Hypochondria

Fear of Deep Vein Thrombosis

February 9, 2012
By Elisa

Every time my leg hurts, I always think the worse: deep vein thrombosis. That is a blood clot that will clog a vein, and that has the risk of dislodging itself from the vein in the leg, travelling up the vein and into your lungs, causing shortness of breath, and in the worst case scenario pulmonary embolism (PE) and possibly death.

It can happen. Just ask Serena Williams.

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Fear of Anaphylactic Shock

April 10, 2011
By Elisa

This is my worst problem right now (panic related of course).

I can’t, for the life of me, eat anything new without suffering the agony of a “possible anaphylactic shock”.

You would think that being 37 years old I have already been exposed to most foods out there, and so the chance of hitting on a new food to which I would be allergic to, would be pretty slim, right? Wrong!

I fear an allergic reaction to most foods that I have not eaten in a while, with the reasoning behind it being that “you can always develop an allergy to any food later on in life“.  Read more »