BelAnna

Brownie

Thank you Daja. I do go for a walk each day but can't walk from my house (I go by car with someone else) and can't really walk/run by myself at the moment.

Thanks Daja. I'm beside myself with anxiety about it. My Dad was saying that she wouldn't have had blue lips for so long (5 or 6 years) if it was lung cancer because it tends to have a poor prognosis and progress quickly but I googled it and it is possible to have it for so long. She is very tired a lot of the time and was breathless earlier. I am hoping that it's something else but feeling so scared!

Sorry I started typing 'Lynz' above and then didn't realise I had!

Hi Lyn Hi Lynz, That's cool. Which subject will you be studying? I'm finishing an undergrad- I have three assignments left to go! I completed most of a degree at Edinburgh Uni years ago now and was on track for a 1st with an academic prize for top mark in my year group for 2nd year but I left at the start of third year (of a 4 year Scottish undergrad). I'm studying with the Open University now too as I'm pretty restricted to my house/almost housebound by OCD. I was only able to transfer 240 of 290 credits across towards a Combined STEM degree (or I could have transferred 120 credits towards a named degree but I didn't feel like spending 4 more years for that!). I wish I had completed my degree years ago but at least it means I can apply for a MSc Conversion to Psychology course or similar once I've completed it!

Aw that's good. Yeah I'm struggling to cope with this at the moment. I'm trying to finish an essay for my degree course but can't really concentrate. I wish I knew how to deal with anxiety much better than I do at the moment!

Thanks Daja. I am so worried. Hope you're getting on okay?

Hi All, I don't think this is OCD so it's a bit strange to write it here but I'm not sure where else to turn just now. My Mum has symptoms of late stage lung cancer, for example she has had on-off blue/purple tinged lips for a four or five years now. A couple of years ago she had a prolonged episode of hoarseness, which was only assessed minimally by an ear nose and throat doctor who didn't think to send her for a chest X-ray. In the last year she has also developed clubbed finger nails, a swollen face and more recently extreme fatigue. In the last few weeks her lips have started to turn a much paler blue and she is hoarse again and having to rest a lot. I have tried often to persuade my Mum to go to the GP during the last few years but aside from the period when she had extreme hoarseness, she has refused to go. I am 85% sure she has advanced lung cancer and feel winded with anxiety and so upset. She's probably the most important person in my life and my OCD has had a hugely negative impact on my whole family for over a decade now so if she does die soon, she will have missed out on a lot because of me. I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm being dramatic but all of the symptoms match lung cancer and I am so scared. She has finally made an appointment for next week.

I think it's totally unreasonable of your therapist Giusss! Your therapist could have contacted another service quickly if a patient was in crisis or told you that she needed to phone an ambulance. Texting for a prolonged period in an appointment is just rude! I would probably try to bring this up and say that you felt she was a bit distracted by her phone last time.

Stuck Controlled Helpless Incapable Distressed Limited/restricted

Hi Lucy1234, I have had ACT as part of CBT and found some of the principles really helpful however like Northpaul has said, I really think that it should be used in addition to CBT, not instead of it. The CMHT should really take your request for CBT into account but if they won't then you could try contacting Ashley about this or even asking the CMHT for a referral to one of the OCD specialist centres for CBT instead. This would be particularly relevant if your CMHT are now saying that your OCD is treatment resistant. Please don't feel as though you will never get better, people can have severe OCD for years and still get much better!

Congratulations for running this forum so successfully for so many years! I think I joined quite early on- in 2007 or 2008 but under a different name. I've still got a long way to go in my recovery process but it's great to have this amazing resource.

Hi SweetP, I'm sorry to hear you're going through this. Is your husband in contact with the GP? I have experience of the same, albeit with other family members- I get into horrible panicked states about this. I'm currently terrified that my mum might have (or really just convinced that she does have) terminal cancer because she is suffering from fatigue and blue tinged lips- I feel so anxious! I haven't really worked out how to deal with this yet and am hoping my next block of therapy helps. One thing that I do find slightly helpful is completing a 'Worry tree' exercise that one of my previous CBT therapists suggested and is quite helpful. Has your GP referred you for any therapy?

University

If you can afford it (I've never had one- they're about £300 for one appointment!) then it might be worth booking a longer private Psychiatric assessment,to put your mind at rest (well... with OCD, not sure!) that it's OCD and also because they can consider whether any of your symptoms are delusions or just obsessions. If you do have delusions rather than obsessions then different meds should help.

Merry Christmas Ashley! Thank you so much for all that you do for the charity! I feel very mixed about Christmas-theoretically I love the time with family, the indulgence and the fact that everything stops for a while (and used to be Christian so it was very special to me in the past) but the reality is often just a period of stress and arguments! Anyway, thanks for being there for sufferers over the Christmas period, it makes a huge difference to lots of us!

Thanks Northpaul. I hope you're getting on okay? Thanks RBT, I'm sorry that you're feeling really low too. Did the GP refer you to the CMHT?

Pity party here. I just have no-one to turn to and feel so low/am not coping very well and have no-one who really cares. My life has just gone from worse to worse during adulthood and although I'm not suicidal, I can't see future with any hope at the moment. I live with someone (not a partner) who is quite abusive towards me and it's making me feel quite worthless!

This would bother me a lot. I would use a long spade to push the bags away from the entrance to my house/garden in that situation.

Hi Maggie, Have you always had difficulties with organization, planning and concentration? I have and have ADHD with comorbid OCD. ADHD is a developmental disorder so always causes issues in executive functioning either from birth or as part of development in early childhood. If you've not always had EF difficulties then it's possible that issues like staying organized are a result of experiencing distracting worrying thoughts and having less free attention available or result from Depression. It might be worth discussing these problems with your GP if they're impacting on your life.

Thanks Lynz. Sorry if you'd rather not be asked any medical questions but I think I remember that you used to be a nurse- just wondering- do you think it's odd that only lefty is affected? It doesn't look like eczema (and I'm not prone to eczema elsewhere). I'm not looking for reassurance, just would like to know really!

I had a phone appointment with my GP. She couldn't see it as we were only speaking on the phone obviously, so said to try a prescribed steroid cream and see if it improves so that's the plan for now. I don't think it's superficial or necessarily going to clear up with steroid cream but I think it's standard procedure to try that first before referring.

If you're diagnosed with Depression or something else then yes but getting a diagnosis of OCD is probably a good idea anyway!

Thanks Ocdjonesy, I think I'm going to book an appointment on Monday. I keep having episodes of panic but have managed to distract myself so far! They don't have an e-consult option but it's a really good GP practice in a quiet Scottish village so it's quite easy to get a same day appointment (so different to my old GP practice in a busy midlands town where you had to book weeks ahead) and hopefully I can send some photos in the post or force myself to go in! I'm trying to stay calm but I wish I knew of a benign condition that this might be! One thing that is really bothering me is that I think that my massively excessive use of chemicals may have caused whatever this is and that not getting it seen to much sooner might mean that it will be worse if it is anything nasty.

Thanks Ocdjonesy, also just to say that your advice has really helped- I was in real state yesterday and as much as I'm still fairly sure this is cancerous (men please stop reading here!- it doesn't look so much like eczema as ridges and a collection of ducts that have all merged together into what looks like a growth), it doesn't add anything to the situation to be worrying ahead of time and I should take it one step at a time. Also I could be wrong and I hope I am!!