Recent hypochondriac attack

[highlight]

Yes yes I know that this forum is mainly for people with OCD but in my case it is ocd mixed with hypochondria. in fact according to my therapist I have about five different anxiety disorders. these are OCD , hypochondria (health anxiety) , social anxiety , emetophobia and body dysmorphic disorder. As well of course dyslexia and other LDs that keep success a fantasy.

I have no friends as well as no real qualifications and no plan to get any of those things. I don't really know what to do with my mental problems CBT has failed to even scratch the surface. I do have medication but I have unwanted side-effects that freak me out as I already am in a worked up state.

anyway I created this topic to hear from someone who may have advice. anyway although I face anxiety on a daily basis every so often I have attacks which really throw me around. these tend to involve feeling like there is something horribly wrong with me and quite recently (when I say that I mean 3 months ago) I had one of these.

It was very difficult to get over these initial attacks and then afterwards I have had many relapses that are nearly as bad as the original attack. Now although the past four days I have had it pretty well and this month although at times had been difficult is better than it was before. I still am obsessing , having intrusive thoughts and just a plain sense of fear.

How long will this go on for? or have I finally snapped? :ermm:

[Guest itsnotmeitsmyocd]

Hiya highlight,

to the forums, you will get lot's of friendly advice on here from people that really understand.

When you say hypochondria, is it possible that it's actually ocd at play? As in you are getting an intrusive thought revolving around a health theme? In my younger years I used to have health themes ocd wise, so totally understand how you are feeling right now. The sense of fear that you are feeling is a common byproduct of anxiety. If you can let it be there, see it as nothing more that excess adrenalin that will eventually run it's course. Just like a huge wave will always become a calm ripple.

[highlight]

mmm yes and no.....I feel like the two are separate but connected and possibly part of a collective whole. I used to freak out as a kid because I would convince myself that I was ill this is a symptom more of hypochondria and there is a distinct different feeling between OCD and hypochondria. But one can trigger the other.

I dislike the wave analogy because it suggests the idea that it is a quick process in reality it is a slow painful one. Also in the past I have thought "wow I feel better this must be the end!" and then had a massive break down and was pushed back to square one.

[Guest itsnotmeitsmyocd]

Hiya,

Sorry i didn't mean to sound as if i was saying that you didn't have hypochondria, so sorry if it came across that way. It's just that i was told i had this, and then in later life i realised it was all ocd, just different themes along the way. In many ways the treatment is probably quite similar - please correct me if i am wrong. But i am thinking that if it's an ocd thought or a hypochondria one, then these are not reality but the disorder talking, so the way to deal with them are the same?

The wave analogy i do like, mainly as i am a real water lover. Some waves do go on for a very long time before they calm, but eventually they do calm. Another reason i like it is that i have tried swimming against the waves, and it does no good, you kinda have to ride them out. I was scuba diving in choppy waters in west Africa once, it was terrible at first as i was fighting with the force of the waves. Then i tried going with them, and then eventually under this were calm serene waters and loads of amazing fishes of course.

Never see yourself as going back to square one, it feels like that but it's not the case. The fact you worked hard and got up there in the fact place shows how strong you are and that you can do this again. Often recovery is much closer than you realise, yes there will be knocks along the way. But get back on and do what you know works, and soon you will get there.

[highlight]

ohhh well I guess the main difference between OCD and hypochondria is that whilst ocd is upsetting most people who have it realise it is irrational. with hypochondria this is not the case. many people are convinced that there really is something wrong with them. I spent time as a kid convinced I was dying. as I have grown older I developed ocd later the two are intertwined in my case and I often use ocd as a comfort mechanism but it has become a problem in itself. Maybe if you don't mind you could describe your experiences to me as I could probably tell whether you had it or not based on personal experience.

As for how I am now I feel pretty good but I would not jump to any conclusions as of now.

[Guest itsnotmeitsmyocd]

Hiya highlight,

Ah ha, thank you for clarifying the difference between the both - you're really good at explaining things and getting to the point without going around the houses. I am sorry that you have to cope with so many disorders, you are doing amazingly well. I do understand how hard it is when you have two disorders that "get involved" with each other. I have this too with ocd & ptsd, half the battle is to know which is playing up and try to make the correct responses according to which it is. When you say that you often use ocd as a comfort blanket for hypochondria, how does this play out? Is it that you label any hypochondria thoughts as ocd to try to resolve the problem- or am i way off the mark- probably am!

I certainly do not mind, it was at it's height when i was very young, under 13-ish. I was sure that i had a brain tumor (usually sparked by headaches) and that i would die suddenly. Then the worst one was being sure i had breast cancer - i was at the age where my body was maturing and understood these lumps to be cancer- sorry if that's too much information, but you did ask! This fear went on for ages tbh and it was not something i could have asked my dad about, and back then there was no internet.

The reason i now know it was ocd is that i also had thoughts about other people dying, and also thought that if i thought something bad, then it would happen. Obviously i now know about ocd and intrusive thoughts but back then i didn't.

On another note my daughter is also dyslexic so i know allot about it. Are you creative? I am pretty good at mentoring career wise - not cracked ocd yet. So maybe i can offer you some assistance?

[highlight]

In my experience these problems often mix together. for example I have social anxiety so I often have thoughts of making a fool of myself in public. The experiences you mentioned do sound like hypochondria perhaps a brief spell of it. but for me it was around before I really had OCD. believe me you should be glad that there was no internet for you to search on. I used to spend hours searching conditions on the internet and getting increasingly paranoid. its just to much information.

I found that the focus changed from theme to theme from toxins to cancer from cancer to other diseases. I myself don't think that I suffer from ptsd although I do think a lot about moments of my childhood when corporal punishment was used. :'(

as for I am creative well it depends who you ask...I have been called that a lot and think I am quite a good artist so pretty much. but the more I understand the more I am beginning to realise that our society values maths english and other " logical skills. these are the people who succeed in life. even my mum seems to think that I would not be able to get a job in the art industry. she seems to think I am only good for stacking shelves in tescos.

[Guest imalright]

Have you seen this, highlight?

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hypochondria/Documents/Health%20Anxiety%20A4%20%202010.pdf

I get bouts of it. My GPs are well aware of it....I pop my head round the door with a wide smile and they start giggling :-D 'what is it this time?!' they say! I only have it a few times a year but it is stressful....my GPs would like to tackle it one day but sadly too much going on with OCD and PTSD treatment to work on that right now.

I spent my childhood at risk...I was from a poor family, abusive and neglect...so spent a lot of time thinking I was going to die. I believe this is where my health anxiety comes from for me x

Take a look at that link if you haven't already seen it

Xx

[highlight]

Thanks for the resource! I had not read that and will get down to reading I soon. You also have Heath anxiety and OCD? Is it a patten to have both? I do know that depression and anxiety are linked but OCD and health anxiety?

I don't want to get across the idea that I had a really horrid time as a kid. But when I told my therapist about this she did seem to think it ws of concern and it is something which does upset me when I contemplate it.

I mean how can being hit by the same people who are supposed to love you not mess with your head? I rember she would say sorry afterwards but then sometime later it happened again. I don't know really how many times it happened in fact one of the things I am scared of is that there may be many things that may be repressed.

I used to feel angry about it and even hateful but know I am just a tad confused.

[Guest imalright]

Hey

I'm not sure if they're linked....hmm......but if you think about it, they're pretty much the same!

For example.....we experience a symptom....we panic and start catastrophising our thoughts and then do loads of compulsions to reduce the anxiety (reading everything on the internet and going to the doctors).

Let me compare that to my OCD. I experience a normal symptom of anxiety....I think that I've had illegal drugs....I then throw everything away, food, clothes, e cigarette to reduce the anxiety.

Perhaps....it's all OCD???!

:-0

My gosh! I'd never considered that before hahaha!

I wonder if any of the other lovely, more experienced forum members have gor any thoughts on this?

*bump*

;)x