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I’m starting on Wednesday most likely. But I’m going away for Fourth of July this weekend and I wanna prepare myself for any side effects. Thank you. I hope my anxiety won’t be any more heightened :/ I won’t drink tho

does anyone know if ocd and chronic stomach issues have a strong correlation? 😭 I havent been diagnosed with any stomach issues but I have also never checked. Plus ive had ocd and like persistent and painful stomach aches since i was like 5 and still do get them. I think i may have ibs.

I posted here before but I picked up a kitten like a week ago on the road. The kitten is completely fine health wise and I can’t stop thinking I have rabies. What’s happening right now is I’ll take a drink and since I looked up that ppl with rabies have a hard time drinking I convinced myself I’m having a hard time swallowing and then that makes me panic then when I also read it makes ppl hydrophobic I’m turning that panic of thinking I have rabies into thinking I’m scared of water which furthers my obsession that I have rabies. I told my mom about all this and she told me I definitely do not have rabies just like she told me yesterday and it’s not helping and it won’t help. I’m thinking of doing the rabies shot that you get before you show symptoms in case i haven’t actually showed symptoms yet. I’m so scared I don’t want to die. I keep drinking water to prove to myself that I can swallow it. And the fact that you cant have a definite answer if u have it until you die is rlly rlly rlly freaking me out.

Anyone who's been under general anesthetic or put under for surgery did the anesthesia cause nausea or getting sick to your stomach? I am having wisdom tooth extractions soon and I want to know if any part of the surgery I can avoid to avoid nausea

31 year old female. I have IBS and POTS for some background. Since Sunday however I am scared I could have stomach cancer. Back in March I had to start taking propranolol for my POTS which caused horrific acid reflux and the feeling of a lump in my throat. I am waiting for new medication but my cardiologist is so bad at getting back to me. Anyway, last week I didn’t take much propranolol (I try to only take them when my POTS is bad) and I had three good days anxiety wise. On Sunday however I woke up at 4am needing to rush to the loo, I felt a bit nauseous which panicked me because I have a big fear of throwing up. Anyway since then I have had stomach discomfort, no appetite, feeling nauseous and some indigestion. It is really scaring me because I came across a TikTok that said symptoms of stomach cancer can be an increased heart rate, acid reflux, stomach discomfort, change in bowel habits etc. I have convinced myself that I don’t have POTS and that my increased heart rate is due to stomach cancer (sometimes I get night time adrenaline dumps which makes my heart rate shoot up). I’m scared that the feeling of a lump in my throat is also connected to stomach cancer, as is the stomach discomfort and bowel changes. I have had a clear bowel cancer screening, and mild inflammation and a faecal calprotectin test that was mildly elevated at 53 (normal levels are below 50). GP said she wasn’t concerned but referred me for further test anyway but that’s not for a few months. Also it’s mostly my stomach I’m concerned about. I can’t stop thinking I am missing something. I have a GP appointment booked but I’m scared I’ve left it too late and whatever is going on with me is growing and spreading and it will be too late. I’m really, really scared. I feel like for the last three months most days I have completely lost myself. But the last five days have been so so bad, I have googled constantly and just feel like I’m never going to feel better because of my stomach. I just really needed to vent. I have been referred for therapy but I can’t help thinking this is not anxiety and is just something I’m brushing off as anxiety. I’m really scared and just don’t know what to do :(

Does anyone know any tips on how to accept the uncertainty of being unable to sleep? I get to so scared that if I don’t sleep, something bad will happen to me. Or I’ll end up in like the hospital or I’ll go crazy. It’s really scary and it bothers me so much. If anyone has advice I’d love to hear it!!

Hi everyone! ‼️HEALTH ANXIETY TRIGGER WARNING ‼️Just saw a post on TikTok that was along the lies of “it’s not your anxiety” and then they had mentioned they had a extremely serious cardiac event. This made me spiral lol. I struggle with a fear of cardiac events so much. I’ve had a couple cardiac tests and have been normal. Seen multiple cardiologists and they’ve said I’m normal. That being said, does anyone else struggle with this? Feeling kinda defeated and stuck lol

Hi, I have been under extreme stress since about March this year, and from that started suffering from very bad health anxiety which has caused panic attacks etc. I’m in the middle of a spiral right now though because I am certain I have stomach cancer. I am 31 and female. Last week I had a very good few days anxiety wise and almost felt like myself. But on Sunday morning I woke up having to rush to the bathroom (TMI sorry) and felt very nauseous. I am emetophobic so this scared me too. Since then I have been having bad stomach cramps, had to rush to the toilet once a day, and some nausea. I have no appetite at all (last week I had a very good appetite but this week I am having to force myself to eat). I am thinking about my symptoms constantly which I think might be making them worse. I have had a bowel screening done which was clear so no blood, and a calprotectin which was very slightly raised at 53, but my GP said she wasn’t concerned about it but would refer me for further testing if I wanted. So I do have more tests booked but not for some months yet. I’m just really scared because of the stomach cramps, nausea, and having to rush to the bathroom once a day for five days now. I have also had bad acid reflux but that only tends to happen when I have taken propranolol. I also have IBS so maybe my anxiety has flared it up but I’m not convinced. I’m just so scared to the point I can’t leave the house and I have been lay in bed for five days thinking about my symptoms and that I could have stomach cancer. I have also been referred for CBT in the near future to help deal with this, but I’m scared that I’m brushing something off as anxiety and giving time for the illness to spread. I just feel constantly scared. I thought I’d had a breakthrough last week but this has just hit me like a tonne of bricks. Has anyone else dealt with anything like this? I just want to feel okay again I am freaking out so bad

I'm new to NOCD and have been dealing with harm/suicidal, and Pure OCD for some time now. It started off being healthy related anxiety that led to compulsion where I would research information on an uncommon illness or something I thought I had. Now it has snowballed into intrusive thoughts and images of me killing myself in various ways or my wife. The former is what has been the most debilitating and hardest to shake. Recently I seem to find triggers almost every where I look. "What if I killed myself this way" if I see a kitchen knife or a bottle of pills. A friend talked about going to a gun range a while back and an image popped up of me being there and turning a gun to myself which is something I dont want to do. I love life and its so painful to go through thoughts that try to tell me otherwise. That particular image/thought has really stuck with me. I know about ERP and my therapist said I could rip the bandaid off and go to a gun range but it terrifies me. I don't own any weapons but I often think, "what if I buy one and im actually suicidal?" Just typing it makes me anxious. I'm wanting to start a low dose of Prozac which opens up another can of worms about worried my "overdose thought" will come true, on top of potential side effects. This is long winded but im looking for any advice to get through this. I know others are worse off than me but considering I've never been like this and it only started 6 months ago, I'm really struggling. Thanks everyone.

so about a week ago around june 12 or 13 coming back from the beach i was having vulva pain on one of the lips then eventually i went to grandmas house and everytime i bent down or moved around i was having some sharp pain “down there” eventually i was scared and then it started to kinda hurt to pee… and i was like ok this is kinda worrying me eventually i forgot about it for two days it didn’t hurt but then i come back and start to have it again. so then i was like okay i’m just gonna schedule a doctors appointment. i schedule my doctors appointment got tested and i was negative for UTI but i was having bad lower back psi so they sent off a cultural test and told me a few days after that i have bacterial vaginosis so i was like ok i’m guessing to get antibiotics for it… i get the antibiotics yesterday theyre capsules i can’t swallow them but i cut them and put it in apple sauce where it was so gross the smell was awful and the taste was awful… atp i got a liquid i haven’t took it yet.. but my stomach has been hurting and had numbness and weird tingling feeling down there… where it’s scaring me and now my stomach hurts almost like cramps but it makes me so nervous… i keep thinking i have ovarian cancer or some type of cancer or a cyst or kidney stones… even tho they told me i have bacterial vaginosis somehow i can’t believe them… but i soon start my period on the 30th and my OCD gets so bad 2 weeks before my period and symptoms start a week before my period… idk i’ve never had this OCD go out for so long but like my urine looks fine it’s just when i pee now it’s almost feels weird idk my stomach is hurting rn when i lay down and i’ve been freaking out ugh. and this morning i had sorenness down there… i also had some inner thigh pain… i can’t stop googling i keep thinking it’s something worse than i have from what the doctor told me

Im a hypochondriac and recently I’ve been seeing posts about sicknesses and I got worried why all of a sudden they’re popping up on my page. I always think it’s a sign and it scares me especially if i accidentally skip over the videos anyone else?

…(for those who came off of it)how long did it take for you to feel normal again/when did ur anxiety level out after tapering off the meds after being on it for awhile? I’m in month two and still feeling very anxious, is this just how it’s gonna be now that I’m not on meds? I didn’t wanna rely on them cuz I was gaining weight and it lowered my libido but it was helping me so this sucks. I can’t eat much and diarrhea like am I just gonna be like this forever now that I’m not on meds?

okay so I’m 18, I’ve always been kinda a homebody , especially recently starting lexapro made my anxiety worse at first ect. I feel so scared to be in the “ real world” because I feel like I’m not independent at all:/ I’ve never had a job I had 1 at 16 for 2 weeks and it wasn’t to bad. I can drive , but it’s kinda hard for me , I get scared of thinking of the future and independence “what if I’m not capable” “What if my mental health doesn’t allow me too” ect ..:/

Anyone know any ERP techniques or specific exposures that help with health anxiety OCD? I’ve heard such great things about ERP for other subtypes but I can’t think of any for health related OCD. I’d appreciate any advice!

I'll start by saying, I have not been clinically diagnosed, as I do not have the funds to see therapists or psychiatrists in my current situation. Once I'm in a better spot, I very much intend to. That to say; after months and months of having issues with anxiety, specifically health related, my partner was the one that mentioned OCD. I did have some somewhat OCD related behaviors in my youth, though those likely could be explained by potentially undiagnosed ASD (as my mother is on the spectrum as well as a sibling, both diagnosed.) But I never considered OCD taking form in a health sense. I posted earlier about how I've had 4 days of pretty minimal anxiety and intrusive thoughts, and it has led me to doubt the OCD label I've been working at treating? I don't want to be the person that identifies themselves with a disorder they don't have, which is why I hesitate to self diagnose with OCD or ASD or anything else. At the same time, I've read that a lot of even clinically diagnosed people with OCD doubt their diagnosis. It makes me wonder if I will always have this doubt, and if that means it is worth it or not to get tested? I know that if I do, they can actually do ERP (whereas I've been self taught and self guided so far) so that would be worth it...

Panicking cause there’s people doing construction outside my house and there cutting in the ground it’s like black concrete and garden patio tiles and I’m now panicking about it releasing asbestos into the air and gone into my house through my window and now gone all over my room

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.

I have intrusive thoughts all the time. I married the wrong woman, she’s not right for me, I don’t feel right with her, I’m going to fail at work, I’m going to lose my job, what if I can’t sleep at night, I can’t sleep at night, what if my surgery doesn’t work, what will people think of me, I’m a failure, I let people down, I’m a horrible father, my son hates me, do I or don’t I drink coffee, what if I eat the wrong foods, there’s something wrong with me physically all the time, etc, etc, etc. It’s extremely annoying and exhausting. I just can’t wait to go to bed at night and try to fall asleep to shut off my brain.

Long vent: First off, please don’t judge and meet this story with kindness. You never know what people are suffering through. My moms the kind of person who won’t say anything if she’s suffering. She usually suffers in silence because she’s afraid people will see her struggles and meet her with judgement like past people have in her life unfortunately. Although I’m not a psychologist nor should I be diagnosing, I do think my mom suffers from OCD. She is overweight, and she’s been struggling a lot with eating. As of late it’s gotten to the point where people in my family are questioning if she’s at the point or no return and it’s been terrifying me. I already feel responsible for this for some reason, like I’m a horrible daughter because I don’t do enough for her even though I do try to. I love her so, so much, she’s my best friend and nothing can happen to her under my watch. I wish I could keep her in a bubble so she lives forever with me, but I know that’s not true. The past two years, she’s had these massive wounds on her legs from an accident on a truck. The wounds have gotten so large and painful, and they haven’t healed after this many years. I had to literally force her to go to urgent care last year because she was too embarrassed to talk about or show anyone these wounds. They gave her advice, said I was right in making her go, and that the wounds aren’t healing most likely because of circulatory issues and the blood from her heart not getting to her legs is stopping the healing process. They showed her how to properly clean the wounds and told her elevate her legs. We did that, but they still haven’t healed but she refused to see a doctor once again due to embarrassment, or she’d put off doctors visits because she couldn’t afford to go or her job would interfere with the timing. Fast forward to today, we had a party for Father’s Day at my aunts house and she’s been keeping the wounds bandaged and using all these sprays and buying adhesives and medicine from Amazon. She has spent so much money on this medical stuff it’s literally done nothing. She can barely walk now, and sitting in a chair at the party today, was like “torture” she said. The dogs at the party were wet, and their tails whipped the back of her legs when they’d wag and I guess she was secretly trying not to cry. I’ve been hearing her whimper quietly from pain for a while and I feel so fucking guilty, like I haven’t done enough for her. I’m trying to help her fix her eating habits, and eat clean with her, but I feel guilty for the times we’d get junk food. She’s a teacher, and she usually goes a full day without eating and it aggravates me so so bad. My first thing when she gets home is asking if we can go out and get food because I just want her to take care of herself and eat something. I know junk is absolutely not the answer here, but when it’s quick and convenient I’d rather my mom eat junk than eat nothing. Yes, I know grocery shopping is the answer and we recently started doing that again. The thing is, she and I hate going in public due to OCD. I feel so bad, because now I’m responsible for this it feels like. She’s been overweight the majority of the time my brother and I have been alive. She confessed to me last year that before the divorce with my dad, she purposely gained weight so that my dad would never touch her again. He cheated on her, and she never wanted him to touch her again, and he was physically and emotionally abusive to her. So, she divorced my dad and took us with her and moved north to be with the rest of my family. I still feel like I contributed to it though, and that I’m a horrible daughter. I never meant to contribute to any of this. I would never fucking to that to this woman I love this much. My brother and aunt said that I enable her and that I’m at fault for a lot of this. My brother I believe also has OCD himself, said I enable this and am responsible for this because I’m not hard enough on my mom. If this is true then I feel fucking horrible. I already regret not doing enough hence why I’m trying to change it now. My aunt says my moms getting to the point of no return. I’m taking her to the emergency room now. I’m trying not to cry and I wish she didn’t feel like she has to keep all these problems to herself. I’m scared to talk to my brother later because he’s going to scold me and yell at me. I don’t know what to do

I just got my SSRI’s and I’m kinda nervous to take them so I was wondering if anyone has had a good or bad experience with them.