- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
I had a spot on mine and had an emergency room dr, a urologist and a dermatologist both evaluate to rule out cancer. duh, of course it was just a regular old spot. I know I shouldnt have sought this reassurance but I was going through Paxil withdrawals at the time and very vulnerable. during that same time I also asked for and received a full heart evaluation including echo and nuclear stress test because I worried I damaged my heart from hormone therapy
- Date posted
- 5y
I’ve had a myriad of health anxiety periods. I found that the best thing to do is to distract yourself, especially when you feel the anxiety worsening. Try doing something that can get your mind on something else, something to really engage you.
- Date posted
- 5y
I do this thing where I essentially give it a week (or however long may be practical given the circumstances.) If I notice something on a Sunday, I tell myself I can call and make a doctors appointment on the following Sunday. Usually by the time the week has passed, the problem has resolved itself or I’m no longer concerned about it enough to want to go to the doctor. I also will try and plan stuff with friends for the day I said I’d call for an appointment, so that I don’t get as much of a chance to call.
- Date posted
- 5y
That’s good advice. I’m doing well fighting the urge to compulse (check it, look up info and pictures to compare) but that urge to want to know is so strong lol
- Date posted
- 5y
I find that being in public places surrounded by others helps remove my mind from the situation. I'll get in the car and drive to a place, grab coffee (decaf) and just people watch
- Date posted
- 5y
That’s smart, I find I feel the same to be honest. You feel more like a normal human that way.
- Date posted
- 5y
right! my house is not my friend when I'm in a cycle. it's like being home makes it harder to resist.
- Date posted
- 5y
Thank you guys. You’re right..interaction helps. I’m struggling with whether or not I should go to the doctor or not for it...
Related posts
- Date posted
- 24w
I’ve been feeling the urge to avoid intimacy or purposefully engage (for reassurance that I won’t give into a compulsion) because of intrusive thoughts and fear that I’ll “check/test” my reactions. My OCD is making me so scared that I’ll purposefully think of a child and try to see if I like it. It’s so complicated but I guess I’m mentally checking if I would mentally check during intimacy. I’ve even envisioned myself checking and it’s making me so nauseous. I know it’s a compulsion like any other but the sound of “touching yourself to the thought of a child” sounds atrocious and vile. I’m terrified I’ll automatically start checking next time I am being intimate. I truly feel so worried. If anyone has gone through something similar, I’d appreciate hearing your experience. Or if anyone has any advice?
- Harm OCD
- POCD
- Students with OCD
- Mid-life adults with OCD
- Older adults with OCD
- Young adults with OCD
- Real Events OCD
- "Pure" OCD
- Date posted
- 23w
It started when I became an adult, and started receiving my mental health diagnosis. I hyper fixated on each and every action I did and how it could be related to my diagnosis’s. It then lead to fixation to my physical health — making appointments and seeing every specialist I can to rule out every possibility. I currently have been suffering with obstructive sleep. I woke up the past few days with severe pain from the lack of sleep whilst believing I was oversleeping. Luckily my fit watch tracks my sleep cycle and it turns out I am not receiving any sleep. I had an extreme panic attack — bursting into tears on the phone with my mom wondering what this case might be. She told me it could be sleep apnea and that a simple sleep study could figure this out. However, knowing my family history I made appointments to every specialist I can to make sure it is nothing serious. The unknown of health can be scary to me. Watching my mother suffer with her physical health chronically since I was a child lead me to be very conscious and aware of how my body is functioning. This morning was one of the worst moments of physical pain. I should just take one step at a time with the sleep doctor instead of taking measures to see every specialist that could pertain with this issue. However, that is very hard to me. I don’t want to ever wake up in the pain I was this morning. Does anyone else suffer with health-related OCD? And if so, how do you find a sense of ease during moments like I expressed?
- Date posted
- 21w
I started dealing with OCD when I became fixated on health issues, particularly the fear of contracting a life-threatening disease. If I experienced any kind of medical symptom, no matter how small, that even remotely hinted at something potentially fatal, it would drive me crazy, and I couldn’t stop obsessing over it. Then one day, I started having intrusive thoughts about accidentally hitting someone with my car, and I would end up driving in circles to check if I had. Eventually, I found myself overwhelmed by a flood of new obsessive thoughts and compulsions. One day, while I was at the park, a squirrel came near me, and for some reason, I felt like it attacked me. I Googled it and learned that squirrels could carry rabies, which spiraled me into a deep fear of rabies. I became consumed with the thought I received a bite from a squirrel, raccoon, or bat any time I’m in areas that trigger me. It started off only being inside then transferred to even being in my own home. This made me obsess over every physical sensation in my body, compulsively checking to make sure nothing was wrong. One compulsion that I hated the most would to be putting rubbing alcohol on me to make sure that I had no open wounds. Every day feels like I’m walking around in a fog of anxiety, constantly worrying that I won’t even make it to old age. Sometimes, it gets so overwhelming that I just want it all to end. It stresses me so bad at times to where my brain feels like I’ve been studying all day.
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