Health OCD Question

Hi everyone! I used to suffer from Harm OCD and now it has changed gears to Health OCD. Long story short: I felt a pea sized lump on the back of my neck, which I’m presuming is a lymph node. I googled it and google said I had lymphoma. That’s probably the worst thing I could have done. Anyway, I’ve been in mental turmoil ever since and I honestly don’t know how I’m making it through each day. I scheduled an appt with a doctor but that’s not until 3 weeks. Do any of you guys suffer from health OCD? Do you guys have any tips? How do you keep yourself from reeling about this? Thank you so much!!!

Health Concern OCD

Malisimo

Date posted: 1y

I have had health ocd since I was a child. Everything is cancer on google so that doesn't mean anything. A small pea sized lump could literally be anything and to honest doesn't sound like cancer. Lypmhnodes swell for many reasons also if it in the exact location of a lyphnode. I have had this exact fear before, remember you have ocd so that is what you have not cacner. Good luck

dcd29

Date posted: 1y

@Anonymous Thank you so much! That makes me feel so much better. Did you ever get that lymph node checked out? If so, did you get an ultrasound done? I’m having a hard time deciding if I just trust the doctor after she feels it and says it’s fine or if I want to get an ultrasound done for my own peace of mind. OCD has twisted this up for me so much and I feel like I can’t think straight. I know I should trust my doctor after she feels/touches it without needing an additional step of verification but my mind doesn’t want me to believe that her expertise is adequate. It’s a never ending cycle. Sorry for dumping on you.

Malisimo

Date posted: 1y

don't worry about it, trust me I have been there so many times in my life. Again you have ocd, you do not have cancer. Trust your dr. they are not going to ignore an actual possible symptom. That being said it is irrelevant because you have health ocd not cancer. I had hundreds of these is this cancer scares in my life, guess what no cancer. If you actually had cancer you would not be on here asking do I have cancer. You are doing that because you are having an ocd spike. So calm down and recognize what is actually going on. You have health ocd and you are spiking and you are fine.

dcd29

Date posted: 1y

@Malisimo Thank you!! I needed to hear that.

Goldilocks0329

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y

I just want to say I also suffer terribly from Health OCD and have for many years. I know what you’re going through the idle intrusive thoughts as you wait to go to the doctor. You are not your thoughts!

dcd29

Date posted: 1y

@Goldilocks0329 Thank you so much! I keep reminding myself of that but it’s so hard sometimes. Thank you for that! Do you have any other tips to cope?

Goldilocks0329

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y

Honestly I’m going through it right now with you. With medical stuff I like to use the hierarchy of decision making, “is this a medical emergency? Do I need to go to the ER?” If not, “do I need to call the doctor to make an appointment? Or can I just mention it at my next scheduled appointment” if no to all of those then I think is this a real concern or just an intrusive thought? I also always ask myself to ground, what are the facts? What do I know to be true vs what I perceive to be true?

dcd29

Date posted: 1y

@Goldilocks0329 That’s so so so helpful. Thank you for sharing that with me. :) So sorry you’re going through this right now. It’s so hard, but we’ll make it through.

Goldilocks0329

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y

@dcd29 We will-I have full faith. Trust me you’re not alone in this

OCDMedStudent

Date posted: 12w

4th year Med student with Health OCD

You can laugh at the title if you want, it’s objectively pretty funny. Hi guys, this is my first time on this app and I mostly just wanted to see if anyone out there is in the same boat as me or works in health care and is dealing with this. I haven’t told anyone what’s going on. I’m in my 4th year of medical school and In the past year I’ve developed what I think is pretty bad health OCD. Now health anxiety is a really common thing for medical students to have, I know that. It wasn’t until recently that I realized that the constant lymph node checking, self diagnosing & examining and reassurance seeking could have definitely had crossed the line into compulsions. Both my parents are cancer survivors which is what originally made me want to become a doctor but now every single physical sensation I have sends me into hours or days of rumination that I or someone I love has stage 4 terminal cancer. I spent an entire vacation with my boyfriend having a silent panic attack and convincing myself that he was dying of pancreatic cancer when he just had food poisoning and was fine days later. I had a complete mental breakdown and told myself I had lymphoma for weeks when I realized I could feel some of my own perfectly normal lymph nodes in my neck. My logical brain knows this is completely ridiculous but the emotional brain will not shut the hell up. It seems cruel that I made it this far only to feel like my own damn brain is betraying my ability to think through health situations clearly. I’m determined to get my symptoms under control before I graduate in a year as I don’t want this to affect patient care. Just wanted to get this off my chest and see if anyone else out there in health care is struggling too.

Erin Causey

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 9w

Health ocd

Hey, everyone! Really struggling with my health ocd, again :/ I am stuck on the fear of a brain tumor as I have been having tension (I think) headaches lately. (Which I’m sure my anxiety is making worse due to holding my body tight). I am just feeling quite discouraged and could use some encouragement.

pdwyer79

Date posted: 6w

New here

Hey there, Im recently diagnosed with ocd and working with a therapist. My thing is I get focused on how I’m feeling. If I get a headache it freaks me out, I could be congested from allergies and it can spin me out, like what if it’s something more serious, it could be any body sensation that causes me to ruminate. Health ocd? Somatic ocd? Anyone have this? Any tips? Thanks!

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