I just read Shakespeare’s Tremor and Orwell’s Cough: The Medical Lives of Famous Writers by John J. Ross. IIRC, he said Herman Melville may have had ankylosing spondylitis.
However, Ross didn’t insist on this diagnosis. (He was on much firmer ground when he said the Bronte sisters died of tuberculosis.)
Two now.
I don’t think that was the intent of the gripe. I think it’s a general kvetch about people who think they have a disease based on self-diagnosis and make the people in their lives crazy because their disease somehow gives them the right to be a royal pain in the ass. See BigT’s bullshit, if you need an example.
That crippling leg pain MAY not be your fault!
I hate it when people spondilyze my ankles.
I’ll bet you don’t like giving head either.
Bitch.
WTF? 
I don’t trust bugs nearly as far as I can flick 'em. Read a book that cured me of any desire to visit the tropics or any place that doesn’t get below 0F at least once a winter. OTOH, people with Morgellons are fucking nuts.
It’s a fair cop as it earned me a 90-day suspension for thread shitting, as well as the removal of the SDSAB honorific beneath my name. I asked Tuba to stretch it out a few more months because I kinda liked it. However, inevitably somebody was so wrong on the internet that I petitioned to be reinstated. Ed granted it reluctantly because I had been a massive jerk, so I have been on what passes for my best behavior since. What is inaccurate is that I cannot admit when I am sober that I dislike comic books and lose some respect for adults when I learn they are fans. No, I just can’t do that in Cafe Society.
Okay, we passed over into an Actual Fo’Reals Medical Issue there.
Fortunately, there is an over-the-counter salve for that (Nicolas Cage has used it since Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and if it weren’t for a daily regimen of cream, suppositories, and a 12-Step support group, we wouldn’t have Wicker Man or Ghost Rider).
So that’s what and who we blame? Because I can state, with no need for Dutch Courage, that I can’t stand Nick Cage. And Wicker Man isn’t even based on a comic book!
I don’t know, I haven’t tried it. It doesn’t seem like something I would like, though, being a heterosexual dude and all.
Hmmm, I was assuming you were a fugly slut, my bad.
I just came across your post today and I am angered by it. I do have ankylosing spondylitis and I’ve not heard of anyone self-diagnosing themselves with it. For me AS is an absolute nightmare I wake up every hour from sleep in agony. It feels like a dog has been gnawing on my spine on my better days. This is not a new disease and it isn’t something that’s over-diagnosed. In the 2 years since your post have you actually heard of anyone being hypochondriac and self-diagnosing themselves with this condition? It’s quite hypocritical that one can read such ignorance on a forum dedicated to fighting ignorance. Might be people will read your post and actually think there’s a shred of truth to it. If anything you should be angry with the insurance and pharmaceutical companies for the stranglehold they have on our healthcare system. Have a nice day.
I don’t believe you.
I swear, that “fighting ignorance since…” tagline is like bait for people to come in and post ignorance accusing the Straight Dope of ignorance.
Not knowing of anyone who self-diagnosed with the disease du jour does not mean it does not occur. And the existence of people who self-diagnose with your diagnosed disease du jour does not mean that you have not been diagnosed with the actual disease.
Therefore, people complaining about self-diagnosis does not affect your own diagnosis. There: ignorance fought.
Which is now much more likely to happen because you bumped a thread that no one had seen in two years.
Nicely done.
Why dubious? Is it the pipe?
I’m not sure if you’d be surprised at how often people have blamed my spouse with spina bifida for his back problems (“you should have taken better care of yourself!”) but it does happen,
My wife blamed me for becoming a diabetic.
One of the reasons we’re separated…
Not even a little bit. Surprised, that is. People are teh dumb.
(Not much better is blaming his mom for not taking folic acid. But I’m sure he’s heard that too.)