When you are the patient and know way too much LOL

[TerpGal02]

So I went for my first set of four (yes FOUR, I'm allergic to everything) shots today. Years ago, it would have been the needles that made me green around the gills (I had a huge needlephobia problem, still have a hard time getting stuck to venipunctures), now it's because I know too much about what COULD happen to me.

I spent all morning working myself into a near panic......oh my god what happens if I go into anaphylaxis. So I go there, get the shots and in my 20 min wait, all I could think is oh no......is my chest getting a little tight? What's that little lump in my throat? (It's called being thirsty lol). Oh my god, is the inside of my mouth itching? I can make the inside of my mouth itch by thinking about it. Really. So my 20 mins was up, and all I had to show was a little itchy lump at one of the sites smaller than a pencil eraser. Slapped some hydrocortisone cream on and I was good to go.

Then I started freaking out because I was tired. Well no duh I spent forever worrying myself to death. I've always been somewhat of a hypochondriac. So that plus being a nurse..........leads to some pretty humorous situations sometimes.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I had chest pain. I was sure it was nothing, but it WAS chest pain. DH calls and asks how my day is going. I foolishly tell him I'm having chest pain. (Both of us are former CCU nurses.) "Oh, ****! Call 911. How stupid are you?"

"No, no. I'm pretty sure it's nothing. I'll just go to the urgent care clinic."

I go to Urgent Care. They call 911. I get a ride to the ER in an ambulance. I'm still pretty sure it's nothing. I'm feeling really stupid. I'm sure all the nurses are talking about me, the hypochondriac nurse. At the ER, they rule out an MI, tell me I'm probably having chest pain because my cold has turned into bronchitis. Yeah, that makes sense. It really was nothing much. Now I'm CONVINCED the nurses are all making fun of me -- I'm going to be in that "Most Ridiculous REason Someone Came to the ER" thread. So there I am at the ER with no car -- mine is at the Urgent Care clinic. How stupid am I?

As I'm being discharged from the ER, the paramedics who brought me in are back with another patient -- this one probably does belong on that thread. (It's a good story, but I digress.) We chat, I thank them and tell them I'm being discharged. "I'm glad you're OK," one of them told me. "I'd rather spend my whole shift transporting someone like you to get ruled out than NOT transport the one person who would have ruled in." OK, maybe they're not all making fun of me. Or maybe they are, but that's still mighty nice of him.

DH shows up at the ER and spots the paramedics before he spots me. It seems that he knows them. "Oh, my God! My wife is having a heart attack and she's HERE. There's no heart surgery here. What if her cath shows she needs immediate surgery? What if they perf something? I'm sure it's the Big One and she's gonna die! Where is your cath lab? I've gotta go find her!"

Why would the nurses make fun of me when after they see DH? Oh, maybe because I'm so afraid of showing up on that thread that I go to an Urgent Care Clinic with chest pain? How stupid am I?

[OCNRN63, RN]

Ruby, can you provide a link for the thread you're referring to?

[VampyrSlayer, CNA]

Hahaha I'm a huge hypochondriac and I'm not even a nurse yet, but I have EMT training so that gave me some insight into symptoms. Just yesterday I started panicking because I had shoulder and arm pain (not to mention that it was my right arm and I had slept on it wrong) and then I started having chest pain (I had been practicing sternal rub on myself...ow). And I have had a headache for the past 4 days (I need new glasses) I was convinced I had a MI an subarachnoid bleed. Oy. I talked myself out of going to the hospital by taking aspirin and watching scrubs. I should be institutionalized.