I’ve been dealing with hypochondriasis ever since a heart condition scare and cancer scare last summer. That led me into hyperawareness somatic OCD. Now every day I feel like I can’t fully take a deep breath, so I keep trying to, which makes my anxiety worse. Has anyone ever dealt with this? Any tips?

I am really suffering with health anxiety at the minute I am absolutely PETRIFIED of cancer and Im only 17 its draining the life out of me Ive had a cough / cold for two weeks now and ive felt itchy - Has anyone else ever just felt really itchy Im terrified in case I have cancer Im really really petrified I get so scared of death im really frightened SO frightened Im so so scared of the C. Uts scary

Hello, my name is Brittany, and I have been living with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) for as long as I can remember. However, since experiencing a stroke that I believe was a result of chiropractic care, my struggles have intensified and become overwhelmingly exhausting. I have always been acutely aware of my body and its signals, which has led to a heightened sense of worry about potential health complications. Though I’ve always had a tendency to worry, the anxiety that has surged since my stroke feels insurmountable. I’m reaching out in hopes of connecting with others who understand this journey, sharing stories and experiences in the hope that, one day, I might find a way to overcome these challenges or at least discover some relief from the relentless grip of anxiety.

I’ve recently been struggling a lot with OCD. I have had OCD for a long time I just didn’t realize it until more recently. About seven months ago I developed panic attacks one day randomly at work. I thought I was having a heart attack and went to the hospital where they told me it was just a panic attack and I assumed I would snap out and be better within a few days. However it didn’t. Here’s where it gets scary, I was staying at my then boyfriends house while dealing with blurry vision, anxiety attacks everyday, and more (unsure of what was going on). But at some point I saw my bfs (pew pew 🔫) on his table and it sent me into an anxiety attack after sudden thoughts that I was going to hurt myself with it. I begged him to put it away when I’m not looking so I didn’t know where he put it. He did. These thoughts lasted for about four days but began to go away. (I thought that was it and I would be back to normal). Unfortunately though I ended up moving back in with my family when we couldn’t get my panic attacks under control in time for me to get back to work and pay bills. However, coming home brought up a lot of trauma from when I was kid. My anxiety got worse but I didn’t have those thoughts again. About two and half months ago though, I got sick and went to the hospital where they gave me steroid pills and a steroid shot but sent me into some kind of psychiatric event. Ever since then though, I have been suffering from harm OCD, I have had moments of intense anger that I usually have to completely walk away and go on my own because of how intense they are, and it feels like it’s getting worse. Today I felt fine until about and hour and half ago where I started to dwell on the fact that my suicidal thought was influenced by my OCD and at the moment my OCD is at the worst it’s been. This caused me to get suddenly really depressed and I started crying thinking about how I can’t handle this. I then saw a post talking about how suicide rates are high for people with this form of OCD and it made me question if I am mentally strong enough to pull through this. I fear that at times I’m getting worse. I have good days but I have a lot of bad days. Unfortunately this sent me into such a bad panic attack I went over to my nanas crying about how I can’t deal with this. I took a 0.25 mg Xanax which helped calm down the panic attack portion of it but my brain is still uncomfortably active. I guess I just need hope. I’m so saddened by this. It’s like my life took a total 360 in 10 months and got even worse since the steroid shot. Idk what to do about it. I can’t stop the spiral. I talk to two different therapist weekly and start more next week, making it 5 times a week. I feel no improvements…