What’s Wrong with Me?: The Frustrated Patient's Guide to Getting an Accurate Diagnosis

247 Pages·2011·0.95 MB·English

by  Dannheisser Lynn M

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What’s Wrong
with Me?
The Frustrated
Patient’s Guide to Getting
an Accurate Diagnosis
LYNN M. DANNHEISSER
AND
JERRY M. ROSENBAUM, M.D.

Copyright © 2005 by Lynn Dannheisser and Jerry Rosenbaum. All rights
reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. Except as permitted
under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database
or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

0-07-1465324

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DOI: 10.1036/0071465324

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For more information about this title, click here
Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v Introduction . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii Authors’ Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Par t 1 Becoming Your Own Medical
Detective 1 The Diagnosis Dilemma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 All About Mystery Maladies: A New Mind-Set . . . . . . . . . . 21
3 The Eight Steps to Self-Diagnosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4 Creating a Proactive Partnership with Your Physician . . . . . 57
5 Medical Detective Work on the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5 Medical Detective Work on the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Par t 2 Diagnosing Your Mystery Malady
6 Are You Tired and Aching All Over? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
7 Is Something You’re Ingesting Making You Sick? . . . . . . . 103
8 Do You Have Mysterious Pelvic Pain? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
9 Is Your Weight Problem Really Diet-Related? . . . . . . . . . . 131
10 Are Your Ways of Staying Healthy Making You Sick? . . . . 149
iii

iv
Contents
11 Do You Have Unexplained Back, Neck, or Joint Pain? . . . 163
12 Could Your Symptoms Be All (or Partly) in
Your Mind? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
13 Does Your Child Have a Mystery Malady? . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Par t 3 Living with Your Mystery Malady
14 Mastering Your Pain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
15 Understanding Your Feelings About Being Sick . . . . . . . . 217
16 Finding Health in Mind and Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Final Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Appendix A: Quick Reference Guide to
the Eight Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
the Eight Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Appendix B: Useful Websites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

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Acknowledgments
I have always felt a deep sense of gratitude to the many teachers and healers who
have been sent into my life—especially Twila Grandchamp; Mar-lene Potter;
Marsha Cohen; Rene Geada, M.D.; Diana Lee; Chesterfield Smith; Sister Jean;
and Shirley B., wherever you are. My medical healers are individually and
collectively acknowledged in Chapter 8 (except Philip R.
Glade, M.D., who began my medical healing many years ago and taught me so
much about both medicine and patient empowerment). However, I want to
specifically acknowledge my coauthor, Jerry Rosenbaum, M.D., who was and
continues to be one of the best doctors I know and the embod-iment of the
practice of medicine as both an art and a science. I can’t thank all of you enough.
With respect to this book, special thanks go to our agent, Natasha Kern, who
“got it” from the moment she saw the proposal and was precisely the right agent
for this project. Many thanks are also due to the editor she recommended, Laura
Conner, who taught me how to make this a better book and worked me to the
bone! I also want to acknowledge Barbara Nichols, our first editor, without
whom this book would have never gotten off the ground in the early days. And
of course, thanks to Michele Pezzuti, our delightful editor at McGraw-Hill, for
her good humor, support, and assistance throughout the process.
On a personal note, I am indebted to a man who does not like public
acknowledgment but who has shown me a love so heavenly it could shush the
stars and has provided unwavering patience, support, and faith in my abilities to
heal and to write. And finally, my love and gratitude to the peren-nial keepers of
my heart, my children: Matthew Reininger, my absolute soul child, and
Samantha Reininger, who, as she frequently reminds me, “made me who I am
today.”
—Lynn M. Dannheisser
v
Copyright © 2005 by Lynn Dannheisser and Jerry Rosenbaum. Click here for
terms of use.
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