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Sorry to hear this BelAnna. I'm glad your mum has an appointment booked now so hopefully she will have all of the proper tests done etc. I didn't know you were studying for a degree. That sounds really interesting, what are you studying? I'm due to go back to uni this September to do a masters. It's with the Open University so it's distance learning, but I'm really looking forward to it. I know what you mean about not being able to concentrate sometimes with studying when you have other stuff going on. What I used to do was just set myself very small goals so for example if I had an essay coming up but I was struggling to concentrate I'd give myself a window of just one hour to do uni work and try my best to fully focus on the work just for an hour, and then I'd let myself go back to worrying or whatever else I was doing afterwards. Then maybe a few hours later I'd do the same thing. I found it easier to focus when my goal was "do uni work for 1 hour", instead of "I've got this whole essay to write and I can't concentrate". If I had tons of different tasks I needed to do I'd break those down as well so if I had say 20 sources to read and make notes on for an essay I would say "ok I'll do this one now for an hour and a half" or however long it would take me, "after dinner I'll do this other one for an hour" etc.

So sorry to hear about your dad, Summer. I hope he gets better soon. You've certainly had more than your fair share of stressful circumstances. I'm not surprised your OCD is going a bit haywire at the moment as we all know that stress is a big trigger. Try and avoid analysing and ruminating on your "hallucinations". Focus on doing your best to relax and take it easy for now. When things have settled down a bit then I'm sure your OCD will settle as well.

It definitely sounds like the side effects from the pregabalin could be bothering you. They should settle down in time as you've only been taking them for a month and you just upped your dose a week ago, but if they carry on or you're worried about it then I would definitely have a chat with your GP.

Hi Paul. On the whole I agree with you however I do think your situation and Robin's are very different. From my understanding you suffered with a TBI or something similar (correct me if I'm wrong), and in your case what was going on was pretty obvious. A brain scan was necessary and required in your situation to help with diagnosis and assessing the amount of damage etc. My point wasn't that brain scans are a waste of time and don't show anything useful, far from it, but rather that if the person has not actually suffered any specific brain injury or has any other symptoms to indicate anything wrong then a scan would be very likely to not show anything at all. In Robin's case there is no evidence at all that she had suffered an actual physical brain injury nor has she been complaining of a decline in cognitive abilities or function that would indicate that she has suffered some form of brain damage. Therefore in her case it would likely be pointless. Also she has not told us yet what these multiple head impacts consisted of for example, did she mildly knock her head in the rough and tumble of contact sports, or did she used to be a professional boxer and get whacked in the head many times a day? I do agree that head impacts amongst those who play contact sports e.g. football, rugby etc are being taken very seriously as they should be, but nobody is suggesting that every single person who has ever played contact sports and has had head impacts should go and get brain scans and get assessed for future likelihood of getting dementia. At present it is still only a tiny minority of players who will go on to develop dementia. Hundreds of thousands of people if not more have played contact sports and had multiple head impacts, so in theory they are all in the same boat as Robin, and therefore should every single one of them now go and get their brains scanned and be seen by a neurologist? Obviously not, therefore my point is that Robin is massively overinflating her risk of danger which is a classic feature of OCD. My point which seems to be ignored is that NO single brain scan in the world will be able to tell someone if they will get dementia in the future. The technology for that doesn't yet exist. What you have described about footballers is that they are investigating into the causal link between head impacts and dementia, and there are studies which are investigating this over many years. For example they will take brain scans at intermittent periods over many years to monitor changes in the brain that will lead to dementia. What Robin is asking for, that she wants to have a brain scan and be told for certain by a neurologist if she will get dementia or not, simply cannot happen. Also, she wants this not for reasons of clinical necessity, i.e. she has not suffered a physical injury nor has she developed any symptoms, but for reasons based on anxiety and OCD. I can guarantee that no GP will refer her for a scan based on the fact that she is worried she will develop dementia in decades to come and when she doesn't actually have any symptoms, because a scan in those circumstances would not be beneficial to the patient but rather more detrimental to her mental health. But it is up to her what route she takes, and the fact that she hasn't actually done anything about it for months on end but every time she gets worried about it she comes on here for reassurance rather than going to an actual doctor suggests even more to me that she has an OCD problem rather than a real health concern. One way for her to move forward possibly would be to go and see her GP and discuss her concerns with them. They are impartial and rational and would be able to judge better than us if this is something that needs to be investigated further or whether it is more of an anxiety/OCD problem. My suggestion then would be for her to go to her GP, outline all of her concerns about dementia, and also discuss her anxiety and OCD and how she is so consumed by the worry. A GP then will likely be able to advise whether she needs a scan or not or whether she should focus on treating her OCD.

Honestly Robin coming from someone with a medical background there is no way a neurologist will be able to reassure you as they cannot predict the future to the degree of accuracy that you seek. As I said in my previous post there is no reliable test that currently exists which can tell you if you will get dementia in the future, which fact you and some other posters on here are ignoring. Dementia can only be diagnosed if you have it NOW which you don't. At best a neurologist will say that you may have an increased risk of getting dementia in the future because of your past head impacts, but that is all they will be able to tell you, and where would that leave you? Right back to square one with your obsessions. They could do a brain scan but that won't actually show anything unusual. You seem to think that they will do a brain scan and see that you have sustained some brain damage (which is not likely as you will have other real physical and psychological symptoms), and from that be able to say "yep, she will get dementia in x years time". This is not going to happen. Even if they do a scan and see some kind of "damage", they still won't be able to tell you if you will get dementia or not. They can only work with what is in front of them in the here and now and not make predictions based on the future. Now for other fields of medicine they often can predict things with more accuracy, e.g. cancer, heart disease etc, because these types of illnesses follow predictable patterns. Neurology unfortunately is still in its infancy in this regard as there is still so much that we don't actually know about the brain. I've worked in neurology and trying to get a diagnosis in people who are actually showing dementia symptoms is very difficult. In people who don't even have it at all they will not be able to do anything until you are actually showing symptoms. My grandmother has Alzheimer's but it took over 12 months from her developing symptoms to actually being diagnosed with it, and that wasn't due to any sort of scan or tests because these don't exist but rather based on recordings of her symptoms over a long period of time. By all means feel free to ignore our advice and go and see a neurologist. You won't be able to do so on the NHS as a GP will not refer you based on the fact that you think you might get a disease in decades to come. You could pay privately to have an MRI or CT scan but I guarantee that it will show up as normal, and even if it doesn't, nobody will be able to tell you that you will get dementia or not based on that. It is entirely up to you what route you take but you can't continue as you are stuck on the couch ruminating for months on end in a state of non existence. So it's time to choose theory A or B. Do you treat it as a real health concern or do you treat it as OCD? If you decide to treat it as a real health concern then by all means go to your GP or seek private care, or if you decide to treat it as OCD then that is where we on this forum can help you.

I'd say it's absolutely normal with any kind of anxiety. Anxiety can cause muscle tightness and other sensations in the throat which can lead to feelings of nausea, gagging, choking sensations, or feeling like something is stuck in the throat. I get it all the time. It's really unpleasant but not harmful. What helps me is doing relaxation and deep breathing exercises as this can help the neck muscles and throat to relax.

Hi all. I just thought I would post this here as I'm sure many other users will find it useful. I recently came across this free app for iPhone/android called Medito, which has lots of mindfulness meditations, nature sounds, breathing techniques etc. I'm finding it really helpful for me especially as I also suffer with anxiety, insomnia, panic attacks etc in addition to OCD. I've attached a screenshot of the user interface on my phone so you can get an idea of what the app is like. I absolutely 100% recommend it for your "toolkit".

I don't think it is her partner but a family member she lives with. From what I remember @BelAnna said that her dad and/or brother (sorry if I've got this wrong BelAnna) can be quite nasty and verbally abusive towards her. She lives with her family and so it is difficult for her to move away.

Sorry to hear this @BelAnna For a start we all care about you on here so even if you feel like no-one in your life cares about you, you will always have us on here who do care. Secondly there is still lots of time to turn things around for you. I understand those thoughts that your future is bleak and you will only decline from here as I have those thoughts too, but remember that those thoughts are still just thoughts and have no basis in reality, nor are they able to predict the future. I echo what has been posted above. Are you currently getting any help for your OCD? I know you have issues with accessing medical appointments but you should be able to self refer to therapy rather than go through your GP. I'm sorry to hear about the people you live with being abusive. I remember you mentioning this in the past. It must be really hard for you especially if you feel trapped there. Are there any options for you to be able to leave? I know you have contamination issues so moving would be difficult but don't forget you managed to move to Scotland from England, and move from one Air B&B to another for a while before finally settling, so you are absolutely capable of making a positive change. I know that you currently don't work so finance would be an issue, but you may be eligible for help and support with housing/benefits through your local council. Also, if you feel like you are unable to leave the house to work then there are plenty of remote WFH jobs that you could possibly do. Even if all this sounds like a lot right now you wouldn't have to do it all at once but rather they could be goals that you work yourself towards.

Not at all. You clearly didn't even properly read what I just posted so I have nothing further to add.

@howard I think the problem @Robin43 is facing is not that she has a health concern and doesn't know whether to get it checked out or not. It is the all-consuming aspect of this obsession that is the issue. No matter the health concern it is not normal to be so paralysed with fear over it, thinking that your life is over and that you are going to die, and be so stuck with this that you are spending weeks on the sofa in a state of paralysis effectively. My advice has been tailored in trying to reduce the compulsions surrounding it and to think rationally about the issue. Also, advising @Robin43 to go and get checked out for this issue won't work as there is no test in the land to be able to tell you if you will get dementia or not in the future. In fact health professionals would not do anything unless you were having symptoms. Here is some up to date research and advice on head injuries and dementia from Alzheimer's UK - https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/risk-factors-and-prevention/head-injury-sport-dementia In particular note this part - "Unfortunately, there is no accurate way to know whether someone may go on to develop dementia if they have sustained a head injury." What @Robin43 is asking for then, which is wanting to know if she will get dementia in the future because she has sustained some head impacts previously, currently cannot be done. So the only way forward then is to help her manage her anxieties, compulsions and obsessions surrounding this.

I hope the steroid cream works for you. I unfortunately get boob eczema quite a lot lol so I have to use steroid creams too. They do tend to work though which is good

When you see your therapist again it will be useful to tell them that you are struggling to put the tools you've been given into practice. Hopefully they will then be able to take a different approach in trying to find out why you are struggling to do that, and work at overcoming it so you can apply what you have learnt better.

I'm not saying you may actually offend anyone on the forums, I'm sure you haven't, but rather it could hypothetically be offensive to say that having a medical condition that millions of people have means that your life is over. I'm just trying to point out that your fears are overblown and irrational.

It is the catastrophising and all-or-nothing thinking that makes this an OCD problem. I have been told that I have an increased risk of getting dementia as it runs in my family, but I've just shrugged it off and don't think about it, and I'm just getting on with my life. Whereas you have decided that if you get told you have an increased risk of getting dementia then you will go into a state of non-existence for the rest of your life and that your life is basically over, which is a massively disproportionate overreaction. The issue is therefore how you are dealing with this, and that is what makes it an OCD problem. And can I just ask what is it about dementia that scares you so much? My grandmother has dementia and she is managing to live well and the progression of it has been slowed down massively with medication. I know you don't meant it but the way you are framing dementia as meaning your life would be over is a little bit offensive to those who actually have it and their families. I know you don't mean to be offensive at all, but you need to regain some perspective as you have blown it all completely out of proportion, which is characteristic of OCD.