Spiraling in my health fears.

Hey all. Coming on here just to rant really. Any advice or similar experiences would be great to hear. Trying not to ask for reassurance at all. My OCD has always been health related. It’s always been an extreme health fear of some sort. I had a fear of schizophrenia after a severe panic attack that gave me months of Dpdr. Kind of got over that w the help of my ocd therepist. Then followed visual snow because of floaters and probably pretty normal visual disturbances normal people have. I had on and off anxiety but nothing as bad as that was. Now I had another bad anxiety attack at work two days ago and my thoughts and obsessions have been at an all time high. I can NOT seem to shake this. I felt extremely dizzy during my panic attack (it was brought on by taking antibiotic on an empty stomach and almost fainting) and now I’ve done hours of googling symptom checking and hyperfixating on a new disease cause Alice in wonderland syndrome and vertigo. I will stare at things to make sure they aren’t getting bigger or smaller around me. I feel dizzy when turning my head to fast or looking around to fast. It’s crazy how these thoughts make you genuinely feel the symptoms you are fearful of. I go on my birthday vacation in a week and I just don’t want this to ruin it. It’s like a fine line in my mind between me being like (this is JUST your ocd thoughts and no you might actually have this because you’re body is showing symptoms) I am repeating mantras like this is just your ocd. Just your intrusive thoughts. I’m trying to have my mind else where like doing house cleaning and duties. I am planning on going to the gym. I want the reassurance that I don’t have these diseases soooo bad. But I know that willl only feed into the monster of OCD. How have my fellow ocd warriors conquered these moments ????

Health Concern OCD

Username: AnonymousAnonymous

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 22w ago

I’ve been there so many times. The worst is when you are *pretty sure* it’s just OCD so you tell yourself that, but then you feel irresponsible because *what if this one time it actually isn’t OCD and I’m ignoring signs?* Honestly my only advice is to keep doing what you’re doing - going to the gym, doing your housework, living your life as if there’s no OCD present. Trust that your body will work through the adrenaline and cortisol and your job is just to keep living your life and making decisions based on your values and not in reducing anxiety. I won’t give you reassurance about your health but I can assure you that you have been through this before and come out the other end stronger.

Username: gracexocdgracexocd

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 22w ago

@Anonymous Thank you

Username: St.DymphnaSt.Dymphna

Date posted: 22w ago

Just a few days ago I mistook my antidepressant withdrawal symptoms (yes this is a thing and then show up in weird ways) for having alpha gahl disease or however you spell it. I’m not gonna tell you what it is because I don’t want it to stress u out so don’t google it lol. But basically I was paranoid I had been bitten by a tick and that the tick transmitted the disease and this made me starve myself and not eat certain foods (bc of the nature of the disease) I honestly didn’t really conquer it through exposures I just had some reassurance they were my withdrawal symptoms a few days later and that made me more open to eat normally again. It’s crazy what we believe…

Username: EricaBayesEricaBayes

Date posted: 22w ago

I have severe health OCD and somatic OCD. They like to feed off of each other. It’s exhausting. Last night at work I thought I was having a heart attack and an anaphylactic reaction. This, amongst other things, happens nonstop every single day. I’ve also been convinced I have breast cancer since getting home from work and finding a spot I never noticed before on my breast. I think it’s a small scratch, but my mind is telling me it is inflammatory breast cancer. I’m always constantly dizzy and derealization/depersonalization happens a lot. I also suffer with other subtypes: contamination, perfectionism, “just right”, relationship…you get the idea. I can’t live my life because of OCD.

Username: gracexocdgracexocd

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 22w ago

@Anonymous How is the nocd therapy working for you?

Username: Anonymous

Date posted: 1y ago

Major health ocd

Man, this is killing me. I’ve had very form of ocd I think from POcD, false memory, socd, hocd, perfectionism, contamination, existential and the one that trips me up the most is health ocd. All the stress OCD gives me causes me to feel some pretty weird sensations in my head and lots of depersonalization. I constantly think I’m developing Alzheimer’s, brain cancer, or really just anything else. BUT these fears get a hold of me so well, I actually become forgetful, stutter, experience blurry vision, painful migraines……. And so I get symptoms of the diseases I fear. Any advice this is killing me?🥺

Username: Schoolie93

Date posted: 1y ago

Health anxiety

Hello does anyone else find that maybe they read about a symptom they have and then look it up and they see so much more about it. Then the compulsions of wanting to check and recheck and figure out without getting certainty that they may in fact have this disease? I seem to loose all control when it comes to stepping back and not looking stuff up even when I know how this is going to affect my ocd and make me feel worse. I’m looking for some type of certainty that I don’t have it and there is none. Living in the uncertainty is so hard. Why as ocd people is it so important to have this reassurance when no one else in life has this either. If you can relate to health obsessions and compulsions, what things work for you to take a step back and not spiral into a hole of this ruminating over and over again. Feeling anxious and depressed. I feel by the time I realize I’m doing it, it’s too late and I’m right in the middle of it. How can I catch myself BEFORE I go to the journey of doing compulsions from things I worry about. Does it get easier over time to see the process and catch yourself from doing compulsions from something I’m ruminating about? The thought is uncomfortable but when the thought comes I just need to stop there! But I never do! Help! Does this happen to anyone else and can you relate? Any tips or suggestions? Thx

Username: Learningtoco...

Date posted: 42w ago

Health ocd

I feel like throughout my life my ocd has taken on different forms and I feel like every time I have issues it’s actually my ocd just getting bad again. Like someone reveals the scooby doo villain and surprise it’s just friggin ocd again . My main “flavor” that I have struggled with ever since the end of 2019 has been severe health ocd . So badly that I have had countless dr visits , hospital visits ranging from panic attacks to lingering anxiety that builds up after weeks of obsessing and loosing sleep . Is there anyone here with some tips to get through this kinda of thing? I’m in therapy and that has helped a lot but I still feel like I pops up and wrecks my life every 4 months or so

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Spiraling in my health fears.

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