- Date posted
- 3y
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
Wow I relate to this SO much. I have health anxiety and somatic ocd. One of my biggest triggers is my breathing and I’m always short or breath! I also have asthma so I’m like constantly anxious about my breathing and thinking I’m going to pass out or stop breathing. Every day is a struggle I constantly check my heart beat and focus so much on my breathing that I don’t feel it’s automatic I feel like I have to tell myself to breathe or I won’t
- Date posted
- 3y
I’ve been going through this for 2 weeks now, I’m with you on this. Feel like I forget how to yawn and I’m sleeping terrible because I’m waking up to make sure I’m breathing! Definitely not alone
- Date posted
- 3y
Thank you for sharing your story. This is such a hard subtype. It hard to know what’s reality and what’s OCD. How are you doing these days? It looks like you posted this awhile ago. Have you done ERP therapy to help? I hope you’ve found some progress. Really struggling tonight with health ocd and working through some dark thoughts. Looking towards others who have peresevered!
- Date posted
- 2y
Going through the exact same thing, hyper focused on breathing and thinking I am short of breath then constantly worry its a heart attack even though I have been given a clean bill of health from a cardiologist. I find myself checking my heart rate constantly and o2 then googling symptoms. Also seems to be worse since my first panic attack which sent me to the hospital. I tell myself I am fine and it's nothing major, but the "what if" constantly creeps in. Please let me know if anyone has any strategies that might help...besides constantly seeing a doctor when I get freaked out by a symptom. Thanks!
- Date posted
- 2y
@Anonymous I am in the same boat. I feel like I am constantly going to the doctor or ER to rule out anything big. I just keep thinking they must have missed something. It’s a terrible feeling and very isolating when no one understands.
Related posts
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 19w
Hi everyone, I’m Andrea and I am a member of the Intake Team here at NOCD. In junior high, I was known as the “aneurysm girl” because I was convinced any small headache meant I was dying. At just 12 years old, I read something that triggered my OCD, and from that moment on, my brain latched onto catastrophic health fears. Any strange sensation in my body felt like proof that something was seriously wrong. I constantly sought reassurance, avoided being alone, and felt trapped in an endless cycle of fear. Over time, my OCD shifted themes, but health anxiety was always there, lurking in the background. I turned to drinking to numb my mind, trying to escape the fear that never let up. Then, in 2016, everything spiraled. I was sitting at work, feeling completely fine, when suddenly my vision felt strange—something was “off.” My mind convinced me I was having a stroke. I called an ambulance, launching myself into one of the darkest periods of my life. I visited doctors multiple times a week, terrified I was dying, yet every test came back normal. The fear never loosened its grip. For years, I cycled in and out of therapy, desperately trying to find answers, but no one recognized what was really happening. I was always told I had anxiety or depression, but OCD was never mentioned. I was suicidal, believing I would never escape the torment of my mind. It wasn’t until 2022—after years of struggling, hitting rock bottom, and finally seeking specialized OCD treatment—that I got the right diagnosis. ERP therapy at NOCD was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it saved my life. Today, I’m 34, sober, and living a life I never thought was possible. Do I still have hard days? Absolutely. But I am no longer a prisoner to my fears. The thoughts still come, but they don’t control me anymore. They don’t dictate my every move. Life isn’t perfect, but it no longer knocks me off my feet. If you’re struggling with health OCD or somatic OCD, I see you. I know how terrifying and isolating it can be. But I also know that it can get better. If you have any questions about health & somatic OCD, ERP, and breaking the OCD cycle, I’d love to tell you what I’ve learned first hand. Drop your questions below, and I’ll answer all of them!
- Date posted
- 16w
I am really suffering with health anxiety at the minute I am absolutely PETRIFIED of cancer and Im only 17 its draining the life out of me Ive had a cough / cold for two weeks now and ive felt itchy - Has anyone else ever just felt really itchy Im terrified in case I have cancer Im really really petrified I get so scared of death im really frightened SO frightened Im so so scared of the C. Uts scary
- Date posted
- 8w
PLEASEEE READ!! I know this sounds ridiculous but lately I’ve been soo hyperfocused on my breathing. I feel like I’m not breathing right/properly, it’s hard to explain.. it just feels wrong or like my breathing pattern is wrong. How that’s possible? I have no clue. I’ve had this all day. Has anyone ever experienced this?? My doctor keeps saying anxiety but I just feel like something isn’t right.
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