The "OMG I'm dying" hypochondria/mental health thread

[henryscutter]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

Has he been prescribed some kind of a steroid-containing inhaler? I had a similar ailment many, many years ago. A couple of months of using the steroid inhaler totally eradicated my symptoms, including exercise-induced asthma, which I'd had since childhood. What it did was... it saved my life... I won't forget it.

That is interesting, I've had EI Asthma for a few years and have been using an albutrol inhaler. It helped a little for a while but now it is not working at all. I think I am gonna talk to the Dr. about different meds.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by Travisevian

It's not necessarily an obsession, just considered a sign of good breeding.

As we head into the cold and flu season, sharing the germs of everyone around you, is a sign of good breeding? Sounds more like a sign of being a moron(not meaning you). ~Handshaking~ is an antiquated notion, that spreads disease. FACT.
http://techcrunch.com/2009/05/09/han...l-lets-end-it/

[markolas]

Originally Posted by Travisevian

Markolas, you didn't answer my previous question about brain fog. I'm concerned. Have you discussed that with a doctor?

Oh, sorry. I've always had a certain amount of brain fog, but this I started noticing when I got sick, a week or two (or 3) ago. It's either subsided or I've just gotten used to it, I can't tell which. I was diagnosed w/ ADD a couple of years ago, but I take the meds sporadically b/c I can't afford them most of the time.

I'm having a sharp pain on the right side of my stomach...this started this morning. It could be death, or it could have something to do with the half-gallon of ice cream and chicken parmesan I scarfed down last night.

[skcin]

Originally Posted by WildHearted

I'd rather give someone a hug than shake their hand. Shaking hands feels awkward to me, for some reason. I feel like I'm out of place doing it.

I think I have OCD, in all seriousness. I've got some compulsions about locking doors, and checking the locks multiple times (by multiple, I mean dozens of, including going out of the room and coming back in to make sure they're still loff, turning lights on and off to make sure they're still locked, all sorts of weird obnoxious crap that I know is ridiculous but I still do anyway because I have to), I also have to write a note to every person in my household every night before I go to bed... I also unplug anything in sight (lamps, toasters, etc, even if they aren't on) before I go to bed, for a fear of catching the house on fire.

Oh, honey. It sure sounds that way.

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

As we head into the cold and flu season, sharing the germs of everyone around you, is a sign of good breeding? Sounds more like a sign of being a moron(not meaning you). ~Handshaking~ is an antiquated notion, that spreads disease. FACT.
http://techcrunch.com/2009/05/09/han...l-lets-end-it/

Not to belittle you, because that is not my intent, but I think your phobia of handshaking is a tad ridiculous. If I were to meet you after this I'd grab both of your hands and hold them tight...just to see you squirm.

But really, I do think you're making more out of this in your head than is good for you. People touch nearly everything at some point, and it's impossible to avoid. The bags your groceries are in - the food in those bags was touched when it was stocked at the store. Books, magazines, CDs, computer software - even new items have been handled during shipping or stocking. Cash and coins are far nastier than most people's hands, and it's hard to avoid that unless you only use a card....and even then you have to hand it to someone who has also touched everyone else's cards...and the cash in their drawer...and then they hand it back to you. Then there's gas pumps...barstools...door handles in public places...

Don't even get me started on food service. Until I started watching things like Master Chef and Hell's Kitchen, I really had no idea how much human (and the Universe only knows what other) DNA my food comes into contact with.

I guess my point in this is that by trying so hard to avoid germs you're really hurting yourself in the long run by not allowing your body to create antibodies that fight those germs. You can't develop immunity to strains of cold and flu you aren't exposed to, and that could be a pretty good reason why you get SO SICK (as you said earlier) when you do get sick.

I'm HIV+, and a simple flu could bring me down for good. Yes, just a flu - but instead of avoiding sickness and human contact and eating out and shopping, I embrace these activites because they make me stronger.

And yes, handshaking may be antiquated but it's a sign of greeting and respect among men with manners. And your hands can be washed, afterwards, when those people can't see you doing it. Much like Stevie believes the internet has helped to destroy social graces, in the same way do I and many medical professionals believe America's rampant phobia of cooties has helped produce an allergic, asthmatic population incapable of surmounting the next epidemic.




Or maybe I just don't care about germs.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

Not to belittle you, because that is not my intent, but I think your phobia of handshaking is a tad ridiculous. If I were to meet you after this I'd grab both of your hands and hold them tight...just to see you squirm.



Or maybe I just don't care about germs.

^^^That's my vote! Honestly, I'm not afraid of handshaking. I avoid it, out of practicality. Okay, I have sang in a band my entire adult life. A cover band. And I'm currently the ONLY lead singer in the band. Okay, we play 4 hours this Friday, AND 4 hours this Saturday. 8 hours of singing, in a 28 hour period. Do you have ANY idea how hard that is to pull off? But I do it. Actually, I do it quite well. I have very strong voice.

Do you know what happens when I get sick? I can usually make it through the first night, doing fairly decent....do you have an inkling of how my second night goes? Right out of the gate, I'm damaged goods. If the sickness isn't completely invading my throat, I may make it through the night. Usually though, the first set is a nightmare...I have no range, and I'm coughing in between every line. Sometimes, by the second set, I "might" come out of it, and limber up, or NOT. There have been nights where I could barely utter a word by the end of the night. And from those nights, I have done damage before, that took me weeks, or even months, to heal the damage. And FWIW, I often hope that if I have to get sick, that it's only on a week that we're not playing, so I'll have a week of recuperation.

Do you now understand why I avoid getting sick at all costs?

[jannieC]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

Do you now understand why I avoid getting sick at all costs?

An observation from the peanut gallery: Being HIV+, Karma has a pretty compelling reason to avoid getting sick too, right? I think his point was that handshaking is small change compared to the thousands of other ways we contract germs from one another.

My "issue" is mosquitoes. Don't get me started on mosquitoes. How are we not all dead from mosquitoes contaminating the world!

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by jannieC

An observation from the peanut gallery: Being HIV+, Karma has a pretty compelling reason to avoid getting sick too, right? I think his point was that handshaking is small change compared to the thousands of other ways we contract germs from one another.

My "issue" is mosquitoes. Don't get me started on mosquitoes. How are we not all dead from mosquitoes contaminating the world!

He does have a compelling reason. And I'm not trying to compare the magnitude of my reason to his. But I still have a valid reason.

Do you know how many men don't wash their hands after they go to the restroom???????????????? Y'all can shake their hands all night. Good luck with that!

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

^^^That's my vote! Honestly, I'm not afraid of handshaking. I avoid it, out of practicality. Okay, I have sang in a band my entire adult life. A cover band. And I'm currently the ONLY lead singer in the band. Okay, we play 4 hours this Friday, AND 4 hours this Saturday. 8 hours of singing, in a 28 hour period. Do you have ANY idea how hard that is to pull off? But I do it. Actually, I do it quite well. I have very strong voice.

Gah! I didn't even consider singing - and I knew you did that.

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

Do you know how many men don't wash their hands after they go to the restroom???????????????? Y'all can shake their hands all night. Good luck with that!

It's true. Sometimes I'll be in the bathroom at work, and you can't see the door from the urinal so anyone coming in or out is to your back. I can hear them not washing their hands after exiting a stall....sometimes I feel compelled to run after and see who it is so I can gossip about it with my coworkers - But then I stop to wash my hands and they get away.

[markolas]

Not really pertinent to the topic at hand, but why do sooo many men have such wimpy handshakes? I don't want a death grip, but gimme a good, firm handshake, or don't bother.

[markolas]

And I agree with KC about the germ thing. This anti-bacterial craze is going to be the death of us all.

[jannieC]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

He does have a compelling reason. And I'm not trying to compare the magnitude of my reason to his. But I still have a valid reason.

Do you know how many men don't wash their hands after they go to the restroom???????????????? Y'all can shake their hands all night. Good luck with that!

Okay so I am all about washing hands after going to the restroom, but if someone is only urinating, what kind of germs are we worried about on their hands. I do know that Hepatitis B can be passed along from fecal matter, even from a healthy person. And again, please don't misunderstand- I wash my hands after number one AND number two! But I do it because I was taught to, not because I have concerns about someone touching their penis.

I also wonder if singers are more prone to throat infections due to the constant strain on the vocal chords.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

Gah! I didn't even consider singing - and I knew you did that.



It's true. Sometimes I'll be in the bathroom at work, and you can't see the door from the urinal so anyone coming in or out is to your back. I can hear them not washing their hands after exiting a stall....sometimes I feel compelled to run after and see who it is so I can gossip about it with my coworkers - But then I stop to wash my hands and they get away.

Over the years, I've just had too many "nightmare weekends". It's conditioned me.....

It is true. If there are 6 guys in the same bathroom as me, odds are that half of them walk out without washing. And yeah, it doesn't make me want to vomit, if they only pee'd. Now if they pooped......BLLLAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH

ARGH, I have a friend, who manages a restaurant. My story isn't pertinent to his job, but, when I see him out at a bar, he ALWAYS leaves the restroom without washing his hands, EVEN WHEN HE COMES OUT OF THE STALL. Now, if he doesn't wash when he's off work, what makes you think he washes at work? Especially if there are no witnesses. Since I witnessed him leaving the stall and not washing, I haven't eaten at his restaurant since!

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by markolas

Not really pertinent to the topic at hand, but why do sooo many men have such wimpy handshakes? I don't want a death grip, but gimme a good, firm handshake, or don't bother.

Maybe they're afraid of seeming too interested in touching another man's hand.

[markolas]

I've decided that I have Hepatitis B even though I have no idea what any of the symptoms are.