Is a bad feeling good reason to see a doctor?

leslie :-D · Aug 3, 2008

if you're due for a physical, now would be a good time to go.

but as for that vague, nonspecific feeling, can't say i'd see a doctor for that.

it's helpful for you to have that insight into yourself, re your tendency to hypochondria.

hopefully you can differentiate fear/paranoia from symptoms a bit more tangible.

best of everything to you.

leslie

BaRNs · Aug 3, 2008

When you get spammed with all the diseases and conditions that afflict people as a nursing student does it is easy to become a hypochondriac. And we probably all do to a certain extent. You know your body like no one else. So there is no better judge of when you need to seek help from a HCP.

During my first year in OR after my residency, I had what I found out later was a panic attack. I just felt 'wierd,' I was sweaty, my heart was racing a lot over a 3-4 day period, I couldn't get to sleep (at all one of the nights) very easily.

I am of the persuasion that I refuse to put toxins in my body. I consider toxins to be pretty much all medications from ASA to MS04. So I know that a doctor is going to want to prescribe me something to take. I prefer my naturopaths approach. She tells me that when I feel 'off' to get lots of rest and other simplistic approached to my health and well-being maintenance, and if I see improvement it was probably something inconsequential to begin with. We have an innate abilty to heal ourselves.

I once had food poisoning when I was 19 from some bad ground beef (hey I was a broke college student, so what if it was a week old in the fridge). I had 103.7 temp and had diarrhea, vomiting, and proFUSE sweating for 2 solid days. I didn't go see the doctor and I was fine. He probably would have been able to successfully limit the amount of suffering I endured, but I was convinced I wasn't going to hospital until my temp was 104+.

You know better than anyone what you need.

jspacegirl · Aug 4, 2008

do you guys go see your doctor if you have a bad feeling that something is wrong with your health? while i was working as a nurse, i had few co-workers who had stroke at young ages in 20th and 30th or hospitalized due to stress from work etc.
the other day while i was working, i had this really weird feeling that there is something wrong with me. i tend to be a little hypochondriatic and tend to think there is something wrong with me with a minor things like if i have a heachache i'm afraid i'm gonna have a stroke or if my leg is hurting i worry that i have a blood clot.

you could describe me! all of this stuff started happening after i started nursing school. it was a vicious cycle. i would interpret minor aches and pains as something more serious, then would worry about it, get stressed out, raise my heart rate and blood pressure, which would make me worry more, and get more stressed out, etc, etc. the stress gave me chest pains. my heart would constantly race and i couldn't sleep at all at night, afraid that i was going to die. one time in class i had a full-on panic attack because i had a pain in my leg, and then i thought that it was a dvt that then broke off and caused a pe. after that happened, i decided to see the counselor at school.

a few months of counseling didn't do very much for my anxiety and hypochondria, and although i was initially reluctant, i decided to go on meds. i was prescribed lexapro, and let me tell you, it is the best decision i ever made. i feel like i have my life back. i can sleep at night, and i'm not constantly thinking that there is something wrong with me. i'm not miserable anymore. i'm back to feeling like i did before i started nursing school!

your situation may not be as bad as mine was, but if it gets to the point where it is interfering with your life on a daily basis, it would be good to go see a doctor or psychologist about it. you might realize, as i did, there is no need to have to feel that way!

angelique777 · Aug 4, 2008

Here is how I would handle this situation I would first like the previous poster said. get a complete physical exam. This includes basic lab work CBC Chem Cholesterol etc . urinalysis, Now labs alone will tell the doctor some basic stuff like if you have anemia, if your electrolytes are good, if your sugar is high, it will tell the provider about your kidney function and liver function, if cholesterol is high, if your good cholesterol is high etc

Thats some good basic information. Also can get tested for all the std infections

Then I would discuss with my doctors the fears you have over getting a stroke of that feeling that something is wrong and keep a log of what that feeling may be.

You can also ask if there are any risk factors that would predispose you to any problem

Risk factors

Do you smoke

Do you have HTN

Are you over weight

Do you have high cholesterol or eat high fat diet

Do you have a family hx of having stroke

High stress level all on its own is not a risk factor for stroke as far as I know

Is there strong cardiac history in your family or hx Aortic aneurysm

If all the above questions is no then that hopefully this will reduce your fears in this area.

Also you said you did not feel well. Maybe you can specify what that feeling was and keep a log What happened at the time you felt this. What symptoms did you have at the time example headache, stomach upset, pain in a particular part of your body was your heart racing, etc Try to pin point the symptoms or problem.

(example SOB, palpitations, chest tightness, or chest pain, sweating, n/v/d, etc. If you have pain specify location intensity duration etc

If your worried about clots well again look at risk factors

Poor circulations

Sedentary life style

discuss them with your provider and this will help you figure out if you have any of the risk factors and what signs and symptoms to look for.

Having this knowledge with help reduce your fears hopefully.

In the end after the physical exam and discussion with the provider you can figure out if there is a real problem or if maybe you just having work induced anxiety.

Hope this helps.

To any your initial questions I do always think you should discuss with your provider what your feeling but keeping a log and specifing you concerns does help for a more focused exam

Wish you the best

Angela