anxiety attack

i’m just getting over a pretty bad anxiety attack. it also started when i was making food and a wave of nausea hit me which of course sent me into a spiral. however i started thinking about how i’ve really neglected actually trying to work through my fear and thoughts over getting sick. because i’m so hyperfocused on getting my harm thoughts to diminish and be gone, i haven’t been doing the same for my contamination. i’ve pretty much diagnosed myself with emetophobia. and i know that’s so unhealthy to do especially as someone who’s not diagnosed with anything, but there’s absolutely no way in hell that i don’t have it. i cannot remember a time where being sick wasn’t on the forefront of my mind. and i do physical compulsions for it, but i never really thought i had intrusive thoughts over it. but when this (and past plural) anxiety attack was happening, my mind was telling me “if you just get sick, you won’t have to worry about it?”. then i took a zofran and am having thoughts of “the nausea will come back and you’ll get sick”. my heart is pounding just thinking about it. over the summer when my harm thoughts got extreme, my emetophobia essentially became a backseat thought. where it was still there but i wasn’t that worried over it. and i wished for it to come back but now that it’s here, i would do anything for it to be gone. i’m so back and forth because at least this anxiety is (mostly) keeping me from getting sick as i do anything and everything i can to prevent it. anyways, i’m so sorry this was so long but i had a lot on my mind that i needed to talk about. so much love to y’all 🫶🏻

Contamination OCD

Username: thebubblyonethebubblyone

Date posted: 30w ago

hey, i'm really sorry you're going through this rough patch with your anxiety and the mix of harm thoughts and emetophobia. it sounds incredibly tough, especially when you're trying to juggle managing both at the same time. sending you so much love and strength right now. 🫶🏻 by the way, have you heard about this new AI-powered OCD therapy tool called "unstuck?" i've been in a similar situation before, and what really helped me was this free AI OCD therapy tool called "unstuck" (unstuckmyocd.com/try) that my NOCD therapist recommended to me. i think it'll be especially helpful for you because it provides personalized step-by-step support for dealing with specific OCD themes, like harm thoughts and contamination fears, just like an OCD therapist would. it's been a game changer for me because it helps navigate through those tough moments when OCD gets really difficult. i hate when people promote stuff, but i really think it can help you because it's changed my life. lmk if you have Qs or just want to talk more! <3

Username: cocchibecocchibe

Date posted: 30w ago

wow! you and me are the same person!!! word for word!! i struggle SO MUCH with emotophia, literally my mind is occupied by it all day everyday. something ive started doing the past week is having a mini toothbrush/toothpick in my mouth. theres mini tooth brushes and toothpicks you can find online. when my anxiety is getting really bad i put one of those in my mouth and chew on it. i tell myself “ i wont get sick”, and i NEVER do. however i still beleive it. i took zofran for 5 days in a row because of the nausea my emetophia anxiety gives me, my doctor told me to stop because your not supposed to take it for a long period of time. i recommend for nausea just trying to sleep. honestly when my nausea is super bad i HAVE to get in bed and just sit there until i fall asleep. i understand thats not always an option for everyone. but if your able to, go lay in bed and take a nap or try to shut down your mind as best as you can. also over the counter anti nausea medicine can help. please keep posting stuff regarding this!! im so happy theres someone out there who is experiening what i am, although its horrible. i hope we can both conquer this!!

Username: flowerpetalsflowerpetals

Date posted: 29w ago

@cocchibe i really appreciate having someone to relate to, thank you so much 🫶🏻 i hope you’re able to find happiness without anxiety

Username: treehugsss

Date posted: 3y ago

Don’t mind me just riding out a massive anxiety attack after a few rough weeks of actual health issues. I have major health anxiety and I’ve had 2 awful asthma attacks recently due to wildfire smoke coming into our area. I hate having asthma because I didn’t know I had it for so long. And I never really know if my shortness of breath is anxiety or asthma 😭😩 It freaks me out whenever I have to get treatment for it because they always run an EKG to make sure my heart is fine. After having COVID last year (then getting the vaccination) one of my new anxieties is developing random blood clots despite being physically healthy. I go on Twitter for the memes then the next second I’ll see someone’s personal story about how someone they knew dropped dead randomly from the shot. It freaks me out so bad. Like what?? I don’t want to stop using Twitter either because I like it and don’t want to avoid any triggers. Back to health, they took an X-ray of my lungs the other day as a part of protocol because I couldn’t breathe that well (because I was having an asthma attack 😩) and it freaked me out so bad. Everything came back clear but my discharge papers said to get my heart checked out just in case. My resting heart rate is generally higher because of anxiety anywhere from 75-85. I hate having health anxiety on top of actual health problems. My doctors tell me I’m healthy despite asthma and allergies. Every day is a battle with health anxiety. Sometimes I can’t even workout because I’m so focused on my heart rate or breathing. Like I’m genuinely convinced I’ll die of a random disease I don’t know I have. AnywAY, health anxiety OCD is something I’ve had since I had my first panic attack. As most of you know that anxiety can manifest itself in so many ways it’s horrifying sometimes. Hopefully I feel better again soon bc this ain’t it chief!! 🥺

Username: Anonymouss

Date posted: 1y ago

Emetophobia

I get anxiety every single time I have a stomach ache and you know how often I have a stomach ache every single day I get anxiety every single day about the same things and even more things but it’s not just that so much things trigger it and I feel so misunderstood like people think oh you have a fear of throwing up well no one like throwing up or get over it but it’s not that simple I’m traumatized like I’d rather do something I absolutely hate than throw up. I literally avoid everything I can’t eat this can do that can’t share. i have to take vitamin c everyday to improve my immune system I don’t like travel because I’m scared of motion sickness I get scared on rides thinking someone will Throw up on me I cant drink even though I’m underage and alcohol is disgusting but still I can’t be around little kids because they have too many germs. I always think I have a fever and I’m constantly checking my temp. I’m constantly feeling my head and my cheeks to make sure they’re not hot. I get scared to go to my cousins house because they are always sick I can’t eat at certain restaurant i have to check dates on food. I can’t wear certain clothes. i have dreams of myself throwing up. When I get intrusive thoughts/ images about me getting sick or someone else. I Literally can not function on certain days from the past I got sick there is so much more how will this ever stop how will I ever be able to function I avoid so much and I literally miss out on so much things because of this like I literally want to shut down in my room and never come out that’s how bad it is. I have this extreme fear of getting sick/ vomiting and OCD has latched onto that fear ever since I was little and I have to do all these compulsions and this is just a list of some of the things I have to do. Anyone else relate?

Username: Elibee

Date posted: 36w ago

Emetophobia

I've struggled with emetophobia my entire life, and when I was in 4th grade I got the stomach flu and was sick one night. It caused me to have severe intrusive thoughts around eating, being around other people, traveling, not being clean enough, and more. Over 16 years I got so much better, and thought I was basically "recovered". I was wrong 🙃 about 2 weeks ago, I got another stomach bug and was sick (threw up) for the first time since 4th grade and I relapsed back to that point. I've lost more than 10 pounds in less than 2 weeks because I have barely been eating, I've been struggling to go back to work, and I can't go 12 hours without having an anxiety attack.

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