- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
I’ve also struggled with health anxiety and OCD related to health. Here are some ideas: 1. Understand that no one is truly certain about their health. Not even if a doctor has just declared them super healthy. Most people walk around with a feeling of certainty about their health, but that feeling is based on probability, not certainty. (“the headache I had yesterday was probably from skipping my afternoon coffee,” “I probably don’t have cancer since I don’t have any symptoms,” etc.) 2. Now that you know that people can be uncertain and still feel safe with their health, make it a goal to accept uncertainty. Promise yourself that you’ll work toward that goal. 3. Work with an ERP therapist if you can. Things you might do in therapy that you can also do on your own if needed: A) differentiate between reasonable health actions (e.g. going to the doctor once a year, disinfecting a cut once before putting on a bandaid, etc.) vs. compulsions (e.g. googling symptoms, asking for reassurance from family members or friends, taking your temperature repeatedly) B) develop response prevention messages for when you get the urge to do compulsions (e.g. “it might be serious, or it might be nothing. I don’t need to figure it out right now”) C) do exposures so that you can practice sitting with the anxiety without doing compulsions. These could include reading articles about people whose mild symptoms turned out to be serious, writing and reading a script about becoming ill, or engaging in a behavior your OCD deems unsafe (like going an hour without drinking water or only wearing one face mask when you go out) Health stuff is really hard to deal with because OCD can make it feel like you don’t have the ability to figure out if something is a serious symptom or if it’s all in your head. The only way to get a better radar for that is to treat your OCD, which involves taking what will feel like risks. The truth is that your OCD isn’t really protecting your physical health, it’s just giving you things to do to make it feel like you’re in control. The more you can accept the uncertainty, the closer you will be to better mental health and well-being. I hope that helps. Best of luck!
Wow thank you so much for this. It was very thoughtful and much appreciated! The more that I hear from others the stronger I feel in terms of not giving into the compulsions and managing my OCD. It can feel very lonely at times. Thank you so much
@Bri007 It’s a very isolating disorder! I’m so glad you’re reaching out for support and feeling stronger in resisting compulsions. You’ve got this!! :)
@Orange-Colored_Glasses I just want to say I’ve been struggling with health anxiety and somatic OCD the past few days, so i searched for a thread. Your comment helped me frame what is “reasonable” va compulsive. I bookmarked it for the future when my OCD makes me question if I need to worry. Thank you!
Thank you. It really means a lot! Just started therapy again after almost a year and a half without. I have a 1-year-old daughter now so the motivation and circumstances are much different than they've been in the past. I've also seen an increase in my OCD since having her And I don't want her growing up seeing me struggle as bad as I am.
That’s awesome that you went back to therapy. I’m sure that parenting a baby is incredibly stressful and thus a trigger for increased OCD symptoms. Be gentle with yourself! Your daughter might “meet” your OCD at some point, and that’s ok - she’ll learn that it’s ok to be scared sometimes, that no one is perfect, and that her parent is super strong and awesome!
Thank you! It really is a motivator to make sure that I'm more managed in terms of my anxiety for her. Your words mean a lot.
I am so sorry but know that you are not alone.
I have really been working on separating the emotional reaction to the habitual response in my mind that sets off false threats for every little thing that comes up for myself.
It takes time but it's worth noting when certain fears pop up whether due to Sensations or things you see or feel in regards to your body.
I have gotten maybe about 8 EKG’s within the lest 2 years? I’ve also gotten an echo done, and I got a heart monitor to track my heart over the course of maybe 2 weeks, back last year. Even though I have been to the emergency room so many times because of panic attacks that I thought were heart attacks, and went with a Cardiologist I still obsess and worry. I always think that I am going to develop some kind of heart problem after getting the tests done. Like if they’re just suddenly going to appear/my heart will suddenly have an issue. I especially get nervous when the pain is in the center of my chest + I get a tight feeling like I have pressure on my chest and can’t breathe completely. Please someone share their experience of how they controlled their health anxiety, especially if it’s related to this.
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.
So, I’ve had my OCD mostly “under control” for the past 10 years (I’m 44, battled this all my life). I’ve been on a high dosage of Luvox, but unfortunately it’s lost its effectiveness about 6 months ago. For the past five months I’ve also been doing therapy sessions on this site and have had a fairly good outcome. My main obsessions have mainly regarded around balance and symmetry. Anyhow, I’m in the process of switching to Prozac. It’s only been 6 days, so I obviously feel nothing yet. I made the foolish mistake of googling “What can antidepressants cause?” Unfortunately I found a very recent article of a study showing antidepressant users have a higher chance of getting ALS. There’s also older articles that say the opposite. But this one article FREAKED ME OUT. And I can only focus on the worst outcome. So, now I’m stuck in a repetitive thought pattern of getting ALS from the one medication that is supposed to help me. It’s absolutely terrifying and I haven’t experienced a health anxiety fear like this in years. I want to research more and more online, but I know this won’t help. It will only make things worse. Anyone with health anxiety have any advice on how to conquer this? I’m standing strong and not getting off my medication or doing any research.
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