Health OCD

Hi there! Stay strong, resist compulsions, this fear state that is happening along with resisting compulsions is the thing that needs to happen to get you better❤️. My mantra, “resist, resist, resist” I promise, it will get better, but right now your brain needs to practice. You’ve got this!

Yes, that’s 100% me! I too think this way sometimes. I cut my skin, then I think “OMG, I’m going to get an infection, then sepsis, and then death…”. Or, someone sneezes next to me, I think “COVID-19!!”. The best thing is to learn to live with uncertainty and say, hey maybe I do die. That’s awful I know but at the same time, reminding yourself of your mortality can ground yourself in reality. Look up Stoicism. Life is too short to be living in an OCD bubble. I’d rather live a life where I take risks and die a happy, fulfilled life than die consumed by my own fears. Disclaimer: don’t ignore life threatening symptoms either. Any chest pain should be taken seriously. But that’s why you gotta look for the proper help. If in doubt, try your coping skills first for the panic attack. Does the pain go away after distraction yourself? Most likely a panic attack. Does it get worse with exertion. Cardiac until proven otherwise.

Hey friend, For now since you are such high anxeity, I would try maybe some breathing exercises to calm you down! There are plenty of tutorials on youtube!

Keep using ERP skills, you got this.💛

I cannot say with certainty, but I’m a speech therapist and people aspirate small amount of liquids all the time. The lungs just compensate and get rid of it. I treat swallowing disorders and it typically only develops into pneumonia if it’s a very large amount and/or the person is very immunocompromised and immobile. I see it all the time. The fact that you were coughing, means your body was doing a great job protecting itself from getting anything in your airway. I know with OCD, reassurance is bad and although I cannot give you 100% certainty that you are fine (which is with anything)…my clinical expertise says based on what you’ve described, you didn’t do anything harmful

It depends on their muscles and how much the Alzheimer’s has affected their ability to complete exercises to improve their swallowing. I’ve seen patients be able to improve their swallowing, but with dementia, it typically continues to decline as it’s a progressive disease. Memory, muscle strength, and coordination all have to work well for safe swallowing- with dementia, it’s common for swallowing to be affected (but not always)