- Username
- Anonymous
- Date posted
- Yesterday
Anxious ab HIV
I’m anxious about HIV. What if I get it? That’s a scary thought to me. And then I’m scared/worried about giving it to others, not knowing if I have it, etc.
- Username
- AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- Yesterday
Lots of hugs to you. Can I ask you, are you aware of how HIV is contracted? What helps me is exploring the facts of something. My fears are rooted in C-19 because I am a healthcare worker.
- Username
- AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 17h ago
@Anonymous Yeah, I’ve googled lots, but like I accidentally touched trash in the bathroom (at an hiv/std testing clinic) with my sleeve and then what if it got from my sleeve into the cuts on my hands, etc. I might ask about Prep or something even though I feel like it’s silly but I would rather be safe than sorry I guess 😣 I’m sorry you have anxiety about c-19 too ❤️
- Username
- Emmy JayEmmy Jay
- Date posted
- Yesterday
I have this same kind of OCD. Constant intrusive thoughts about if I was careful enough during intimacy, what if I got something I’m unaware of even though used protection and get tested after every partner. What if they lied to Me? It has burdened me so badly in the past to where I stopped dating all together and was bed ridden with fear for weeks on end. My body would create false symptoms to go along with the lies I was telling myself. It was the only thing I could think about for weeks on end. While isolating myself from opportunities for intimacy helped in the moment, I realized isolating myself from love long term wasn’t going to be helpful. What has helped me in the past when Im spiraling over which make believe std I have that day, I get tested to ease my anxiety, even when realistically I know I have been safe. Talk with any potential partners you have about their sexual health status. Go get tested together! Use protection. Remind yourself that even people with hiv live long lives. I have general health anxiety, but I believe the social stigma of shame and embarrassment made up surrounding stds is what makes these OCD thoughts feel so powerful sometimes. Remind yourself you are healthy and here right now, with nothing to be ashamed of.
- Username
- AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 17h ago
@Emmy Jay Thank you for this, and I can relate- the anxiety can be crippling at times 💔
- Username
- r.m.1r.m.1
- Date posted
- Yesterday
You can follow rules AND do ERP to handle this. Before any new partner, you can get tested- it’s simple and easy and recommended. But make that the only action you do (rule) or else you’ll be feeding the ocd with compulsions. You need to do ERP and sit with the uncertainty and fear and it WILL lessen and leave you less anxious 1. Have rules about actions to take. Do them 2. Do ERP for remaining fears
Related posts
- Username
- Perfect Impe...
- Date posted
- 23w ago
Anxiety
Hey guys, I had a thought or something I was doing that had a negative impact on me. Now I have anxiety because I cannot remember what the heck it was! I was doing so good until now. Now I have anxiety and am scared!
- Username
- scast23
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 23w ago
Anyone going through the same thing?
So anxiety wise I had been doing so well. I wasn’t as bad as I had been in the past. My ocd stems from the fear of going crazy or developing schizophrenia. About 2 weeks ago I had something odd happen where I woke up and was getting ready for work and I had been seeing this zig zag thing in my eyes and then I couldn’t talk or type anything everything was jumbled. My boyfriend realized and I was able to tell him we need to go to the hospital. In the car on the way to the hospital I started feeling tingling in my right arm that spread to my fingertips. The whole time this has been happening I have a headache that I would score 2/10 nothing crazy. At the time I wasn’t sure if I had insurance or not but was under the impression I didn’t because I had just quit my part time job and was working PRN, I got stroke alerted at the hospital and they did a CTA and EKG and everything came back negative. The doctors told me they recommended an MRI to rule out a TIA but they didn’t think that it was one due to my age etc. due to the fact that I thought I didn’t have insurance I turned it down. The following day I was able to get my PCP to order me one and figured out my insurance situation and got the MRI done which also came back negative. My anxiety now is that what if I did have a TIA (mini stroke) and it’s just not showing on a scan because they self resolve so sometimes they don’t show up. What is worrying me is I’m not taking anything because they don’t think it was a TIA and they believe it was a complex migraine. I’m so anxious all the time hyper aware of every symptom I have. It’s been almost 2 weeks and I’m just so scared all the time.
- Username
- pagemlou
- Date posted
- 22w ago
Anyone else constantly worried about their health?
I’ve been vaping for about three years now. I’ve tried to quit multiple times but with the people around me, also do, and it makes it difficult to stop buying it and or hitting it. My OCD is based off obsessive thoughts on my health and worrying about natural bodily feelings. Twitches, random pains throughout my body, scare me and make me feel like I can’t control my thoughts. When I vape, i’ve heard about lungs collapsing and I worry about it. I want to stop, but can’t seem to. If I have a headache I worry about a brain tumor, when there are many reasons I could have one. When I mess up a sentence I worry about a stroke, and check my face to see if it’s even. I worry about cancer on a regular basis, a small pain or lymph node swollen, i convince myself it’s cancer. I go to the doctor often because of this. It’s scary, that there is a possibility it could happen. I hate this.
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