Feel like getting tested for everything!

[helplessdancer]

Does anyone else ever feel like wanting to go to the doctor (at any time of the day haha) and just be able to get tested for every disease possible so that you'll definitely feel better?

I'm just tired of getting over some symptom and then immediately something is happening to freak me out. I just am beginning to stop getting the twitching in my knee, and now I've got a weird feeling in my abdomen and I'm worried I have skin cancer because I have a couple of weird moles (even though they have always been that way and haven't changed at all). Although I guess if I had every test ever, I'd just have to go back again in a week to make sure nothing had happened since the last time. 

[Slangevar]

Sometimes I get abnormally jealous of Canadians and their amazing healthcare system. They can get MRIs whenever they want!  I would kill for that.

So the answer is yes... if given free reign to get as many sonograms and MRIs (not CT scans... those come with their own risks), I would probably plan a week-long vacation at the hospital.

[helplessdancer]

Haha well I'm an American who is currently living in England, so every time I visit the doctor and don't get a bill, I get very confused.  But I have heard good things about Canada's healthcare.

But rethinking this, some medical tests sound very unpleasant, so maybe not all the tests...

[rr2005]

I know exactly what you mean! It just seems the minute I get over something or get a clear medical test, my body starts doing something else that sets me off. Ugh...lol

[Hunniedeww24]

Hey man all i want is a full body MRI..is that so much to ask?? lol

[MrMoleHill]

Sometimes I wish I were very wealthy.  Rather than spend money on cars, clothes, houses, and other "stuff", I would have, at my disposal, a full-time doctor and medical facility.  Also, I used think it would be nice to be able to get CAT scans whenever I wanted.  Then I realized they use high doses of ionizing radiation, and it can be, just one more thing in life to increase your risk of cancers.  Now I even wonder if all those dental x-rays we get aren't the cause of thyroid and oral cancers in those people with "no known risk factors".

[Slangevar]

Sometimes I wish I were very wealthy.  Rather than spend money on cars, clothes, houses, and other "stuff", I would have, at my disposal, a full-time doctor and medical facility.

As my mom once said, "It wouldn't help. Everyone dies at some point... even the rich."  She was talking specifically of George Harrison who had more money than G-d, yet died of lung cancer at 58.  He was diagnosed with it at about the same time as my dad, but my dad outlived him by a few years.  And my dad did NOT have more money than G-d. ;-)

[Catesykes]

I never used to go to the docs, used to avoid tests as scared of what the results might be. Now it's the opposite, i had to have lots (see previous posts) it's like I'm addicted to getting tests because of the good feeling you get when they come back normal. I had a clear MRI scan, so happy but now I want more tests!

[Turner1298]

I got one better for ya~ever think something really terrible is wrong? Like a heart problem or brain tumor? Then you pray and say please don't let it be that, I can handle MS or something but don't let it kill me right away?

Yep, that's how I roll...sad isn't it. I also pray when my kids are sick and I'm obsessing that God can give me some fatal ilness just let my kids be okay.

I'm not proud of it but it's there. Cold, hard, and ugly. It's the truth. And the symptoms keep coming all the time. I guess my brain gets bored obsessing on one type of cancer all the time.   

[floridaguy65]

Good grief....FULL BODY SCAN!

If they were offering those up back in the day, when I was a mess, I'm sure I would have been sleeping in a tent to be the first one in line!:)

But, as we know, unneeded medical testing is quite counterproductive to a viable, lasting healing path for our mental health challenges. Of course, HA peeps feel ALL their med tests are needed, at the time. We can be freaking out, scared we are going to leave behind our loving family, afraid of missing out on soooo much in life and this pretty much sends all reason out the window....because THIS TIME it really feels like it is something sinister. Amazing how many 'THIS TIME's there are for an HA peep when we are not really maintaining some solid footing on a healing path.

Do HA peeps get sick and get disease? Sure....we are no different than those pesky 'non-HA'ers:) But, the major difference is that our hyper-vigilance over our health spurred on by our overall anxiety issues tends to create some very serious lifeflow interruptions. Our anxiety issues bleed over into many facets of our lives and create turmoil in personal relationships, finances, work, school, social activities, parenting, etc. This stuff is typically rarely confined to ONLY health. So, having lived the trying times in our lives, we know what amped up anxiety can bring. Med testing creates really amped up anxiety for HA peeps - period...whether we really need it or not. So, being HA peeps, we have to make sure that we are covering all the bases, so to speak, before we go down the road of invasive medical testing. Now, is age appropriate, family history appropriate, actual personal history appropriate medical testing needed by HA peeps. Do we need yearly check-ups / physicals (or what's determined by previous health issues)?. Of course, just as they are needed for all folks. We do have to have a practical health protocol in order to give us the best reasonable chance for maintaining qualilty health. All else pretty much falls under the catagory of fueling our HA fire, IMHO. And, there are so many things we can do ourselves that help with giving us the best reasonable chance for qualilty health - diet and exercise being two:)

Peace and Feel Well:)

[Transamguy2013]

Yes Yes and Yes!

I don't have a doctor at this time. SO I have to use the ER . Most people want to go home. But I want to stay. Lol. After they fine I'm healthy they want to get me out and I'm like but what if it is this or that and can we do this test to see. They just like you check out fine. We can't help healthy people. Lol

The thing is though. Once your checked out a fews times ( tests etcc. )
You better for a lil while. But It's only a matter of time before we think of something else to worry about.

Accept you have Anxiety disorder, HA. Get help and start to do everything you can to return to normal.
YOU know your healthy! Because we have been checked many times.

[Hanervous]

I want a full body scan sooooooo badly! Lol!

[sassparella]

A full body scan is not a good idea for someone with HA. I had a chest, abdo and pelvis CT scan that ended up showing a lump on my liver and fluid round my heart it worried me sick. Turns out the lump is a benign hemangioma and the fluid is so trivial the cardiologist took one look at my echo results and discharged me. Most people will have something found on a body scan that they wouldn't even know was there if they didn't have one and it causes more angst and worry than necessary. So, yes while a clear body scan would be great there's a good chance there would be incidental (benign) findings that would have you quaking in your boots for a couple of months while going through more needless tests to diagnose you.

Plus reassurance is only temporary for someone with HA, the fear cycle is just that a cycle and while you may be appeased for a few hours/days even months it will not cure HA.

[eternalhope]

Absolutely!

The only problem with that is we all know how that sigh of relief feels when we get the 'everything is normal' pitch from the docs and walk out of the office with papers in our hand feeling like a million bucks!

Then, a few weeks/months go by and we start thinking - 'surely they must have missed something' or 'I've developed this terrible disease since the last test' .. and it's off to the doctor again.

Nasty, vicious cycle.