Hey guys, I’m kinda freakin out. I keep feeling like I have a brain tumor. I read the symptoms, I asked my parents, my roommates and their girlfriends, I don’t know why I feel so weird. Does anybody have tips?

This happens to me a lot as well. I’m a hypochondriac, particularly where cancer is concerned. For me, whenever I read the symptoms of an illness, I instantly experience the physical sensations of that illness and can become convinced - for days on end - that I have said illness. Understand that by reading the symptoms, you have most likely brought them upon yourself. Whenever you think about brain tumors, you instantly have the symptoms of a tumor. I find that immersing myself in other things and forgetting about the illness will typically dissuade the false symptoms, at least for a while. I’d say if your symptoms extend for a really long period of time, you could talk to someone about it - but it’s mostly your OCD talking. May I ask if you’re a hypochondriac, or if you’ve displayed signs of being one in the past? If you have, you could look up more treatment options online for this type of thinking :) I hope you feel better soon!

Every time you seek reassurance mentally or physically you are perpetuating the cycle. Like every other kind of OCD. Every time you convince yourself why you’re really ok or go to the doctor or check google it’s allowing the fear to maintain. You will never have enough proof to convince yourself that you aren’t sick.

I have the same problem!

But the worst part is I feel like I have the symptoms

I definitely agree with sassy_class_lassie on all of that. I have illness anxiety disorder (the DSM-V doesn’t call it hypochondria anymore) as well and when I find a new illness to obsess about, I almost always start feeling the symptoms associated with it. Distractions definitely help me with it even though they say that it’s bad to do that since it’s better to exposure yourself and learn to get through it rather than divert your attention. I know that ERP is supposed to be very effective for health concern OCD so you can definitely look into that as well. I’ve been convinced I have lymphoma or leukemia for about a month now and so I’m over aware of my body and I feel like I have every symptom mentioned but I just know it’s my illness anxiety disorder talking since my doctors say I’m fine. :)

So helpful to read this I know others that have ocd but not like this my therapist calls it medical ocd. What’s hard for me is I’m always stuck between partially wanting to run to the dr. immediately when I have a concern, like ripping the Bandaid off OR being scared/knowing rationally it’s 99.9% my ocd and I cant allow it to control me so much or run to get everything checked each time would be unmanageable and even when I go It’s not always convincing. I’ve done biofeedback other exercises see my therapist, take a mild anti-depressant daily and anti anxiety when needed. But it’s still a challenge I navigate it well, I think. But I still just so tired I’m only 31 but it’s been 19 years of this! And I’m tired of being afraid and unglued by it. I also want kids soon and want to go off all medication so I guess im looking for more suggestions for managing it. I know exercise and im stepping it up more, breathing, meditation, etc. But I’m open to anything else! Thanks to all!

Exactly! The more “proof” you find that you aren’t sick, the more symptoms you’ll show and the more unsure of yourself you’ll become. It can be incredibly uncomfortable to live with the sensations of the illnesses, however, and it was something I had always struggled since childhood. To anyone who is struggling, focus on your mental health rather than potential illnesses; do activities to relax you or things you find interesting to stop obsessing over symptoms. Good luck!

All true the hard part is unlike something very unlikely or a 100% rational fears sometimes are bodies are telling you something is wrong and it’s so hard not knowing when to listen and when it’s the OCD. Does that make sense?

Today has been the worst, I feel out of it as hell. I feel dizzy and my vision is kinda blurry. Idk what’s going on

Yes, I was terrified for months that I had throat cancer. And all my childhood I was a severe hypochondriac. Today the thought of a brain tumor popped in my head and now it’s all I can think about.

This morning I was reading over some old journals from when I dealt with this obsession. I had such terrible health fears and so many physical symptoms that I thought proved my fears but they were all caused by my anxiety and when my OCD manifested into another obsession all of those physical symptoms went away. It’s crazy to think of it now. I was so convinced I was dying. Now I know I wasn’t.

Thank you a lot. Is there a way I can do exposures for the brain tumor thing specifically? Any weird deviation from my “normal” body sensations freak me out (ex. Head twitch, head ache, tingling feelings, any sort of dizziness, etc). I also keep getting sucked into by telling myself “well what if this is t my ocd and this requires my attention.”

I had dizziness, fatigue, tingling sensations in my extremities, vertigo, head pressure, chest sensations and tension up to my shoulders, etc. ALL of that went away when I stopped obsessing over my health. I was convinced I had MS or was going to have a stroke. I had a clean MRI, holder monitor test, multiple bloodwork, physical exams, etc and all showed I was perfectly fine. These are symptoms of anxiety. It’s SO hard to tell yourself that when it feels so real but that’s the reality. My friend is a nurse and my dad a doctor and I learned if something is serious enough it will show itself in obvious ways. Now I have other obsessions that feel so real but it helps to look back and know those weren’t so this isn’t either.

You need to not check yourself or touch google or any other reassurances. When I stopped googling and checking and stopped taking my blood pressure I thought I was dying. It was so hard. My anxiety was amped. But then it got better!

That’s exactly what I was dealing with raerae12

Agreed forgive my typos :(

My therapist generally helps me sort that I’d taken a break for a while but I’m back at regular sessions again.