Originally Posted by
MumblesBadly
First, you say that what I described is a 'nocebo' pattern. Then you explain how it isn't. I wasn't arguing that you were exhibiting a nocebo pattern. I was suggesting something different that is potentially undiagnosed/categorized: latent nocebo pattern. Meaning, your subconscious mind, which is below the level of what you are consciously aware of, triggers nocebo effects.
What I am proposing is that unlike typical nocebo pattern, you aren't consciously aware of why your mind is tricking you in perceiving side effects, but the anxiety you tend to have about potential side effects triggers you to have them even if you don't consciously know why. If you conscious mind doesn't want to accept that you tend to have phantom side effects (because of super ego needs that they are not psychosomatic), your subconscious mind may be accommodating your super ego by randomly triggering phantom side effects.
The nocebo effect is still what you're mentioning, except you're saying that you think my case is subconscious rather than conscious. But that's still a nocebo effect.
The easier way to think of this is to consider the converse -- the placebo effect, where people feel better simply because they believe they're taking medication. The placebo effect also has a subconscious element to it. The person doesn't necessarily think, "I'm taking medication, so therefore I have to be feeling better", but rather the fact that they are taking what they think is helpful medication convinces their subconscious mind to tell them they're getting better.
There's also randomness involved with the nocebo and placebo effects, where outside factors can cause you to feel better or worse.
For example, some health issues just resolve on their own, and if this automatic resolution coincides with taking a medication, the person is convinced the medication helped them, when it really didn't.
Similarly, sometimes you can get sick at the same time you start a medication for something else, and you blame feeling lousy on the meds.
This actually almost happened to me recently. Some of these H.Pylori supplements are known to cause constipation. I hardly ever get constipation normally. Well, the day BEFORE I tried any of them, I got constipation! Had nothing to do with any of this, it was just a pure coincidence. But if the constipation came a day later, I would have been sure it was the supplements doing it.