- Username
- Anonymous
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Oh my gosh you guys I completely understand and relate. I got my covid shot on the 17th and I was paranoid, but surprisingly mainly okay. I was good about really managing my anxiety and not let it spiral. I’m on the depo shot for birth control and my window was basically closing last weekend for my next shot and I was completely scared to get it only a week after the covid vaccine. I ended up talking to a doctor before getting it on weather it was safe etc. and they said it was because it didn’t have any other antibodies. But I was still super paranoid and anxious the rest of the day. I kept telling myself like your doctor said it was safe and approved it so just trust what the doctor said and relax. But it was horrible! And vaccine and shots asaide I’ve already been paranoid that maybe my leg pain is a blood cloth. I’m a visual merchandiser and am on my feet all day, and got new shoes because my arches were acting up. And it’s been better but I still worry that maybe it’s not even my shoes and job and might be a blood cloth
Absolutely!!! I’m one of those germaphobe and hypochondriac. And I’m always investing and ruminating about my health. I have the hardest time deciphering if I’m actually feeling abnormal, or if I’m just psyching myself out and I’m making myself feel weird because I’m basically giving myself a panic attack because “what if.” I’ve been good about managing a lot of my anxieties, but I absolutely relate!
I’m so glad to find people that relate to me! Health anxiety is very difficult to deal with because it’s so hard to decipher between the rational and irrational thoughts
@Anonymous I agree. I've found that some things I can rationalize and talk myself through. Unfortunately, the medical issues that are life threatening are much harder to work through. I try to tell myself this is an irrational and unhealthy obsession - I must let go of this today. Of course, some days are tougher than others.
@jopike13 Yeah, I’ve found health anxiety is an especially difficult theme to endure because many of the irrational thoughts can be seen as “rational” when in an OCD loop. I have had other themes that I was able to rationalize and overcome through ERP quickly although this health anxiety one persists because the OCD can really use anything as “evidence”
100%. I also have really bad health anxiety OCD. It surrounds my health and the health of my family. I can't tell you how many hours I've spent looking up possible adverse health issues and ruminating on them all day. It is rational to be aware of your health and understand some topics for safety but it gets to a problematic extent. It is really tough to deal with :(
I suffer from the same exact thing.
I also struggle with health anxiety. I am immuno compromised and pretty health anxious anyways but I recently got my covid vaccine and spent a week obsessed with "what if I get a blood clot." It was debilitating and the physical manifestation of my anxiety was looping into back into "This is a validating symptom." Everything was "a sign" and I couldn't stop googling, incessant runmination. I haven't yet got control of it admittedly, but I keep telling myself I can't let it control me every single day - I have to take my thoughts back. Keep fighting the good thoughts fight!
Me too 😂😪😥 I just got my covid vaccine and thats all I've been doing is checking and looking up all the information I could about blood clots and dangerous things that could happen from the vaccines. I was literally crying right before getting my first dose, but I made myself get it because I knew it was the right thing to do. This health anxiety is no joke.
I relate to this so much! I frequently have those “validating symptoms” too. Whenever I get stuck in a health anxiety thought loop too much I have to remind myself that I have OCD and sometimes that helps me look at my thoughts in a different light. It’s tough but you’re right just have to keep fighting for those good thoughts!! We got this
Diana, I am also on depo and that was a huge concern for me. I spent days spiraling into that mass of "what ifs." I'm not against vaccinations and try to remain pretty level headed about my health anxiety. This experience though I just kept thinking "I'm finally doing much better in life and it wouldn't be fair if something so unpredictable were to occur." That unpredictable aspect was my big snag! Dang needing to have a handle on everything...
Wow! I have that exact thought SO MUCH. The “everything is going great now, it wouldnt be fair to have something bad and unpredictable happen.” Do you have any tips on how to respond to a thought like that? I feel like just accepting the uncertainty is best but it’s tough to do that at times
@Anonymous I still have a lot of trouble with this myself. I have found that taking a few minutes every few hours to reassure myself out loud in a quiet space, almost like meditation or prayer, has really helped me. Just repeating "I can do this, I'm going to be alright. I need to calm down and re center. I'm strong." Etc. This has helped me wind down from extreme spiraling many times before bed or after a tough series of impulsive thoughts and rumination. Of course, it doesn't fix everything but it really helps me get control of my breathing and my panicked looping brain.
Ugh. I had a bad experience yesterday, and was about to go to the doctor, because I was convinced something was wrong. Luckily I was able to distract myself and being down the anxiety to I could tell if I really felt like something was wrong or I was self inducing my “symptoms.” Today I’m still not sure but trying to work through my urge to just run to the doctor. Do any of you guys ever think that getting s diagnosis for whatever it is you are concerned about world almost be a relief? And validated how you feel some how? I think I worry more about the possibility of misdiagnosis versus the actual health concern.
Yes. I feel this way frequently! I identified that one of my compulsions was seeing a doctor whenever I thought something was wrong. It gave me reassurance at first but it only fueled more OCD thoughts in the long run. By looking for reassurance it in a way “validated” my obsessions and told me that they were something real rather than just thoughts...which is what they actually are. I know it’s hard to deal with these types of thoughts when they are about your health but I encourage you to sit with the uncertainty of it all! You are also not alone, I have frequently thought that I would rather be diagnosed with something rather than have the “what ifs”. It all goes back to leaning into the uncertainty and trying to accept it.
@Anonymous Thank you for the encouragement to sit with the uncertainty!! I’ve been really good about managing my OCD for a while. But yesterday I realized that was the 3rd time in the last 2 weeks I was having a really hard time controlling my ocd. I started wondering if I was in denial of being in control and actually an anxious mess. But I’ve been trying to remind myself that maybe I am under some stress and that even though I’ve been having speed bumps I’m mainly okay and have to keep working through it!!
So I’ve been doing so well lately. One of my biggest OCD themes besides harm is related to health and particularly STD’s within that. I’ve always had a fear of the STD’s that are incurable...particularly herpes though it’s effect on someone’s life is minimal. I’ve been sexually active recently (always with protection) and have noticed a spot on my penis. It very well could be acne or dermatitis of some kind but my OCD has already convinced me that it’s herpes and that I need to immediately get tested (which both my therapist and primary doctor have said would be feeding into the OCD unless it’s blatantly obvious that I need medical attention.) So I’m not sure what to do, any ideas how to cope with this anxiety, has anyone else had this form of OCD? Thank you in advance....
I’ve been struggling a lot recently with my anxiety and ruminating about a health issue that I’m reminded almost constantly about. Has anyone dealt with this type of thing and if so how did you manage? I’m used to more intrusive thoughts and “pure” OCD but this is different. 😩
Hi, im relatively new to the community. I’m hoping I can reach out and hear from some people who have health ocd. I used to have perfectionism, or “everything right” ocd, but ever since an incident involving a health issue last year, it’s manifested into health ocd. It may have exacerbated by the death of someone close to me, as it was cancer-related, and that’s what my intrusive thoughts seem to be about most of the time lately. How do you deal with it, especially when you ARE someone that’s prone to health issues?
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