[Slacky]

Seems quite a few people have major health scares in their life, I thought I was the only one. So what health concerns have you all had.


I had a brain haemorrhage when I was 28. My dad had one when he was 32 which killed him.

[Slacky]

Being a carpet cleaner doesn’t count.

[Stoots]

I was born with a pulmonary valve stenosis  (narrowing or defect of the heart valve that supplies the lungs with oxygen)

I'm lucky in that I've never need an operation but needs constant monitoring and am unlucky that I almost certainly will  need an operation at some point.

The down side is my grandad on my dad's side died from heart attack at 58, my dad had a heart attack at 53, his sister has just had open heart surgery in her early 60s my younger brother also was born with heart problems and has a pacemaker and valve replacement.

So It's almost a certainty that I will die of heart failure before I'm too old .

At least I know how I'm likely to go!

[Walter Mitty]

I've had a number of health issues though my life, some of them self-inflicted, but I am currently in decent health.
However, I do have an elephant in my living room.
My mother had type 2 diabetes and my only two full siblings both have it.  My uncle (mother's brother) had it too.
I'm overweight and 60 so my clock is ticking.
To possibly stave it off for longer, I suppose I need to lose weight.  A sedentary lifestyle can bring it on sooner, so maybe I have window cleaning to thank for not succumbing already.
Statistically, male offspring of female sufferer has a 40% higher chance of getting diabetes.  This increases about 10% if any siblings have it.  So my odds are about 50-60% of it coming my way.  Hardly a foregone conclusion, but time to start increasing the odds in my favour.  I should have done this before, but wasn't aware of the stats until recently.

[paul alan]

I have been diagnosed with low testosterone and have just put the treatment off again (been doing this for 4 years) as its life long and comes with complications that can be fatal.

I don't feel too bad as I am (I keep telling myself) but it scares the poop out of me. Its basically low dose steroids which is bad for the heart, also low testosterone comes with some nasty diseases so I'm goosed either way.

Also health anxiety (disease of the mind) horrid.

[Stoots]

I have been diagnosed with low testosterone and have just put the treatment off again (been doing this for 4 years) as its life long and comes with complications that can be fatal.

I don't feel too bad as I am (I keep telling myself) but it scares the poop out of me. Its basically low dose steroids which is bad for the heart, also low testosterone comes with some nasty diseases so I'm goosed either way.

Also health anxiety (disease of the mind) horrid.

I went through a stage of health anxiety.

I've always had a history of depression and anxiety anyway but for  a good few years I was really bad. Anxiety and panic attacks can mimic heart attack symptoms. Sweating, cheat pains, nausea etc and because I have a heart problem I was convinced for many a year that I was about to die any minute.

Any type of anxiety is the same, health, social, or just general etc . It's truly a horrible affliction as it's all in the mind but the kind affects the body then the body feeds the mind.

[nathankaye]

What a lovely window cleaning topic of good cheer this is

[dazmond]

atrial fibrillation of the heart....been rushed to hospital twice now(in my early 30s) and they ve done every test you can have for the heart(echocardiogram etc)and couldnt find anything wrong.......not had any episodes in 12 years now....i do look after myself these days though.....

[P @ F]

I have pretty much what Adam has except my heart valve is enlarged not narrowed , it was only found 3 years ago but i have had it since birth and not known it , this is what caused me to have the stroke 3 years ago , small pieces of the valve break off and enter the bloodstream , this is what happened , a piece got lodged in my brain and caused a clot which led to the stroke .
I will need surgery once the valve gets 5mm bigger they reckon .

[swanson]

As Nathan said very cheerful topic
But I think being out in the open window cleaning helps
Good luck to everyone and good health

[robbo333]

I’ve got Coeliac disease which means I can’t eat; wheat, barley, rye or oats. Not that serious in the scheme of things, unless a custie slips me a digestive to have with my tea! 

[Johnny B]

I have to say that I am very fortunate to be have always been in excellent health.

I had a full health check a couple of years ago. I was drinking lots of Lucozade and eating chocolate bars, and peeing a lot too! My wife was worried about me and insisted that I get checked out, particularly for diabetes. The doctor found nothing wrong with me at all (no surprise to me, I felt fine anyway)

I'm 56 next month, still on ladders, and apart from being slow (I pace myself very carefully) if I continue feeling the way I do now I've hopefully got many more years left in me.

John

[Stoots]

I have pretty much what Adam has except my heart valve is enlarged not narrowed , it was only found 3 years ago but i have had it since birth and not known it , this is what caused me to have the stroke 3 years ago , small pieces of the valve break off and enter the bloodstream , this is what happened , a piece got lodged in my brain and caused a clot which led to the stroke .
I will need surgery once the valve gets 5mm bigger they reckon .

That's the problem. A lot of time these don't get picked up at birth and you only find out when it's too late.

My auntie was the same only found 2 years ago and needs a replacement valve.


Mine was found at birth but the problem I have now was only noticed 5 years ago.

At birth I had a heart murmur caused by an atrial septal defect (hole in the heart) however I was discharged at 18 as it had healed over. It wasn't until a panic attack episode a few years ago when they found the valve problem.

Apparently mines moderate which means it's ok but I need a checkup every year as if it leaks much more they would need to operate.

Mines a narrowing and leaking btw the valve doesn't close fully which can cause pressure to build up in the heart chamber which would enlarge the heart and be fatal if eventually.

So yeh good fun

[Lee Pryor]

I suffer with depresion, health anxiety and panic attacks. I go through stages of these being very bad that can last for 6 months to a year at a time then I will be ok for a year or 2 then it comes back. Im about 8 months into the latest episode of this right now. Bad one this time round. No idea what causes it, just have to take each day at a time.  I never said this before on here but it has been a major reason I wanted to grow my business and remove myself from generating the money or running the office.  i didnt want my propblems to damage the business or my income. January was so bad I hardly left the house for a month.

[Slacky]

I suffer with depresion, health anxiety and panic attacks. I go through stages of these being very bad that can last for 6 months to a year at a time then I will be ok for a year or 2 then it comes back. Im about 8 months into the latest episode of this right now. Bad one this time round. No idea what causes it, just have to take each day at a time.  I never said this before on here but it has been a major reason I wanted to grow my business and remove myself from generating the money or running the office.  i didnt want my propblems to damage the business or my income. January was so bad I hardly left the house for a month.

Thats interesting Lee. Thankyou.

Have you had counselling at any time for this? I've had health anxiety issues, quite debilitating in themselves when they were at their worse.

Have these got anything to do with unresolved grief revolving round your fathers premature death?

[jk999]

Had part of my stomach removed .a double hernia opp,an hiatus hernia repair my appendix  out .suffer from stress anxiety depression. Diverticular that lumps on my colon anything else oh yes and I'm asthmatic. But I still keep going not like young teenagers who get sniffles and you don't see them for a month 😁

[Lee Pryor]

I suffer with depresion, health anxiety and panic attacks. I go through stages of these being very bad that can last for 6 months to a year at a time then I will be ok for a year or 2 then it comes back. Im about 8 months into the latest episode of this right now. Bad one this time round. No idea what causes it, just have to take each day at a time.  I never said this before on here but it has been a major reason I wanted to grow my business and remove myself from generating the money or running the office.  i didnt want my propblems to damage the business or my income. January was so bad I hardly left the house for a month.

Thats interesting Lee. Thankyou.

Have you had counselling at any time for this? I've had health anxiety issues, quite debilitating in themselves when they were at their worse.

Have these got anything to do with unresolved grief revolving round your fathers premature death?

When I was in my early 20s a friend of the same age dropped dead one sunday afternoon playing football of a heart attack. After that I became obsessed that something was wrong with me ect. I have a highly strung nature anyway so that and other things, like my dad dying in his early 40s of cancer just sent me into a spiral. Things go through my mind on a daily basis that just wouldnt occur to most people. Such as dropping dead alone at home or thinking about passing out in a que in the supper market and so on.

Over the years I tried counselling, hypnothreapy, ani depressants, cbt, all sorts. Nothing helps. I found that a clean diet, excersie, ect helped better than other things.

[paul alan]

I suffer with depresion, health anxiety and panic attacks. I go through stages of these being very bad that can last for 6 months to a year at a time then I will be ok for a year or 2 then it comes back. Im about 8 months into the latest episode of this right now. Bad one this time round. No idea what causes it, just have to take each day at a time.  I never said this before on here but it has been a major reason I wanted to grow my business and remove myself from generating the money or running the office.  i didnt want my propblems to damage the business or my income. January was so bad I hardly left the house for a month.

Thats interesting Lee. Thankyou.

Have you had counselling at any time for this? I've had health anxiety issues, quite debilitating in themselves when they were at their worse.

Have these got anything to do with unresolved grief revolving round your fathers premature death?

When I was in my early 20s a friend of the same age dropped dead one sunday afternoon playing football of a heart attack. After that I became obsessed that something was wrong with me ect. I have a highly strung nature anyway so that and other things, like my dad dying in his early 40s of cancer just sent me into a spiral. Things go through my mind on a daily basis that just wouldnt occur to most people. Such as dropping dead alone at home or thinking about passing out in a que in the supper market and so on.

Over the years I tried counselling, hypnothreapy, ani depressants, cbt, all sorts. Nothing helps. I found that a clean diet, excersie, ect helped better than other things.

 

What you just wrote sounds like what I go through exactly.

I lie in bed some nights unable to sleep because I can feel my heart beating all over my body. M y mind cant escape from thoughts of something going seriously wrong.

A gym buddy of mine dropped dead 2 years ago aged 43, heart attack. And my dad has myeloma, cancer of the blood.

I research nutrition to seek out the most beneficial nutrients so I can include them in my diet, you should see the green smoothies I have daily along with a super salad every night just to keep health.

I train twice per week now instead of 3 days so I can go kickboxing on Wednesdays for cardio, its also a hobby of mine since childhood and I used to compete in the amateur's.

The health anxiety is flippin horrid, every little pain or lump turns into a deadly disease. I hate it so much it has consumed me at some points.

Lately I have started to come to terms with my mortality and tell myself, one day you will die and its OK. Don't fear it, it wont stop it from happening.

This helps!

[paul alan]

I suffer with depresion, health anxiety and panic attacks. I go through stages of these being very bad that can last for 6 months to a year at a time then I will be ok for a year or 2 then it comes back. Im about 8 months into the latest episode of this right now. Bad one this time round. No idea what causes it, just have to take each day at a time.  I never said this before on here but it has been a major reason I wanted to grow my business and remove myself from generating the money or running the office.  i didnt want my propblems to damage the business or my income. January was so bad I hardly left the house for a month.

Thats interesting Lee. Thankyou.

Have you had counselling at any time for this? I've had health anxiety issues, quite debilitating in themselves when they were at their worse.

Have these got anything to do with unresolved grief revolving round your fathers premature death?

I have had counselling slacky, it doesn't help much!

Its the same as someone telling you not to worry about x, it doesn't stop you from worrying.

It just made me realise that you can only help yourself in these situations. I make these problems in my mind, therefore the solutions to them come from the same place.

Like the great Bruce lee once said " the medicine for my ailments was inside me the whole time"

Another one I like is from the song "little lion man"   " you wasted your whole life , trying to solve the problems you made in your head"      Puts things in perspective a little.

[Slacky]

I suffer with depresion, health anxiety and panic attacks. I go through stages of these being very bad that can last for 6 months to a year at a time then I will be ok for a year or 2 then it comes back. Im about 8 months into the latest episode of this right now. Bad one this time round. No idea what causes it, just have to take each day at a time.  I never said this before on here but it has been a major reason I wanted to grow my business and remove myself from generating the money or running the office.  i didnt want my propblems to damage the business or my income. January was so bad I hardly left the house for a month.

Thats interesting Lee. Thankyou.

Have you had counselling at any time for this? I've had health anxiety issues, quite debilitating in themselves when they were at their worse.

Have these got anything to do with unresolved grief revolving round your fathers premature death?

When I was in my early 20s a friend of the same age dropped dead one sunday afternoon playing football of a heart attack. After that I became obsessed that something was wrong with me ect. I have a highly strung nature anyway so that and other things, like my dad dying in his early 40s of cancer just sent me into a spiral. Things go through my mind on a daily basis that just wouldnt occur to most people. Such as dropping dead alone at home or thinking about passing out in a que in the supper market and so on.

Over the years I tried counselling, hypnothreapy, ani depressants, cbt, all sorts. Nothing helps. I found that a clean diet, excersie, ect helped better than other things.

My father dropped dead one day at the age of 32, when I was 2. He woke up that day, had a brain haemorrhage and was dead before the sun went down. I had a brain haemorrhage, like his, 4 years his junior.

As a result of this, subconsciously, I expect to die any day. I’ve had periods of time, sometimes quite prolonged for months, where the first thought of the day, and it can linger for hours, is “will this be my last day?” 

I’ve had an extended period of counselling for this and other issues and at last I believe I’m getting on top of it. My sister also suffers it, this health anxiety. 

We’re both alcoholics in recovery as well. Coincidentally we both share the same day in the year when we got sober. This March 24th I’ll be 21 years sober and she’ll be 20.

Mental health, I don’t feel ashamed of it anymore, but I used to.