bad physical flare up •PLEASE READ•

i totally relate to physical anxiety symptoms and they suck. have you considered exploring medication? i started recently and it’s been a journey, but i do think the physical waves have diminished a lot

The physical symptoms that come with OCD and then on top of that your OCD fixating on those things is one of the worst things to go through with it. I'm sorry you're struggling so bad and I've been there! In response to the other commenter, I would also agree medication can help and for me it was a catch 22 because taking the meds would make me panic (I was scared of side effects) but if you stick with it long enough eventually you'll find one that works. And it can take several tries, I won't lie to you. Everyone has different brain chemistry and for some it's the first med they try and for others like me I think I've been on like 8 by now. But being without it is worse for me. OCD is worse by far than any side effect I've ever had. The time will pass anyway, so it's worth it to try and find something that helps you get your life back. Excessive stress, lack of sleep, and being constantly aware of your body is naturally going to take a toll on you. Try to be gentle with yourself and do anything that can make you relax or is comforting (like a bath, coloring, watching a movie, using a weighted blanket, etc). Also, competing sensory things can help with panic or stress over other sensory things, like eating a sour candy or splashing cold water on your face reroutes your brain to those sensations. I hope things get better for you

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i'm wondering how long these symptoms have been going on or if they recently became severe? i am not a medical professional and am not giving medical advice, and these symptoms can be caused by a wide variety of different things, but i will say from personal experience i have had all these symptoms and a lot of them turned out to be from POTS/dysautonomia. my labs always came back normal and i had to find the right specialists to do the proper tests to actually diagnose me. in your case perhaps these are all truly anxiety/ocd related but i think it is worth looking into dysautonomia (nervous system dysregulation). years of rumination can lead to burnout which can then contribute to or exacerbate symptoms of nervous system dysfunction, which all of these symptoms can be associated with. i know how challenging it is to deal with medical uncertainty+ocd+health anxiety 💕