Still learning since getting diagnosed but are there actual symptoms of health OCD or anxiety? What are a few that you can separate from actual situation will warrant a dr visit
Struggling with this thought myself tbh 😅, it can be so exhausting too cuz you never know what thought to take seriously enough to get it checked by a doctor
@nic0.xp Do you go thru any symptoms
@lotero I have health ocd ! I think what helped me figure it out was the constant checking/researching symptoms and looking for suspicious bumps to make sure it wasn’t cancer or some terrible illness. Noticed it a lot when I was a kid and it got worse over time cuz I was doing compulsions to help ease the anxiety but recently found that giving into compulsions make the thoughts feel a lot more real
@nic0.xp I’m in that same boat it all started in April I got diagnosed with anxiety with adjustment disorder and health ocd (he used a name ) is all new to me and it’s scares d shat out of me
A lot of my health anxiety/OCD symptoms overlapped with actual medical conditions so it’s definitely worth going to get checked out! I had no appetite because I was so upset and then lost a lot of weight; I wouldn’t sleep because I was anxious, then would be fatigued throughout the day; etc. Speaking about OCD compulsions specifically, checking behaviors are very common, whether that be googling symptoms, reading Reddit boards, physically checking your body, asking for reassurance from others. My health OCD spiral was one of the most severe of my life and I truly thought I was dying of terminal cancer because my physical symptoms were so awful. As scary as going to the doctor is, it will set your mind at ease! Wishing you well!❤️
@Brekgel I have done various exams already they all comeback pretty normal including my heart I just dot. Get it like right now I’m chilling relaxed all of sudden my hands feel tingling and warm my left arm seems weak and I’m anxious yet my nerve conduction exams blood work all that normal
@lotero Anxiety can definitely cause tingling and numbness! I go numb when I’m anxious, especially with my hands, arms, and feet. Our brains are very powerful and the more we think about something, the worse our physical symptoms feel sometimes!
@Brekgel Yeah but if I’m chilll calm relaxed how can I still get that idk this all new
@lotero Bodies are weird! My numbness sometimes comes in waves and a passing thought slightly related to my OCD would immediately cause numbness even if I wasn’t anxious at the particular moment. It could also be a pinched nerve—my leg and foot would go numb for months and it turns out it was a pinched nerve!
@Brekgel Yeah they’ve checked me for that aperatly no pinch nerve
It's extremely difficult to tell purely because the disease causes false physical sensations that accompany intrusions.
@Guest1488484 Yeah it sucks specially when I keep asking myself “ but my tests where clear” did they miss anything
@lotero You've had tests, they were clear. All you can do from this point forward is let the intrusions pass. You can do it.
@Guest1488484 Thanx I’m hoping to get better
Hello! I'm new here and have a nice, big grab bag of OCD sub-types, but the one I struggle with most is health anxiety. I would love to hear from folks who have had success with ERP and this subtype! Maybe without many triggering details 😉
I will preface by saying I am not diagnosed OCD, as I can't afford to see therapists or psychiatrists at this time. But given the things I've gone through, I'm pretty much convinced it's what I'm dealing with. I never really saw it coming. As a kid I always had health issues. Sick all the time, spent a lot of my very young years in and out of hospitals. In recent years as I've become an adult, health anxiety started creeping in. I spent my teenage years depressed, anxious and suicidal, both passively and actively. I engaged in self destructive behaviors in an attempt to end my life quicker. I left a toxic home environment and began my journey to improve my life, as I have a significant other that I want to stay on this planet for. I began lifting weights and exercising, eating better, and attempting to improve myself day by day. I didn't even realize it happening, but over time I started caring more and more about my health. Avoiding certain foods, making my diet stricter, and ensuring I did the right things. While it was good for my body in the short term, long term it seems it really affected my mental. As I started to feel better, I noticed that the times where I wasn't feeling 100% were very stressful. I'd start to worry about developing diseases. Diabetes, appendicitis, cancer, any number of rare and deadly diseases i could discover on Google. It got worse and worse as time went on. I'd spend money on things to test my body. glucose monitor, thermometer, supplements to ensure I was healthy. mental compulsions began (which i didn't know where compulsions at the time). Well, it all culminated at its peak in the last few months. Every minor bodily symptom, no matter how normal or common or frequent, became a life threatening warning. Constant googling, ruminating, checking and reassurance seeking, which at the time I didn't know was what I was doing. Then, at the end of May, I did get sick. And suddenly all of my obsessions and compulsions solidified themselves as real and premonitions that were true. I started spiraling. Avoiding social events, or anything that was outside of my room. Barely managing to go to work some days. Bringing my compulsions to work as well, sneaking them in when I could. Every day was anxiety riddled. I became exhausted. Sleeping for 10 hours, waking up still tired, coming home having no energy to do anything. It convinced me even more that I was getting sick again. I was getting suicidal again and contemplating it very often. I then noticed my Instagram feed getting filled more and more with OCD related posts and ads, I guess i was unconsciously finding and engaging with them. They described exactly what I was going through, and still am going through. I'm on day 4 of my recovery after learning some ways to help myself. I'm catching my thought patterns, learning to allow the uncertainty, and avoiding my avoidant tendencies. I removed the batteries from my compulsions and put them out of sight. I still am learning my mental compulsions and how to deal with them. I'm engaging with the things I would avoid now despite how I feel. I'm still riddled with anxiety and the OCD thoughts are very loud and frequent. But I'm feeling more in control and like I can handle the thoughts better. I'd love any advice people can give as well. I want my life back.
Anyone know any ERP techniques or specific exposures that help with health anxiety OCD? I’ve heard such great things about ERP for other subtypes but I can’t think of any for health related OCD. I’d appreciate any advice!
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