How do I get over this self-inflicted anxiety?

October 23, 2009 4:59 AM

I've got med students' disease. Please hope me.

I looked up a 'symptom' online and have convinced myself that I'm beginning perimenopause at age 36. This freaks me out for a number of reasons, but that's not my question. My question is: how can I convince myself that I'm being irrational?

I'd vaguely noticed over the past few months that my menstrual cycle seemed to be getting shorter, so last month I decided to track it. Turns out that my last cycle was 24 days long. On the basis of this, and my general feeling that my cycle had been getting shorter, Google turned up that this is a very common sign of perimenopause.

The doctor can't test for this, and perimenopause can last for years and years anyway, so there's no real indication of anything. Just as with all things in life, there are no guarantees. So how can I calm myself down? The thing is, it could be perimenopause (I'm young, but it's not unheard of), or it could not be. But I'm freaking out on the basis of a Google search. How do I deal with this self-inflicted case of med students' disease?

posted by different to health & fitness (12 comments total)

A classic case of cyberchondria. If you want reassurance, ask your mother, or other 1st degree female relatives when they went through the menopause. In addition your doctor could actually test for this. You can ask to have your FSH levels tested, and then go for a pelvic scan. Both FSH and antral follicle count have some predictive value for menopause onset. (link)
posted by roofus at 5:13 AM on October 23 [1 favorite]

Thanks, roofus. Yes, I agree that it's classic cyberchondria.

Just to clarify: I'm looking for ways to get over the cyberchondria, not for ways of testing whether or not my cyberchondria is justified (though I appreciate the links). If I am beginning perimenopause, that's neither here nor there in the long run, and there's nothing to be done about it. What I want to do is give myself a reality check over going into a panic because my menstrual cycle is shorter than usual and Google says that is a symptom of something. Because even if Google turns out to be right this time, next time it'll be some other diagnosis that probably isn't correct. I can't panic myself every six months over nothing much.
posted by different at 5:28 AM on October 23

So how can I calm myself down?

I like to keep a list of questions to ask my primary care physician or gynecologist at my next appointment. If something non-urgent but worrying comes up (like, say, if I think my cycle is getting shorter and the Internet says that means perimenopause), I add it to the list. I periodically review the list and take off anything especially silly.

This way, I'm reassured that I won't forget something important, so my medical concerns (serious or silly) don't have to be on my mind all the time. When my appointment rolls around, I can simply print the list and bring it with me.
posted by Meg_Murry at 6:17 AM on October 23 [1 favorite]

Just remember that you aren't special and it is statistically unlikely for you to contract a rare disease or have an unusual medical condition.
posted by Loto at 6:19 AM on October 23

I went through a similar thing trying to figure out sudden changes (and then ended up falling pregnant - oops) and a friend lent me this book: The Change Before the Change: Everything You Need to Know to Stay Healthy in the Decade Before Menopause.

I found just reading about the first hand experiences helped calm fears because everyone seems to be so different when it comes to this in regards to symptoms and timing. I was shocked at how much I didn't know about the cycle itself even.

Also it's not unheard of to go through it early so has roofus suggested you may want to be tested.

Anyway information and test results will help calm your fears. As for google-induced diagnoses - the results are so general in regards to symptoms it really is best to work with a doctor.
posted by gomichild at 6:24 AM on October 23

Is there something else scary or stressful going on in your life that this is a safe distraction from?
posted by prefpara at 6:25 AM on October 23 [1 favorite]

IANYD. But a few things to consider:
* having periods closer together -- while def. a symptom of peri -- is nonetheless also one of the symptoms that a woman is routinely advised to have checked out for other possible causes, even if she's 10 years older than you.
* Perimenopause is kind of a vague term. In some definitions it can last for a decade! If you mean the time right before actual menopause, when you have hot flashes etc, yes it's unusual at 36. But in your mid-30s, your hormones do start shifting. It's a lot harder to conceive in your late 30s, as you know. If you consider this gradual shift the "lead up" to menopause, as some definitions of perimenopause seem to do, then it really isn't a big deal to recognize that you're in the later part of your reproductive years by your late 30s and might be noticing some changes.
* In any case, just ask the MD about it and don't imagine you're prematurely drying up!!
posted by keener_sounds at 6:38 AM on October 23

Take a look at all the *other* possible causes for a shortened cycle; likely it's possible, from acknowledging the multitude of possible causes, that you'll gain some ability to go, "Hang on, it could be any of these things--or something else the google hasn't turned up in its results at all!" I've had a few experiences of googling my symptoms and turning up all sorts of things it turns out I don't have; the net result is that I'll still google my symptoms out of curious habit, but I can't give much attention to what I turn up, because experience has told me it's unlikely to be the true diagnosis.

Also it probably doesn't do any harm that I work in web publishing and know how people work to get stuff rising to the top of Google whether it deserves to be there or not (insert cynicism here), and know that just because something's showing up in the first 2 (or 10, or 1,000) results doesn't mean the author knows a damn thing more about the subject than I do. More likely they're lifting content from a bunch of similarly unqualified article writers, all knotted up in one big incestuous plagiarism-fest and focused only on incorporating words people commonly search on in order to get hits. That articles should include the term 'menopause' in the context of discussions of changes in the menstrual cycle seems like a pretty predictable means of attracting a readership or worried web-searchers and cashing in accordingly. Worth considering too.
posted by springbound at 6:45 AM on October 23

I often find that completely flooding myself with information helps -- and I mean FLOODING myself. Which seems counter-intuitive, because it's stumbling upon information that got you into this mess -- but in my case, when I start to suspect that maybe I have something ("Holyshit, I have PERUVIAN DROPSY!"), I go full-bore on the research about the statistical likelihood of catching it, ALL the disease vectors, the treatment options, the difference between mild and severe cases, the similar symptoms, the history, everything -- to put it into perspective:

"....hey, wait, you only catch Peruvian Dropsy from eating REAL cinnamon. And 90% of what we call "cinnamon" is actually something else. Oh, and hey, you have to have already had reduced liver function to get it, and you know, my liver's doing good....oh, wait, how long does it take before the second stage to show up, and WHAT are the symptoms? Okay, see, yeah, my tongue should have turned orange three days ago, so I'm WELL past the point that I'd be showing signs if it really were Peruvian Dropsy, that's another thing..."

Usually I keep going until I reach a point where I finally get it that the likelihood of me having whatever I think I have is vanishingly small, or that if I DID have what I'm fretting about it would have shown up by now, or that if I do have it it's relatively minor and here's the official action plan: and that usually takes care of it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:47 AM on October 23 [2 favorites]

It might be useful to remember that a symptom can have many causes. To draw a tortuous analogy: Wearing a yellow hat is a common symptom of working on a building site, but that doesn't mean that everyone who wears a yellow hat had better watch out for falling masonry.
posted by cogat at 7:19 AM on October 23 [1 favorite]

Talk to other students about this well-known phenomenon; it will help put it in perspective.
posted by theora55 at 9:47 AM on October 23

I'm looking for ways to get over the cyberchondria, not for ways of testing whether or not my cyberchondria is justified

When I get like this I tell myself that there are lots of smart and talented doctors who dont believe in giving themselves a diagnosis. Im just a layperson. If they cant do it, then I certainly cant. Its called 'being too close to the problem' and comes up in life pretty often and not just in medicine. Having an emotional component in something generally screws that thing up or at least makes it less accurate/irrational.
posted by damn dirty ape at 11:28 AM on October 23