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August 16th, 2007

My hypochondria is keeping me awake

rain

I’m aware that this is a rain cartoon, not a hypochondria cartoon, but I cannot find the hypochondria one and it is too late to scan as it will wake the neighbours. “It is that blessed cartoonist and his 2am scanning again”, they will exclaim as they are awakened from their slumber. 2am typing is even a bit of a problem as I tend to hammer on the keys a bit to make sure the keyboard gets the message. In Eastbourne I used to keep the lady downstairs awake with my heavy typing, but she always said she didn’t mind.

I am awake as I have tingling and numbness in my arm and my leg and various other places. Last night I had the same thing along with some shaking. I have had this before as I think I have told you. I have been to the doctor, who told me that there is nothing wrong with me. This usually happens when I go to the doctor. I describe my various worrying ailments but am told that I am perfectly fine. I find it quite concerning to continue to have various worrying ailments when there is nothing wrong with me, so I become anxious. The combination of various worrying ailments and anxiety is worse than just having various worrying ailments, so I return to the doctor, who says that there is nothing wrong with me apart from perhaps some anxiety. I then become concerned about how to get rid of my anxiety, and so the process continues.

I am telling you this so that you can tell me to snap out of it and stop being so silly.

As an aside: Apologies to all the people still awaiting replies to e-mail messages. I have been suffering from various worrying ailments caused by my own concern about those same worrying ailments, so there have been delays.

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37 Responses to “My hypochondria is keeping me awake”


  1. Jennifer says:

    I have the same numbness and tingling, plus a pain in my chest. I suspect either heart trouble or some sort of incurable cancer, but that sounds so stupid for a healthy 35-year old that I’m not even going to bother the doctors with it…just wait a few days until I calm down. Ain’t hypochondria grand?

    August 16th, 2007 at 4:43 am
  2. Ann says:

    Prayers.

    August 16th, 2007 at 5:21 am
  3. Karin says:

    Could it be anxiety, Dave?? Possibly trapped nerve, but that would just cause tingling in limb affected by nerve and wouldn’t explain shaking.

    It’s still worth going back to the doctor, and maybe a different doctor. Some are more dismissive than others. even if it is due to anxiety you need to get to the bottom of the anxiety and find how to overcome it.

    Here’s hoping you get to the bottom of it and find a remedy.

    Karin

    August 16th, 2007 at 8:54 am
  4. jody says:

    dave

    with much experience, i can tell you that telling an anxious person to ‘snap out of it’ is not helpful at all – so I won’t do that ;-)

    what i will tell you to do, is to go back to your doctor, stop being your amiable self (I imagine) stamp your foot a bit, and get them to run a blood test and various things until you are convinced that it is indeed anxiety – then get them to treat the anxiety, which they can do.

    you are not a hypochondriac.

    well you might be, but that’s not this.

    August 16th, 2007 at 8:57 am
  5. Tired&Emotional says:

    I suggest watching old episodes of House. If that doesn’t cure you then try standing in a bucket of margerine, pouring salad cream over your head and singing George Formby songs. My great grandfather saw by this as a cure for all ailments. He eventually died from an overdose of margerine and salad cream in the blood. However what finished him off was the bullet from the Home Guard patrol that thought he was a German or Italian spy.

    August 16th, 2007 at 10:19 am
  6. Nicola says:

    I went to the doctors 5 times over 6 months recently before they diagnosed asthma – and only because I tentatively asked if it might be asthma…? One GP didn’t even give me eye contact, and as he listened to my lungs (I thought, ‘thank goodness! For once I’m wheezing like a rusty accordion’) he said, ‘Well I can’t hear anything there’. So don’t give up – they can be hopeless at times. But also the brain is a disturbing thing. I had agonising chest pains about 10 years ago and was convinced I had cancer. Finally swung myself an x-ray and as soon as I was told there was nothing there – that same day – I never had another pain!

    You’re in my prayers.

    August 16th, 2007 at 10:38 am
  7. Dave says:

    Hello everyone. Just to say that after blogging I got to sleep well and this morning feel a lot better – perhaps blogging is the best cure for things.

    Thanks for responses here and via e-mail. I may not be replying again here today as today is a deadline day.

    August 16th, 2007 at 11:01 am
  8. themethatisme says:

    I could tell you to snap out of it and stop being silly but that would be patronising and pointless. Don’t listen to doctors who say there is nothing wrong with you and thereby break the cycle of anxiety. Find a doctor who will listen to you and talk to you sensibly about the anxiety and not the symptoms.

    Alternately get diagnosed with something revolting and thenyou can worry about that instead of the non-diagnosis. It worked for me. I am much more relaxed now I know I have a chronic condition! But seriously, these things are about states of mind and the relation it has with the body. Don’t not think about it, think about it constantly until it fades away. Find someone with whom you can talk about it, who will just listen and let you work it out for yourself.

    August 16th, 2007 at 11:04 am
  9. Linda McMillan says:

    Blogging IS a good cure… But, probably not what you really need. And, since I don’t know what that would be, I’ll offer my prayers for you.

    You bring so much laughter into this sometimes dreary church of ours, it’s hard to think of you suffering so. I do hope you at lest have some sense of how important your ministry is and how much you contribute to the lightening of the load.

    It is now time for praying.

    Lindy

    August 16th, 2007 at 11:29 am
  10. Peter Kirk says:

    You could try going to New Wine. Whatever you may think of it, there will certainly be opportunities for healing prayer there. Well, it’s finished for this year, but there is still a chance to go to its youth version Soul Survivor, starting this Saturday. In fact I’m going there, find me in Green 10 if you make it! Failing that, we can offer you prayer for healing at my church in Chelmsford.

    August 16th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
  11. Aaron Orear says:

    New Wine sounds like a good idea…would calm you right down after a glass or two. What? Oh…

    It does sound like anxiety, or more like stress. Tricky thing there, of course, is that the more stressed you are the more your body reacts. The more your body reacts the more worried and stressed you get. Second verse, same as the first.

    Whether you find medical/emotional/spiritual/holistic help, I do hope and pray you get some relief and soon. Not a fun path, that one.

    August 16th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
  12. Lisa says:

    Sounds like a classic anxiety attack to me. I had my first anxiety attack at age 10. Doctors told me I was fine. It took till I was in my thirties and a nervous breakdown before they accepted that I was ill. Don’t accept what they tell you until they have proved your physically fine with tests, and ask to see a psychotherapist or similar rather than being fobbed off with drugs! Thus speaks the voice of experience. :-) We only say these things because we care.

    August 16th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
  13. GTD Wannabe says:

    Okay, I’m just flabbergasted by the fact that your typing can wake up your neighbours! How thin are the walls there? I mean, it’s not like you’re using an old manual typewriter, where you really have to put some elbow grease into it. Or, are you? ;)

    August 16th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
  14. Self-diagnosing isn’t a great idea at Bene Diction Blogs On says:

    [...] Dave Walker, a splendid cartoonist and all around good guy, isn’t feeling well. He thinks he is being a bit of a hypochondriac, which keeps him awake, which causes insomnia, which adds to sleep deprivation raises anxiety. He’s joking about it, the symptoms are real. [...]

    August 16th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
  15. Riihele says:

    BREATH IN,
    BREAT OUT…

    All the best.
    Thank you for these brill ‘toons.

    August 16th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
  16. Deacon Charlie Perrin says:

    From a source unknown, the classic epitaph on the headstone of a hypochondriac:

    “I TOLD you I was sick.”

    August 16th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
  17. susan s. says:

    Dave,
    Advice from an old woman who had anxiety attacks regularly for 3 or 4 years. First of all, are you sitting at your desk hunched over the keyboard for endless hours? You might have muscle tension from this. Perhaps a good swim or walk swinging your arms or some such exercise for about 30 minutes 3 times a day will do you some good. It helped me. Hot showers are also a good thing. A massage works wonders. I can’t believe these Docs that you see haven’t suggested that. As you stated, the reason it gets worse is because you become more anxious about the symptoms. Adrenalin pours through your system and hypes you up to a point of causing other symptoms. Anyway, I love your cartoons, therefore I love you, and send you hugs and kisses(in a motherly way of course). And prayers ascend for your recovery from anxious thoughts and hypocondria(which is a bitch!).

    August 16th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
  18. Paul says:

    I have seen many ads on TV about RLS (restless leg syndrome) and, though i mistrust the pseudo-benevolence of drug firms touting their products, the symptoms include tingling in legs, so this might be worth inquiring about. There is no reason not to push back when physicians say there is nothing wrong.

    When my ex and I broke up I did not get much sleep for months on end. My therapist and my physician’s assistant both pushed for treating anxiety-depression and Paxil enabled me to move from 4 hours a night back to 6-7 hours. Five years later I was able to move off the medication and still get sleep.

    Best wishes, no matter what course you pursue.

    August 16th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
  19. David Charles Walker says:

    Dave

    Time to change doctors.
    See this article on today’s CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/08/16/ep.fire.your.doc/index.html
    Thinking of you and praying for you, “cousin.”

    David

    August 16th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
  20. BooCat says:

    Dave,
    Have you ever had a sleep study done? Sounds like some problems I had until a couple of health pros on a church retreat correctly diagnosed me with awful sleep apnea and had my cot moved from the dorm and into the living room the second night we were there so that the rest of the group could get some sleep.
    After a couple of nights in a sleep center and a Sullivan C-Pap Machine that I use every night, my sleep problems went away, along with leg aches and pains, headaches, and blood pressure problems. It’s worth a shot.

    August 16th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
  21. Karin says:

    I wonder if today’s deadline had anything to do with last night’s symptoms. Just a thought.

    another idea – you could keep a note of when the symptoms occur in relation to deadlines, lack of exercise, too much exercise or any other possible links.

    August 16th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
  22. jody says:

    aren’t you so glad we’re all putting our penny’worth in? ;-)

    you know it’s only ‘cos we luv ya.

    hardy ha, ha.

    jody

    August 16th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
  23. Mary Clara says:

    Dear Dave, I have no wisdom whatsoever to impart on this topic but just wanted to say I love you and am keeping you in my prayers. Thanks so much for keeping on with your fab ministry which is so saving for all of us.

    August 17th, 2007 at 4:36 am
  24. Mark says:

    Dave (and Jennifer),

    I know this will sound ridiculous, but I’ve had similar difficulties, more along the line of Jennifer’s than yours, Dave, but what it turned out to be was acid reflux. I was astounded, as I had no sour stomach, no bile, but problems that seemed completely unrelated to my digestive system. If it’s only affecting you when you lay down, you may suggest that to a physician as a possibility.

    August 17th, 2007 at 5:42 am
  25. Daniel says:

    I recommend a good run. Maybe 10K or a half marathon. That way:

    1. You’ll be tired enough to sleep
    2. You’ll have enough reasons to be shaky and achey. No worrying.

    Works for me anyway

    August 17th, 2007 at 8:44 am
  26. johnieB says:

    Dave,

    I don’t think you’re a hypochondriac; it’s clear to me from your work that you are a desperately sick person, though the symptoms may as yet be subtle and difficult to diagnose. You might follow the Samaritan woman’s example, and toss away all that ill-gotten gain to therapies, which will do no good, according to the Gospel of St. Sam Cooke.

    So, prayers from here to there for your well-being, whatever form that may take.

    August 17th, 2007 at 11:48 am
  27. Karin says:

    I think the cure might only be a week away – at least it should be a temporary cure. Greenbelt is the answer to everything! :-)

    August 17th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
  28. Dave says:

    Just to say again – thanks for all the replies to this post. I had not really expected such a thing.

    August 17th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
  29. Jane R says:

    Dave, we are all terribly fond of you, and I think many of us have had our share of woes in the illness and anxiety department. When I fell into a major depression 13 years ago I didn’t even know I was depressed for a long while because I had an agitated depression accompanied, or heralded, by massive anxiety attacks which the silly doctors didn’t recognize, so I had a series of cardiac tests (at least I found out my heart was fine) and finally when the depression itself got even worse, figured out what was going on after having the survival sense to take myself to a shrink. I can’t begin to diagnose at a distance, but what I can tell you is you are no hypochondriac. Get all the help you can, medical and psychological and spiritual, until you figure out what you need, and yes of course exercise and fresh air and meeting deadlines help. As a fellow writer (well, you’re a drawing writer, but same stuff really) I can tell you that the anxiety always goes way up when I am on deadline even now that I am well — so the combo of having some sort of ailment (made worse by the anxiety of not knowing what it is) AND having deadlines AND the isolation of creativity can really be quite debilitating.

    Prayers for you, brother, and remember cats are good therapists.

    August 18th, 2007 at 5:49 am
  30. (not so) Mad Scientist says:

    Don’t rule out biochemical (possibly genetic) issues. I had very similar symptoms, with a family history of depression. I’m now on an extremely low dose of Effexor XR (37.5 mg four times a week), and the tingling and anxiety has disappeared, with no apparent side effects.

    August 18th, 2007 at 11:30 am
  31. Dave says:

    Thanks Jane and Not so mad Scientist.

    August 18th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
  32. Jaded for Jesus says:

    My! You have an energetic thread going here! Hope all out there feeling stressed feel much better soon. Don’t forget that caffeine can make things worse; I reluctantly switched to decaff coffee (mid-morning work ritual is to put the cafetiere on) a while back and must confess that it helps mightily. But my latest surprise cure-all is… body-boarding off the ample coastlines of our West Country; it’s 100% distracting and ridiculous, childish fun. I think a lot of us have forgotten how to play, and this is a big problem. Discuss!

    August 19th, 2007 at 12:11 am
  33. themethatisme says:

    “I TOLD you I was sick.”
    This is on the headstone of Spike Milligan.

    August 20th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
  34. Karin says:

    Were you cured while at Greenbelt, Dave?

    August 30th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
  35. Dave says:

    Karin – Thanks for asking. Well, in the short term yes. But you know what it is like with all the hype at these healing crusades. If I am still healed in a weeks time then I will declare greenbelt the tonic for all ills.

    August 30th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
  36. Gman says:

    Dave, I found your site because I’m also having tingling hands, feet, lightheadedness, etc. My anxiety level has been very high. I’ve been running and exercising every day but I still can’t fend off the panic, although I talked to a doctor friend of mine who convinced me it wasn’t diabetes, MS, or the like. I felt better for a few days, but then I ask myself why do I get that sharp pain in my fingers?
    Are my wrists numb or is it the normal back of the wrist sensation? I have become hyperaware about symptoms. I hope you are feeling better. Gman

    August 31st, 2007 at 9:12 pm
  37. Karin says:

    If not maybe you will just have to recreate Greenbelt in everyday life!! Somehow.

    August 31st, 2007 at 10:15 pm