaries and see so many people dying young.

It stinks and i hate it, and my husband thinks I'm worrying too much. I have this fear of dying, and i think this fear of cancers and dying has been increasing since the birth of my daughter about a year ago.

I'm just scared I'll die before i see her grow up. Call me crazy and paranoid, because I don't know what else to call myself.

I am a 42 year old woman who has just found this website and has cried while reading some of the stories on here.

It's good to know I'm not alone, but of course I'm saddened to know there are so many others suffering, and so young in a lot of cases. I think my problems became worse when my partner of five years left me. Now I live alone and I am terrified that I will die alone and my two cats will starve to death. Silly, I know, but justified to a hypochondriac right?

I think I have had every kind of cancer that a woman can get. Just this last week I have had bowel cancer, lymphoma, brain tumour and throat cancer, with heart failure thrown in for good measure, and as my mother died of a heart attack at 44, that just adds fuel to the never ending fire.

Part of me thinks that worrying about having serious illnesses will actually ward them off and the moment I stop worrying, then that's when I really will get sick "knowing my luck".

I am so tired of living my life under my own psychological microscope.

I've even taken comfort in thinking that maybe I'll develop something like MS, where it's a slow death rather than be dead of a heart attack in a day.

There's nothing anyone can say to ease our problems, because at the end of the day, we're fighting ourselves, and our enemy knows us too well, but we're not alone, we have each other here, however tenuous that link may be, and I for one feel a little bit better after being here.

I'm a 27 year old female and reading these comments have made me feel like I'm not alone, i have a constant fear of cancer and most days i check my breasts around five or six times.

I've actually hurt myself and caused pain; it's mainly my left side that concerns me. To this day i have found nothing untoward and am scared to visit the doctor in case i have been checking myself wrong.

I have no idea where this fear has come from. It's been gradual over about a year and a half and has gotten to the stage where it's taking over my life. i no longer get any enjoyment out of things like going out with friends or spending time with my family which is really wrong; they are the people i should always be happy spending time with.

But, i shut myself away and make excuses not to go out and have fun, i have panic attacks in the middle of the night, and sometimes i think my heart is going to explode out of my chest. i have minor chest pains which i always associate with something sinister.

My family and friends are becoming extremely frustrated with me as i am no longer the same person anymore. Smiles and laughing are few and far between. I don't feel down in the dumps -- quite the opposite. I always feel fired up and think that life is one big conspiracy against me.

I often think I'm self obsessed and should think more of others and their problems and helping other people would distract me from making up these symptoms of diseases in my head. I find if i read an article about someone who has a life threatening illness where their symptoms have been described, then not long after I've read it i get the exact same feelings although i fully believe they are actually sensations i have made up in my head.

The media plays a huge part in relaying the worst, saddest, scariest things that have happened to others. lots of people concentrate on the bad things that happen in life and yes those things stink and nobody would wish bad things to happen to anyone, but there are so many things in life we should take hope and faith from, the joy that is to be had and the happiness that is there for the taking if we so wish and desire it. These websites whereby you input your symptoms and end up with a multitude of life threatening illnesses should be banned. whoever has created them should be ashamed of themselves, and we are the people who trawl these websites looking for an answer when the answer is closer than we think. It's within ourselves in our own minds. We need to make a choice: do we carry on living in sheer misery about what might happen, or do we fight it and get through this.

Just because all these horrible diseases exist it doesn't mean we will get them. We all need to be strong and get past this.

I completely agree to Anon68298. I am also going through the same problem. And yes, cancer is my biggest fear. Any pain i relate to that disease. And what you wrote was like i am writing it. so real.

I have this and it is maddening. I am a 48 year old male and have had this on and off my entire life.

It comes in waves every year or so that can last three or more months. I seem like a very rational, intelligent and calm person to other people. I've been told that--it isn't just another skewed self perception.

I hear many sufferers say hypochondria is based in a fear of death. That is not the case with me at all. I have no fear of death, or rather of being dead. Seriously. I do however have a severe fear of being ill and helpless. Plus, I have a fear of being very ill and not being able to prepare for the future. So for me, the death fear is absent.

I think it may be based in a fear of losing control. It is very annoying and hard. The physical symptoms feel very real. I can create in my mind virtually any physical symptom. Not just sensations, but physical changes in my body.

For a while I was so stressed out about having a heart defect, my heart began beating irregularly. The constant fluttering and skipping was scary. I was convinced I had a prolapsed heart valve. Thanks internet. This symptom, like all the others, would eventually fade away.

Variously I was convinced I had MS, liver failure, gall bladder problems, a hernia (where did that come from?), colon cancer, swollen lymph nodes, and the list goes on and on. Every one of these had symptoms that were very real to me.

Of course I had complete medical workups several times with all the tests and I was fine. The last time my doctor actually asked me what I eat and about my exercise because he was really impressed with my great cholesterol and triglyceride numbers. How ironic.

Oh, I forgot to mention the blocked neck arteries. It seems funny to read what I have written. But the hundreds if not thousands of hours of worry and anguish I devoted to these unreal illnesses over my lifetime hurts to think about. It is very helpful to read about other people experiencing similar things.

I am 44 and have been a hypochondriac for about thirty years. I don't have any special advice about overcoming hypochondria but would just like to reassure teenagers that the mind is capable of producing almost any symptoms it wants. So, if you've first read about a disease and only afterwards start getting the symptoms, try not to worry too much about them. Of course I know it can be very hard - sometimes it seems our mind is doing everything it can to torment us.

But if you keep telling yourself 'It's all in the mind, it's all in the mind' (and let's face it, with us 'hypos' 99.5 percent of the time it is) you may be surprised by how well it works.

Good luck to all of you. I feel for you, I really do!

I have gone through, at times, many things similar to what everyone is describing. I have to admit that, after all the internet searches I've done on various diseases, looking up "What are the symptoms of hypochondria?" was probably the best thing I ever did.

From the moment I got on this page, I haven't been able to stop laughing. Being worried about being a hypochondriac is really funny if you stop to think about it. It's comforting to see so many people coming clean. And I would also suggest that it's a product partly of modern life and comfort and lack of mental discipline. I remember I once asked my mom, "How can I stop being insecure?" And she said, "Just stop." It's a choice that you are free to make, if you want it.

Remember that worrying itself is unhealthy. And the temptation to worry does not mean worry must follow as a matter of course. You have a choice. In other words, even if you did have a disease, you're better off seeking comfort and peace in your mind than worrying about it. That's what a survivor of any difficult circumstance will tell you.

I mean, sure, have regular health check-ups if you'd like, but stop wasting your life and mental energy focusing on worry. The worry itself must be comforting on some level, or else we wouldn't do it. We can stop. Remember, one day you *will* die. Don't make that day one filled with regret over all the time you wasted worrying about it.

There is no such thing as "perfectly healthy" -- each one of us is imperfect in some way. There is no "normal." Find one person that could be called that. If you find him or her, he should definitely be a scientific wonder.

Sounds like an Onion article -- "Science world astonished -- Perfectly 'normal' person discovered in Chicago suburb!" If we lived in a war zone, we would be too busy trying to survive to worry about our health more than what is required to get on with our lives.

You are imperfect, and you will go on living imperfectly, with aches and pains and weird feelings in your body, until you die. So please, start enjoying it. And stay away from the internet! (And understand, I'm writing this as much for myself as for you. This approach might be worth a try, don't you think? Just keep it in the back of your mind next time you're tempted to worry.)

Last, here is a quote from Gandhi that I read and it began to change my life:

"There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever."

-- high strung violinist

Let's all pray together. I do suffer from hypo. I am 30 years old have bipolar, agoraphobia, panic disorder and diabetic.

Every second of the day I think that I am dying but I wake up the next day. I've felt like this for two years now. It happened after I was diagnosed as bipolar and I am scared all the time. It holds me back from happiness.

I hope one day it will stop and I could move on with my life and have positive and happy thoughts. Hope all will get over hypo.

Does anyone think that symptoms are all in your head? I recently found out that a family member has a disease that can be hereditary. ever since i found out the name of it and researched it, i have been experiencing symptoms like she has: numbness and tingling limbs, etc., but to me they feel so real and i can't imagine they are all in my head because they feel so real to me.

Has anyone else had very real symptoms only to find out they are all in your head? Please write back some and let me know what experiences you have had!

I'm 23 years old, just graduated from university and after reading everyone's comments, feel much better about what I have been going through, knowing that I am not alone.

I haven't formally been diagnosed as a hypochondriac but after recognizing all of my symptoms, I'm pretty sure I am.

I have always been anxious as a child and now young adult. Even as a kid I feared that I had heart problems as I experienced "heart cramps", asthma as I physically felt like my chest was compressed and various types of cancer, especially bone cancer.

It all began when I saw a documentary on Terry Fox at school and soon after experienced pains in my knees and I was so sure I too had some sort of bone cancer.

Now, anytime I feel pain in any part of my body, it's any type of cancer or tumour or any other possible disease. Cancer is what I'm most obsessed with and fearful of and I wish it would just stop! I've been able to manage my anxiety and stress better but still it's difficult at times. Whenever I read up on something that is cancer-related or hear stories of people that have been diagnosed with it, it just consumes my thoughts and I automatically think my symptoms all show signs of cancer or other diseases.

I have a very wild imagination and tend to actually fabricate or make up detailed scenarios in my head and convince myself that it is actually happening so when I experience a physical pain anywhere in my body, I can't tell if it's an actual illness or if it's just in my head, which gets incredibly frustrating.

Unlike typical hypochondriacs, I have never gone to the doctors to check out a specific symptom for fear that I will receive bad news. I have had numerous physical check-ups such as full physicals, blood work, x-rays etc and nothing negative has come up but I am still convinced that either they missed something or that some tumour or disease formed since my last check-up.

I really just want to do another current physical to ease my mind but I'm just too scared! I am wondering if anyone else is in the same boat?

I also find myself obsessed with health-related topics and ask my friends and family the weirdest questions regarding general health, such as if they've ever experienced this kind of pain and such. I also find myself physically trying to feel my body aches/pains and actually focusing on my breathing, which tends to make things 10x worse.

I wish I could just stop focusing on these bodily sensations but it's so hard not to, which I think all goes back to my anxiety. So frustrating! I'm relieved that I am not the only one going through this.

i am 24 years old and i think i am also a sufferer. i am constantly online looking up my symptoms and i think i make myself believe that i have them. i just feel out of control.

It all started after the birth of my daughter nearly four years ago. i had a really rough labor and ended up with post natal depression which has lead to full blown depression and anxiety.

some days i wake up fine and others seem to be hell on earth. I'm really glad i found this site as i believe now i can come here and realize that there are so many people going through the same thing when i thought it was just me. I would like to ask if anyone here goes to a shrink to deal with their issues. not sure if this would be a good outlet for me or not.

any help or advice would be appreciated.

Nat

I am 26 year old and was living quite a healthy life. It all started two months ago when I had a severe panic attack and thought I was going to die or something bad was going to happen and my friends took me to ER and doctor said there is nothing wrong with me.

I still didn't believe him and started having headaches and dizziness and was always thinking I had brain tumor or something very serious. I went to a doctor and he said I had deviated septum which resulted in mild sinusitis and he said just take cold and flu tablets, you would be fine.

But my panic attacks still continued and got worse. Then I saw another doctor and he said I had panic disorder and I am currently taking xanax tablet. I feel well after taking them, but still I am constantly worried about my health and always keep asking myself why is this happening to me?

I had sex with a prostitute wearing a condom, but still worried about it and being highly hypochondriacal about it. Can anyone help?

OK I'm going to say the same thing everyone else is saying. I constantly think i have a brain tumor or brain cancer or something.

i always feel dizzy during the day I have this pain feeling on the side of my head and this warm feeling in my left ear.

Before the brain tumor i thought i had a heart disease or stomach cancer or something like that i hate this. and i will sit there and be like OK there is nothing wrong with me. Then the symptoms will come back and there i go again, thinking i have this horrible disease. ahhh! i hate this!!

I am an 18 year old female and am so relieved to find that I'm not the only one. I had received oral sex from my boyfriend (my first sexual act ever) and still to this day think i have some STD.

I've been to the clinic twice and yes, i told my parents everything because of how freaked out i was. Everyone says I'm fine (parents and doc) but deep down i still freak out in case i do have something and I'm obsessed with checking my body all the time for something.

It really helped when i read about how if your loved ones say your OK, you should believe them because if they thought you had a problem they would tell you out of love. Trust is a big factor too. Trust your doctors and loved ones.

God has helped me the most. praying really does help relieve your mind and no matter what, you are going to die some day so stop worrying and realize you're not alone. Put your trust into god and it really helps (from personal experience). My mom always says (and she's a nurse) if you notice something, give it the two week rule (for ex. a rash) and if it's worse get it checked out, rather then freak out and suspect is MRSA (again from personal experience).

God has a way of making everything OK.

Hi I'm 20 years old and a hypochondriac, i have anxiety and frequent panic attacks. It's ridiculous. Seriously anything that someone died of i think of and i feel like i have the symptoms and i just stay in my house all day feeling like that it stinks because i just want to be normal like i was before...reading this definitely. makes me feel like i'm not alone which is a good hopefully it will help me overcome everything i have been to the doctors numerous times and they have assured me everythings okay but im still convinced a little i have a heart problem or something..also when you are hypochondriac don't google symptoms it doesn't help!!!!

this page has really helped me understand a lot more clearly that the only illness that i have is pretty much a mental one.

It's not good, but folks, look at it from this angle: we all say pretty much the same thing and have the same fears. It's just something that hasn't been found in the medical world yet as a single illness in itself, apart from a silly name used by professionals to disregard people with this problem. So that thought alone sends signals of hope and calm.

It's just an overworked imagination micro-analyzing every single thing that you think could cause your disease or illness, when in reality, the chances are slim to none.

I have a serious question. Could someone tell me if you do get the pain, how is it really there if nothing is wrong?

I am 24 and i have two children, 4 and 6. I'm not sure if I'm a hypochondriac or not, although i appear to have overreacted or obsessed several times in the past regarding my health.

When i was 15-18 i obsessed that i was a diabetic. I never went to the doctor, but i was certain i was!

i would watch on the back of everything for sugar and i would not consume anything that contained sugar! i was so skinny by doing this and frail. i weighed like 105 at one point! then i was cleared during my pregnancy so i began eating like a banshee, i guess making up for lost time, so to speak. Well i gained 80 pounds during my pregnancy and never lost all of it, so i started having these spacey, loopy feelings again and my fingers would tingle. I told myself i was a diabetic once again putting it into my own head. Still to this day i barely touch stuff with sugar. Well recently, i have been having pain in my ribs and behind my breast bone on the left side and it shoots up into my back. It freaks me out. I woke my fiance' up and told him i had to go to the ER asap. He took me and it was 2 a.m. and we were there till 8 a.m. They did an EKG, an X-Ray, bloodwork and they sent me home saying i have gas and that my intestines were full of gas! Well let's say I was not buying it!

I'm convinced i have a heart issue. Seriously, i get so shook up over it i cannot sleep and i feel that pain i described, plus like flutter tingling across my chest. It freaks me out. i don't want to die. I am a mommy. I don't want to die.

Now I'm so freaked out that i went the next day, which was yesterday, to a clinic with walk in care! They did two EKGs and said i was fine, gave me ibuprofen and scheduled me with a regular doctor in a month! That bothered me too.

I mean i could die. Why aren't they looking into it closer? I'm having the pains as i write and my fingers are tingly and i have sweat episodes. I'm so freaked out. My friend calls me a hypochondriac so i thought I'd check this site out and see!

I'm still convinced i have a heart condition or something serious or why else would i feel the pains and the discomfort the way i do? I even went as far as decorating my myspace so my children could always go to that site and see how i love them and the different pictures.

I'm so scared to die. I'm so scared! If any of you have these same symptoms and have been to a doctor, contact me let me know how it went. thanks mackenzie.

I am a 25 year old female and I smoke. I started to check my throat everyday for signs of cancer. Now I am at the point to where I check my throat at least 10-15 times a day for cancer. I have even noticed that I always have throat medication (cough drops, throat spray, etc.) wherever I go.

I never really noticed how bad it had become until i looked up hypochondria. Now I feel like I need to make some changes in my life, so that I don't start to experience any of the major symptoms of hypochondria.

I have always been a hypochondriac, however, it does not tend to bother me until symptoms manifest.

I am currently dying of heart problems, but then again I have already died several times of different cancers. The anxiety of it all is hard, but I find stepping back and looking at the big picture really helps. For instance putting faith in friends and family. Now, they certainly don't want you dead and therefore would express their concerns and tell you to go doctor if a symptom did worry them. It's very useful to have people like this, because it's almost like another brain that can filter hypochondria-type thoughts and tell you if you are being rational or not.

Above all trust doctors. There is a reason they get paid so much. They're bloody clever, clear-headed, rational thinkers who have studied the human body far longer than you have ever studied web MD.

Now I know it's difficult but once you let go of a symptom, it fades away until a month on you're thinking. "Pfft. How ridiculous was that?" and more symptoms will occur, so just talk to people, do what you need to do, relax and let go of it. You're all fine and so am I.

So number 82, the seventeen year old, i did get around to reading your post. i am 19 and i have all the same problems as you. i fear cancer big time and i always think i have a tumor or something in my brain.

I am constantly feeling odd lumps that i know are normal but can't help but second chance it. it's horrible to think of this stuff constantly every day, but I'm really glad i read your post and everyone else's because it made me more comfortable and not so alone. thanks

For some, a diagnosis of hypochondria seems pretty clear cut. If you're convinced you have the same disease you just heard about on Oprah every time there's a new disease featured on Oprah, hypochondria is a likely culprit.

But what about people with serious chronic symptoms that don't go away? Just because doctors can't readily find a physical cause doesn't automatically mean it's all in the patient's head.

People used to be carted off to mental institutions for a psychosomatic disorder called "hysterical paralysis." Turns out they had multiple sclerosis.

How do you differentially diagnose between hypochondria and a real disease that medical science doesn't have a handle on yet?

I'm a 21 year old female who's been suffering panic problems for a little while now. I used to have moderate panic attacks, but they were relatively easy to control. But I started thinking the worst straight away. I was convinced I had cancer for some reason. I went to my doctor and he said everything was fine, nothing was there.

I went traveling for a while and that was great, but towards the end of my trip I started experiencing terrible panic attacks. I ended up in emergency twice because my heart was going up to 160 bpm. All the tests came back fine and they told me to relax. They said I may have Super Ventricular Tachycardia (which isn't dangerous, just annoying) and they said it would be triggered by my anxiety if I did have it. I'm currently seeing a cardiologist for that, and I just had a heart monitor put on me and get the results soon.

But he was able to tell me my heart is in good working order. He watched it for ages on the ultra sound. He assured me nothing was wrong.

I felt like there was two sides of myself, two personalities.

One is positive and saying everything will be OK, and the other is saying the opposite. I felt like I was going crazy.

I was on the contraceptive pill at the time and decided to go off that, which has helped dramatically. I do feel a lot calmer and more on top of things.

I still am experiencing some issues, mainly a fast pulse sometimes that I am too obsessed over. I don't know why I care, honestly. I know that our heart rate is constantly changing throughout the day.

At the end of the day, I know I am fine and that I'm just being dramatic, but it's a hard habit to just stop, but I'm getting there : )

You just have to try and ignore it. Ignorance is bliss!

I think the most important thing is to stop worrying about death and illness, we should just enjoy life! Try and let go of any worry. I know it's easier said than done, but we can do it.

Also, one more thing. I've found lowering sugar intake really helps. I've cut out caffeine and stick with decaf now, and have cut out as much sugar from my diet as I can. It makes a huge difference. Staying away from stimulants will help you out dramatically.

Good luck everyone. Just know that you're not crazy or alone, and that you can get on top of this.

I think the thoughts in our subconscious mind are what leads us to panic, so we have to try and monitor and control what goes into our head.

Just keep positive. Let's smile and be happy! Life is good so don't waste it worrying about death!

I doubt anyone will actually get around to reading this, but I figure posting anyway will make me feel better to get it off my chest.

I'm a seventeen year old female and I have self diagnosed anxiety disorder and hypochondria.

For the past few months I have suffered numerous panic attacks. I think smoking weed originally brought them on and caused me to always notice my pulse, and I've stopped since then.

It was getting to the point where I would have four-plus panic attacks a day, even after I quit smoking weed.

I started having chest pains randomly (especially at night) days after a panic attack, even after I stopped having them for the most part.

I'm obsessed with my pulse, but I'm pretty sure I don't have a heart condition most days (anymore).

I still get chest pains but my pulse seems normal, if a bit fast, so I'm convinced it's a lung problem. (depending on my mood) Currently, I'm having minor pain on my upper left side at the end of a deep breath.

It's been going on for an hour or so and it happened once before the day after I did some intense yoga and stretching for the first time in weeks, and I was pretty sure I had just pulled a muscle in my chest. Well, it's back and I definitely didn't hurt myself in yoga this time! It's not particularly painful, but as a hypochondriac it's more the anxiety than the pain that bothers me and the more I worry about it, the more significant it feels.

I seem to have an unnatural amount of pains and lumps despite having any physically bothersome symptoms of anything. I'm the doctor fearing type of hypochondriac rather than the doctor loving kind, so none of my lumps have never been checked out.

I've noticed that all hypochondriacs seem to think they are little doctors or something. The lump under my nipple is surely a fibroadenoma, even though I've never had it checked out (it's been there for like five years and hasn't changed in size). The lump behind my ear is a swollen lymph node, but I'll eventually get that one checked out. Once I'm less scared. The one on the roof of my mouth? No clue. Again, I'll get it checked out some day.

I have random fits of tingly scalp mostly on my left side. I keep thinking I'm having a stroke. Sometimes I feel like I'm wearing a tight belt right under my ribs even though I'm not. Might be posture.

I'm always convinced I have a brain tumour and just don't know it yet.

I'm probably creating most of my symptoms. I sure hope so. Surely I can't actually have ten different deadly diseases like I tend to think, right?

In the back of my mind, I always know that i must have something. There are so many diseases in the world, so why shouldn't I have at least one of them? What are the chances of that? Probably higher than I believe.

I'm not afraid of AIDS or STDs or most other viruses or contracted illnesses or germs. Cancer and congenital conditions are my big fears. Other than doctors. Sometimes I feel that I should get to a doctor as fast as possible to catch and then attempt to slow the progression of my many potential diseases, but then I think "What if I actually do have a deadly disease? What if it's untreatable? What if I waited too long? What if I have six months to live?" and I figure I'd rather die ignorant.

Sometimes I have no fear of the diseases I surely must have because science is pretty far along, right? But not usually.

I am constantly trying to prepare myself for death and I am only seventeen. My likely psychosomatic symptoms are constantly on my mind, especially now that I am not in school and I don't have a job. This is a terrible disorder to have.

Wow reading everyone's comments I think it's safe to say we all need to relax and enjoy life. I thought I was going crazy and getting ill but reading all your comments made everything feel better. Lets all get in touch with god and just forget about our thoughts. Let's be happy!

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 labor. I didn't have any pain relief during labor 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, can't 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 realize 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 constantly 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 definitely 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 year 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 can't 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?

all right 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 because you know it's not real, that doesn't 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 every time 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 going to 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 can't 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 can't 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 can't. 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 there's 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 further 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 I've 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 don't want to avoid that, but i know that pain doesn't 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. I've 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, occurring 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 separated from my family and friends. It it is not triggered by work stress, because believe me I've had a lot 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 don't understand why I do this. I can't 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 don't 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 going to 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 labeled 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.