Hypochondriacs?

[anonymous]

23, female with CF.
Do you ever feel like we have so many aches and weird complaints? I do. Sometimes I feel like I'm trying to explain a symptom, and the doctor is wondering..."how can this much be wrong with one person?" I feel like I have so many complaints sometimes. And I'm only freakin' 23! As I've hit the 20-ish year old mark, I'm finding new and odd added symptoms and reactions to years of meds. I guess I'm just saying, does anyone ever feel like they are told by their doctor, to just address the "typical" CF symptoms?
I feel frustrated.<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif" border="0">

 

[Emeraldmirror]

i know exactly how you feel except with me my body always likes to make me look like i'm "lying" cause let's say that i'll have heart burn for like.. let's say everyday for like two months.. and i go to the doctor and tell them that i have it and they believe me.. but they give me medication and i just like never get heart burn again.. or my knees bob and grind but i go see the rheumatologist and my knees are gliding smooth like butter... i have never had them tell me to just address the "typical" cf symptoms but i feel like my body is almost against me... yeah... i think that made sense.. i have a habit or writing and watching tv at the same time.. coincidently enough i'm watching the show distraction

Ashley 21 w/cf

 

[anonymous]

yes!!! i feel exactly the same way! i have all this random chest pain, joint pain, stomach pain and it feels like something is wrong but when i ever i tell the doctors it a. goes away, or b. is so random that they can't think of anything it could be. i definitly feel like they are going to start thinking i complain for attention or something. it's incredibly frusterating, but for the past few doctors visits i've just kept my mouth shut, it doesn't do any good to tell them, they put me in the hospital test me for a gagillion things and say 'you look great!!' with incredible excitment, and i stare at them because just because everything is technically fine doesn't mean i'm not in pain all the time.
anyways, i know exactly what you're talking about
maggie 18w/cf

 

[JazzysMom]

My hubby & I had this talk the other night. He said that the "other" things like joint pain, heart burn, achiness etc seems to be a larger problem for me than the "lung" part of CF. When I go for my checkups & they ask if I have had such & such (hemoptysis, constipation etc) I started asking in what time frame are they looking at. I can have an issue for days/weeks & I swear as soon as its time for a checkup it goes away. Like having a toothache until you get to the dentist LOL.....I know its not from doing a better treatment beforehand because I make a point (as a rule) of NOT doing my morning treatment so I dont get "false" numbers on my pft that I can maintain. Its is very frustrating because even when I dont have an active infection going on, I have all these other issues that make me feel like I should be 80. Yippy to old age!!!! LOL

 

[Coffee]

OK, heres a little twist on this!!!!
I have CF, yet I work with a person (who does NOT have CF) and no matter what I come down with (which is not even often) she has to get it too. It's so annoying. For example, I had pneumonia and it was so deep in my lung (like in a capsule since it was so deep) I couldn't pass it to anyone. I asked this b/c I have a niece with CF too and it was my number 1 priority NOT to give it to her. The dr said it was not possible for me to pass this to anyone. Great.
Well I e-mailed this co-worker of mine and guess what she got a few days later. Thats right, pneumonia. It happens EVERYTIME! If I get something SHE gets something. Doesn't she realize I would rather not have pneumonia, strep, thrush, etc.?! She seriously goes to the dr more often than I do!!!
What do you do when you are around someone like this? Right now she is claiming that she has pluricy (I don't know how to spell that...plur-ah-see). So we are supposed to both work together tomorrow. Well I don't want to be around her just incase b/c I'm still on IV's and not doing great yet. So WHAT IF she has something and I have exposed myself to this? So I think I'll just call off this coming week. It will only be 3 days for me so what is the big deal, I have already missed one whole week, what is another?
So I'm hesitant to even tell her what is going on with me. She is genuine when she askes how I'm doing, etc. but then she gets what ever I have.
How do you deal with this? I work in a small office and I cannot NOT be around her.
Any suggestions?
KELLI

 

[thelizardqueen]

Funny story. There's thing girl that I used to work with - she was such a hypochondriac. One day she was complaining of chest problems, and I for whatever reason told her about my CF. She turned to me and said that maybe she has caught CF from someone and should go for a check up to see if she had it.

 

[anonymous]

Well, it's nice to know there are others out there who feel like I do. I've got too many wierd aches!
I'm tired of strange looks from doctors.
Christian, 23 with CF

 

[tommy]

i have this problem also. I will go in to cf clinic complaining about all my aches pains etc. Ofcourse for some reason they will go away for just that 1 day I go in to clinic lol. Everything's fine they say, your lungs look great and the next day i'll feel like s**t. I think over a time docs learn to just not listen to the patients, simply because they do not know what is wrong. They will say yes all cfers get joint pains get use to them wining about it blah blah blah heres some celebrex. Anyways I totally know how you feel

tom 20cf

 

[anonymous]

I don't think there are any typical symptoms of Cf. I think we learn to talk to doctors like no other group of people can. I had one of my doctors tell me a long time ago he wished more people would describe how they feel in such a precise manner. There are so many different ways to treat different things that if people don't specify what is wrong correctly then they might be treated for the wrong thing, do you know what I mean? I am 40 years old this year and every day I find something else to keep on top of. Don't get frustrated. You have a long way to go.

 

[Emeraldmirror]

Yeah that's another thing, sometimes i hate telling some people that i have cf because like soooo many times have i had people like a few days after i tell them i have cf that they must have "caught it" from me... like i just want to slap them... or put them in a classroom.. i'm not sure which one... like i remember when i was little my mom taught me to say if someone asks "i have cf but don't worry it's not contagious" but once i got older i thought well if you explain what cf is to the person they woul have to be an idiot to think that they can "catch it" from you.. but i think in my regular explaination i'm going to include the phrase "it's not contagious" again, but then again you always have those people who are like "are you sure cause i'm sure i caught it"... god i hate some people sometimes...

p.s can you tell that my biggest pet peeve is people telling me that they "caught" cf from me...

Ashley 21 w/cf