Imaginary diseases, allergies, and conditions

In My Humble Opinion
1

Chinese restaurant syndrome is a favorite of mine. My cousin refuses to eat Chinese food because she’s “hypersensitive to MSG,” yet she chows on processed foods all day (which are often loaded with MSG).

How about some people who claim to be allergic to wool? Medical experts agree that, although wool often feels “prickly,” cases of true allergic reactions have been exceedingly rare (if not non-existent).

And then there’s what I call “behavioral diseases,” which include ADD and alcoholism. But this is a touchy subject and probably better left to GD.

What are your favorite imaginary diseases?

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First of all, I would say that none of the conditions that you mention in the OP are imaginary. It is possible for people to imagine that they have them when they don’t, but they do exist.

If you read the page you linked on wool allergy, you would see that while allergy to wool itself is extremely rare, it is possible to be allergic to lanolin (wool alcohol). I know because I have this allergy. I always reacted very badly to wool, but was constantly told, “Oh, you’re not really allergic, it just feels itchy.” Then one day I used some skin lotion that contained lanolin, and got a horrible rash. Now I tell people that I can’t wear wool bec

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Now I tell people that I can’t wear wool because I’m allergic to lanolin, and I don’t get the rolleyes.

My favorite truly imaginery disease is allergy to Retinax, which features prominently in my favorite movie, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and requires Captain Kirk to wear reading glasses.

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this post has been Graped by the Grapist!

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I lived in an apartment next door to a lady who had environmental illness. Basically, every fragrance/fume would make her ‘sick for days.’ When we moved in she came over, introduced herself, and asked us to please use all natural cleaning products if we could. She also asked us to give her some notice if we were going to clean with ‘harsh chemicals’ (Windex, being a harsh chemical by her standards) so that she could lock up all her windows and leave the house. At first, we complied and told her in advance every time we were going to mop the floor, clean the bathroom, have a barbecue on the deck…but after while it was just too much hassle. That’s when I noticed that when I did use my ‘harsh chemical’ cleaning products, nothing happened and as long as she was unaware (and as long as I wasn’t using industrial strength oven cleaner or anything like that). I think it was more in her head than anything else.
My sister has ADD and has been on medication for it since she was in second grade. I don’t think its made up, I think she really does have a learning disability, but I think that the treatment for it is all wrong. I mean, she’s 18 now, finished with high school, not working, not going to college and still on the drugs! It’s sad though, because she’s a smart kid but has been isolated by her ‘disablilty’ for her entire education…

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My sister was just telling me the other day about AOD - Authority Opposition Disorder.

…so you’re telling me that he doesn’t like to be told what to do? Hey, I know some people who have that!

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I had a short-lived assistant with so-called "environmental illness.’ The list of things she claimed she couldn’t do was damn near everything. She claimed about having to use the copy/fax machine and computer printer because the chemicals made her sick. Often she would have to leave when customers came in because the smell of their soap, shampoo, perfume, etc. made her sick. I had her open a box of signs once. She staggered back and claimed the plastic was making her sick. I pointed out they were METAL signs. “Oh, it must be the paint.”

She complained once cause I was eating a chocolate bar and drinking coffee. “The smell of the combination is making me sick.” I had a package with some CDS delivered. The plasic made her sick.

She got sacked when I caught her printing out gay male porn off the Internetfrom my computer. She claimed I “forced” her to do it. That is wrong on very many levels.

I’ve since read some about “environmental illness.” Is it for real, and how do people live with it?

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Link to Pit thread: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=182632

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I was sitting in a restaurant with a guy who went to great pains to ask very thoroughly whether or not the food he was ordering contained any hidden onions. He said, “I’m very allergic to onions, and if I eat any, I’ll end up in the Emergency Room.”

OK. I know people who don’t like onions, but going into anaphylactic shock?

I didn’t buy it, but who knows. . . .

10

My mother has experienced “Chinese restaurant syndrome” for the past 20 years. It’s not just limited to Chinese food; cheetos, chicken broth, trail mix…any exposure to MSG is enough to send her to bed for 4-5 days with intense headaches (worse than migraines) and nausea. Most restaurant managers and waitstaff know what MSG is, so she can still go out to eat; she just has to be extremely careful. Finding MSG listed on the labels of processed foods is rather difficult; often it’s listed as “natural flavoring” or “seasoning.”

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Just becuase you don’t have it doesn’t make it imaginary. I’m also allergic to MSG. My hands swell so much that I can’t even make a fist. Plus I tend to have excessive thirst. We had to stop going to our favorite Chinese restaurant because they used MSG. I even tested the allergy by going to an Asian market and buying some MSG, which anyone can do, and putting it on foods that I eat normally. Same reaction as always- swollen hands.

And [link=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/onionfree/]onion [/link]allergies do exist.

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I have a friend who is deathly allergic to shellfish - he’ll get red and itchy if he pets a cat that is fed with catfood containing shrimp…and has had to be rushed to the hospital after eating food that had been fried in oil that had also been used to fry popcorn shrimp.

I thought he was exaggerating at first, until I saw the cat effect happen - he had played with our cats before, but my mother-in-law’s cat turned his skin red almost on contact. Sure enough, the cat was being fed seafood-flavor catfood.

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What I think ** Crafter_Man ** was refering too is people who think they are sensitive to MSG, like his cousin, and refuse eat Chinese food; but they eat MSG in other context and are perfectly fine. Now, some people are in fact sensitive to MSG, and are affected by both Chinese food, and other foods that contain MSG. That really really suck, because MSG is really yummy.

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A friend of mine had banana waffles at a cafe for breakfast. During breakfast, he got a headache. He said "The waffles must have MSG in them. " Riiiiight.

He also now is “lactose intolerant.” Maybe it’s true, maybe it isn’t; my guess is he just wants an excuse to be picky.

BTW, folks who are allergic to MSG, do keep in mind that MSG occurs naturally in meats. Smaller concentrations than found in, say, Doritos, but if you’re super sensitive, you should probably go vegitarian.

Oh, yes. I knew a woman who had celiac sprue, or so she told everyone. Celiac sprue is an allergy to gluten, which is in wheat, rye, barley, oats, triticale, etc. She started experiencing symptoms, as I remember it, after getting married. Her husband had to go to great lengths to take care of her, including driving home on his lunch hour to prepare gluten-free meals for her. (Hmm…) The husband wanted to travel, but they of course couldn’t because of her restricted diet. (Hmmm…) Interestingly, most of the symptoms are subjective (various aches and pains that I won’t list here) but two of them aren’t: Abnormal appearance of the teeth and weight loss. She didn’t show either of these symptoms, but claimed all the rest. (Hmmmmm…) They made every effort to totally eliminate gluten from her diet to no avial. (Gluten is unlisted in all sorts of things, it’s hard to avoid) After several years of this, the husband arranged a consultation with another doc. He proposed a test to see if it was truly celiac sprue; basically a double-blind test to see if her reporting of symptoms would correlate with when she was being fed gluten. She flat-out refused to take the test. (Hmmmmmmmmm…) Finally, after much wrangling (I’m assuming the husband grew a spine) she agreed to it…and guess what? Her supposed symptoms didn’t correlate at all with her intake of gluten.

I believe after that she “got better” and didn’t have to worry about it anymore. Talk about being a professional victim I’m personally amazed that marriage is still together.

I heard (sorry, don’t have a cite for this) that the symptoms that in the past were diagnosed as hypochondria are the exact same ones that the “environmental illness” folks claim as symptoms. Take the “environ” part out and it’s more accurate, imho.

I was once asked by a roommate not to use my asthma medication in the room, because he didn’t want to be near the chemicals. I told him I’d comply, but what I really wanted to say was “Oh, I’ll just make sure my chronic life threatening condition doesn’t trigger your imaginary syndrome, you f*ckwit.”

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Yep, it happens.

It’s rare, I would think, but it happens.

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Coeliac disease and gluten intolerance most definitely do exist and are in no way imaginary. And as for it being too hard to avoid gluten, horse hockey. If you’ve really got the condition, then avoiding gluten becomes simple because the alternative is far worse. We travel, we eat and we just deal with a GF life and it is no BFD.

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Trusting that the comments on alcoholism and ADHD are being taken care of properly in the Pit…

There is an interesting phenomenon known as a Functional Somatic Syndrome. These are constellations of vague symptoms–fatigue, headache, muscle pain, etc.–with no known, definite, confirmable underlying cause. A person hears about one of these syndromes and thinks, “You know, I have been tired lately, and I did have a headache a while back. I might have that.” Knowing what the syndrome is makes them more aware of these subjective symtoms, which convinces them further that they have the syndrome. It’s a positive feedback cycle. This has been seen with such syndromes as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, Gulf War syndrome, the side effects from silicone breast implants, and irritable bowel syndrome, to name a few.

Two crucial points:
1.) Just because something can be latched on to as an FSS doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist as a genuine syndrome with an organic cause. I have heard of people developing what they believe to be mono in this fashion (though it doesn’t resemble actual mono very closely) and becoming quite ill without having ever been near an Epstein-Barr virion; that in no way invalidates the existence of mononucleosis as an illness. I have seen people become nearly bedridden by subjective symptoms that they are certain can be blamed on hypothyroidism, despite years of perfectly normal tests.

Sometimes the syndrome itself is fictional–for instance, there is no evidence behind any significant side effects from silicone implants. Most of the time, the syndromes themselves are controversial as to whether they have a definite cause or if they are simply labels.

2.) You can’t blow something like this off with “it’s all in your head”. What’s the difference between hurting and thinking you hurt? Or being tired and thinking you’re tired? Not very much. The brain does control the body, so if your brain is convinced that you have irritable bowel syndrome or multiple chemical sensitivity, it can generate (or greatly magnify) appropriate symptoms. The patient is not lying, or trying to justify anything, or being dishonest at all.

This is a fascinating idea that I see manifested all the time, even in patients with definite pathology. I’d love to do a study in which I compared people with thyroid disease who know what the symptoms are, those who have no idea, and those who are told completely incorrect symptoms. Then I’d study the same subgroups in people with perfectly normal thyroids who are TOLD they have thyroid disease.

Oh, and IgA endomesial antibodies are a pretty good test for celiac sprue; if I were that woman’s husband, I’d be getting one of those ordered up. :slight_smile:

Dr. J

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I have irritable bowel syndrome, and tend to have symptoms when I’m under a lot of stress. There is nothing physically wrong with my digestive tract, yet I have painful cramping and Godawful diarrhea. However, when I do some relaxation exercises and take an antidepressant, the symptoms go away.

Is it imaginary? Well, the cause is psychosomatic. Stress=IBS. And if I can get rid of some of the stress through relaxation exercises and medication, then the symptoms go away and my system tends to regulate itself a little better.

The thing is, the symptoms themselves are real. I do cramp, and I do get diarrhea, and those have been objectively observed. So there is a physical component that can be objectively studied.

I think what Crafter_Man was trying to bring up (albeit in a clumsy and somewhat insensitive way) was psychosomatic illness, or the FSS that Dr. J was talking about.

Robin

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I don’t think Sengkelat was denying that those conditions exist. S/he just happened to know of a specific person who claimed to have celiac sprue, and did not. If I read the anecdote correctly, even a total ban on gluten didn’t alleviate the woman’s “symptoms”. So what she had was imaginary symptoms of a genuine condition.

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That’s not logical. They used to diagnose a lot of things inaccurately because they didn’t know what the diseases really were about. How many non-imaginary diseases that we know about now used to be diagnosed as “hysteria” or “dyspepsia?” Hell, if I lived 100 years ago, my acid reflux would have been called dyspepsia or I would have been told that I brought it on myself from reading too much. So the fact that they used to call environmental illness “hypochondria” is irrelevant.