COVID-19 Is Turning Many of Us into Hypochondriacs.

[MineralMan]

Including myself. I woke up this morning feeling hot. Never mind that I was sleeping in a nice warm bed and that my house is heated to 68 degrees to keep the sub-zero outdoor temps at bay.

Do I have COVID? That was my first thought. So, I got up, went into the bathroom and took my temperature - again. I've already run the battery down on one thermometer and had to buy another. Nope. No fever. Just my usual normal temperature. Relief.

Of course, an hour later, I had to take the dogs out to do their business, in that same below-zero weather. So, my nose started running from the cold. That happens every time I go out with the dogs. But, do I have COVID? That thought occurs to me every time my nose starts running.

I'm not a hypochondriac. Nope. But, COVID has me second-guessing several times a day. Why did I sneeze? Why do I feel hot, or chilly or whatever?

I suspect that a lot of us are experiencing the same uneasiness and concern.

[The Magistrate]

1. True, Sir

The times doth make hypochondriacs of us all.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. Not me. I have always been extraordinarily healthy,

and I still see myself that way.

I've been vaccinated and boosted, so I'm not simply depending on my immune system.

Honestly over-focussing on your health and trivial symptoms, is silly. I have allergies, so my nose constantly runs. For me, that's a normal part of my condition, just like your nose running when going out in the cold. Changes in usual symptoms, now that's something else. But even then, as serious as Covid is, the majority of things people get sick with are still not Covid.

[MineralMan]

4. Of course it's silly. I feel silly.

And yet...

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

12. Perhaps limit your reading or watching about Covid

to 15 minutes a day.

Turn off the news channels and read a good book. Or watch a good movie or TV series.

I think that among the reasons I don't freak out about things is that I don't have a regular TV, although I watch my share via streaming services or live streaming. But it's only on when I'm sitting in front of this computer and actually watching.

Real hypochondriacs will spend a lot of time actually researching diseases, convincing themselves that they have whatever. You clearly are not doing that, but still, moving your focus to other things would be helpful.

[MineralMan]

19. Well, it doesn't really concern me that much.

It's just interesting.

[BlackSkimmer]

15. I'm the same way. In fact, I don't take my temp until I already KNOW I have a fever.

Last edited Mon Jan 10, 2022, 01:59 PM - Edit history (1)

When I had Covid in August 2020, I knew something was wrong within half an hour of getting up. I was so chilled I went outside in the August heat of a North Carolina day. Couldn’t get warm. Splitting headache.

Went back to bed, unheard of for me and woke burning up. That’s when I took my temp. 103 and climbing.

God it was awful. But I won’t worry about it until, or if, it happens again.

[Historic NY]

3. I have a relative that spent 23 dollars for a Covid test kit...

because she had diarrhea. When she told me she has stew and made gravy and no other symptoms, I had to withhold laughing. The Rx tried to tell her. Meanwhile, she is out trying to get free test kits and I now find out is hording masks. This has just made her worse, and she is a hypochondriac.

[Walleye]

5. Me too. I'm highly suggestible. Being isolated from supportive friends makes it worse

[luvs2sing]

6. I'm kind of the opposite.

Because I have asthma and allergies and tend to get a sinus infection every winter and bronchitis/pharyngitis every fall and spring, I assume everything is my normal crud unless it acts differently. Having a fever would count as differently since I usually don’t get fevers with any of this stuff. Hubster and I are also very locked down and wear N95s whenever we are out, so our exposure is relatively low. You would think I wouldn’t have had any of my usual illnesses, but they have shown up right on cue throughout the pandemic. Some days I feel like I’m almost always having mild symptoms and wonder if I should test daily.

[dewsgirl]

7. Every time I have the smallest symptom, I'm like oh no here

we go. I've managed to get to this point without even needing a test and not having Covid. But I think I may have it all the time or my SO has it, if one of us gets it the other one will have it. I feel like a huge hypochondriac, you are not alone.

[MineralMan]

9. Yeah, that's what I thought.

It's got us all a little on edge, I think.

[Ms. Toad]

8. I know when I'm sick v. not sick.

I can easily distinguish between cold, flu, and a flare up of c diff.

What I don't know when I'm sick is whether that sickness is COVID - which can have characteristics of each.

[lindysalsagal]

10. Try being post-menopausal, and getting random hot flashes 24/7

So.Much.Fun.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. Personal moments of summer,

as a friend of mine called them.

[lindysalsagal]

29. OK! Like it!

[MineralMan]

20. I'm afraid I have the wrong parts for that.

My wife, however, was lucky, and had very few symptoms at all as she passed through menopause and beyond.

[Raven]

11. I was the same way and had good reason to worry given some underlying conditions. What i realized

during this spike is that the more careful I am, the less I worry. So, I limit my exposure as much as possible which has not been easy since I can now get nowhere near as close to my son and granddaughter as I'd like to, but it seems to be a small sacrifice given the alternative.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. I Had A Bad Cold

One of the worst colds I ever had.
If anyone thinks I wasn't thinking COVID the whole time, they're kidding themselves.
But, I tested negative twice (admittedly antigen tests) & doc said drainage looked clear, so she went with bad cold.
But, the whole 2 weeks my mind went to "I wonder if this is COVID.". Over & over.

[EYESORE 9001]

17. I had a cold early last month

just prior to a trip to NYC. The news was crackling with speculation over the omicron variant, which hadn’t been detected in NYC yet. I took a test, which was negative, and proceeded on the trip, reminded constantly of the COVID-19 spectre with each post-nasal drip and pop within my middle ear on the right side, which was still pressurized to 30,000 ft from the plane ride.

[ProfessorGAC]

18. Feeling Your Pain

I didn't have to fly or anything. (Did enough of that while working. Minimum 1,200 plane rides.)
But, the nasal drip, both ways, was brutal! Had a fever, but I read that more than 70% of cold sufferers have a low grade fever.
Didn't have the ear popping, but my head felt like I was underwater for 8 or 9 days.

[EYESORE 9001]

21. This cold settled in my bronchial tubes after returning from the trip

which is typical for how bad colds affect me. Even though I’d read that omicron caused more upper-respiratory symptoms, I still wondered whether I’d contracted an earlier variant, going so far as to get tested again after a few days.

[ProfessorGAC]

24. Me, Too

I've had plenty of cases of bronchitis coming from a mild cold.
But, never horrible because as soon as I notice the unproductive cough, I head to the doc, in case it's bacterial. (Which it typically has been.). 5 days on a Z pack & gone, feeling good after a couple days.
Take care!

[Orrex]

16. I would love to be in a position where such symptoms need not concern me

Like you, I know intellectually that my random odd sensation isn't covid, but the anxiety still rises up, and it doesn't matter how many enlightened souls tell me that I'm being silly.

I know it's not a rational fear; that's why it's anxiety. Telling someone not to feel anxiety is like saying "Oh, you slashed your jugular? Just don't bleed. You broke your leg? Walk it off."

I don't make a conscious choice to feel anxious about a symptom, nor can I make a conscious choice not to feel anxious about that symptom. My job puts me in contact with dozens of unmasked people each week, any of whom could be breathing omicron at me. I am of course vaxed, boosted, and double-masked, but it would be irresponsible of me simply to assume that a covid-like symptom isn't covid.

And if I am exposed, then my family is exposed, so the stakes are higher than they would be if I were a young single guy living alone.


Don't beat yourself up about second-guessing yourself. It's an entirely natural response to a years-long pandemic in which society, corporations, and government are concerned chiefly with maintaining the economy, leaving the individual more or less on their own.

[MineralMan]

26. It's not really much of a problem.

I felt warm, so I took my temperature. Normal, so no anxiety about it. Same thing with other symptoms, like a runny nose after being outside in 0 degree weather. I just think about it a little and realize that it's a normal reaction.

However, as you said, we're really aware of such things right now, when we normally would not be. What amazes me is how many of our friends don't even own a digital thermometer. One of my wife's friends texts her about whatever minor symptom she's feeling. My wife says to that friend, "What's your temperature?" She says, "I don't have a thermometer." My wife says, "You should get one." But, her friend never does. I can't imagine that, actually.

I'm fully vaxxed and boosted, too, and I'm masked whenever I'm out. I try to avoid crowds, so I shop at off hours. Still, I'm 76 years old, and would rather not get COVID at all. So far, after a couple of years, I haven't. I'm hopeful I never will. But, I'm still always aware of it being out there, so I worry a little when I'm feeling off.

We have some at-home tests. We have a pulse oximeter. We have a thermometer. Why wouldn't we, after all?

[Orrex]

33. Regarding your sadly accurate comment about friends without digital thermometers...

My mother-in-law bought tests but opted not to take them. She's unvaxed, of course, because she's waiting "until they know more about it."

After extensive contact with someone who's covid-positive, she still refused to take the tests that she'd obtained for that purpose. "They're wrong nine times out of ten."

Well, now she's in the hospital with covid.


We'll see.

[MineralMan]

34. I hope she recovers quickly.

[Orrex]

35. Thanks--she appears to be on the upswing, so that's good. (nt)

[Mad_Machine76]

22. Same

I do try to do a smell/taste test just to reassure myself if I need to. I haven't really ever felt horrendous, so I'm fairly sure that minor aches and symptoms are likely NOT COVID and that it would probably feel much worse if I did.

[NQAS]

23. I think you're right

I was sick a couple of weeks ago. I really thought it was Covid, and I was right.

While I was getting better, my wife started feeling crappy. We figured that was a no-brainer - I transmitted Covid to her. She got tested. No Covid. Felt better right away.

Go figure.

[Bettie]

25. I had my first cold in two years

and, because the symptoms of Covid are often the same as a cold, I was beyond paranoid.

We ended up getting tested since my husband had been exposed and since it was negative, it was just a cold.

[MineralMan]

27. Yes. People are still catching colds. Imagine that...

[bullwinkle428]

28. Picked up food on Saturday at a restaurant, and thought to myself on

the drive home, "I sure hope nobody in there was positive!"

Putting aside the fact that I've had 3 shots, and was wearing a quality mask inside.

[ananda]

30. I worried when allergy hit.

I mean, I was like 99.9% sure it was an allergy,
but then...

it just went away, so I stopped worrying.

[MineralMan]

31. Yes. I wait, too. I always have.

Most things resolve on their own, it seems. So, I've never panicked about every symptom that shows up. Instead, I wait to see if they'll subside, and they usually do. If not, I visit my clinic and have a pro evaluate them.

That, however, doesn't stop me from worrying while I'm waiting. That seems normal to me. The wait and see approach probably comes from my childhood. My mother didn't rush her kids off to the doctor's office every time we had some symptom or another. She'd wait, take our temperatures, and see what happened. Most of the time, the issue resolved itself. If you had symptoms of a cold, she didn't immediately think you had the flu or someone horrible. No fever, no reason to visit the doctor. Besides, when I was a child, if you went to the doctor, you got a penicillin shot. In those days, the doctor gave you one of those for just about anything, and they hurt like the dickens. We didn't want to go to the doctor because of that alone.

[Tree Lady]

32. So absolutely true!

I have allergies and sneeze if dust or being in room with fire gets to me. I know its that but like you say every time I sneeze I think where have I been lately? Does my mask work? Those bleep bleep people in store without a mask!

Same thing with runny nose and the cold, or this morning woke up with a weird taste in my mouth, which went away after breakfast....sigh...will this end??