dh thinks he is seriously ill

josiejump · 2003-10-04T15:46:00+00:00

dh has been to the doctor (3 times now) complaining of chest pains. Doctor has said that it is muscular, to take pain killers and has changed his medication for his high blood pressure ( he is now on beta-blockers ). He says that he feels tired a lot, that all his muscles ache and he has this almost constant pain in and around his chest and shoulders. He is a terrible worrier and has convinced himself that he has angina, despite being given an ECG and reassured that his heart is fine. Nothing I say to him seems to make any difference but he constantly talks about it, and when not talking about it, is looking up medical conditions on the net. This has been going on for at least a month now,possibly longer. What on earth can I ( or anyone else) for that matter, do to stop this? Or have I got it wrong and he is really ill? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

lilibet · 04/10/2003 17:07

Sorry to hear that he is worried. Get him to go back to the doctor and find out exactly which muscles. I suffer from something called costacontritis, which is when the costal muscles, which are the ones around the ribcage contract mainly in times of stress. Its very painful and can feel like angina as it obviously makes your chest feel tight, I was also conviced for a while that that was what I had, but have had all the tests and x rays to rule it out and I also have a very healthy heart. Its not life threatening although it does feel like it.
If it is this and either of you want to e mail me feel free.
And don't look up illnesses on the net or in medical books! If I do I always develop them within a few days anyway

lilibet · 04/10/2003 17:07

Sorry to hear that he is worried. Get him to go back to the doctor and find out exactly which muscles. I suffer from something called costacontritis, which is when the costal muscles, which are the ones around the ribcage contract mainly in times of stress. Its very painful and can feel like angina as it obviously makes your chest feel tight, I was also conviced for a while that that was what I had, but have had all the tests and x rays to rule it out and I also have a very healthy heart. Its not life threatening although it does feel like it.
If it is this and either of you want to e mail me feel free.
And don't look up illnesses on the net or in medical books! If I do I always develop them within a few days anyway

Original poster

josiejump · 04/10/2003 17:13

Thanks lilibet. He says its his pec muscles and the doctor thought he'd been overdoing it on the rowing machine. However, it certainly does seem to be stress related as he says its worse during the week than on weekends, and after the ecg when told he was ok, it went away!

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Original poster

josiejump · 04/10/2003 17:13

Thanks lilibet. He says its his pec muscles and the doctor thought he'd been overdoing it on the rowing machine. However, it certainly does seem to be stress related as he says its worse during the week than on weekends, and after the ecg when told he was ok, it went away!

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Original poster

josiejump · 04/10/2003 17:13

Thanks lilibet. He says its his pec muscles and the doctor thought he'd been overdoing it on the rowing machine. However, it certainly does seem to be stress related as he says its worse during the week than on weekends, and after the ecg when told he was ok, it went away!

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Original poster

josiejump · 04/10/2003 17:28

Stress obviously getting to me- sorry about triple message!

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judetheobscure · 04/10/2003 20:42

Can he get a second opinion? Or go for a general medical check-up such as BUPA and PPP offer? Not cheap but might be worth it for the peace of mind.

Original poster

josiejump · 04/10/2003 21:38

Yes, he has managed to persuade the doctor to refer him to a cardiologist under his Bupa scheme,and has an appointment on Weds, so hopefully things will become clearer then.

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robinw · 05/10/2003 06:06

message withdrawn

Lilysmum · 07/10/2003 12:57

Sounds like it is anxiety and stress related....

CountessDracula · 07/10/2003 13:08

josiejump is he prone to being a hypochondriac or is this the first time? When I met my dh he hadn't been to the doc or dentist for 10 years and was convinced he had heart problems, a brain tumour and cancer of the spine (?!)

Obviously he has none of these, but over the past 14 years that we have been together he has had

MRI as he thought he had MS (tingling in his leg)
Colonoscopy as he thought he had bowel cancer (fair enough his mum has it so logical fear)
Endoscopy as he thought he had an ulcer
ECG because he had chest pains
Numerous blood tests for random symptoms

God I could go on for ever.

What I am trying to say is that men are a bit like that! I just try and sound sympathetic whenever new "symptoms" appear and encourage him to get them checked out so that he can allay his fears.

Original poster

josiejump · 08/10/2003 20:34

CountessDracula, your dh must be related to mine! Yes, he's a dreadful hypochondriac and has been known to take himself off to casualty for ecgs and the like, despite me telling him that he just has a pulled muscle! Anyway, he has seen the consultant today, and as you guys have said, was told that it is mainly stress related, he has been overdoing the work and the exercise and has to remember that he is no longer a spring chicken! He was also told that he has to listen more to me, as it appears that I am more aware than him of when he is trying to do too much ( I think he'll find this little gem of advice a bit tricky however! ). Oh, and he was also told that he must NEVER look up his symptoms on the net.
Now that he has the allclear, we will hopefully be able to chill a bit, as I'm afraid that if he carried on much longer as he was I'd have cheerfully throttled him . Robinw, thanks for tip, I'll try to get him one for Xmas

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