Norovirus and severe anxiety

[oetegenn1976]

I'm at my wits end right now, over the weekend I have had a stomach bug that has knocked me for 6.  Although I feel a little bit better than I did, I'm still feeling sick and have the runs.  I know it's a stomach bug but why is my head twisting it around.  

I'm terrified its something else, I'm terrified I'm going to die, I feel absolutely out of control, I feel like I'm going mad and need to be locked up, all because of this stupid stomach bug!

I know the thoughts are irrational, but my anxiety is absolutely through the roof, I need to calm down but just can't seem to switch off at all.  I'm on sertraline 150mg, not sure if thats in my system now! 

I'm just wanting to talk to someone, who might be similar.  I dont even know if it is a stomach bug and me just flipping out....I have no idea anymore, but I really want to get over it.  And my ocd is just latching on to the symptoms I'm feeling and the what ifs and making me and my health worse.

Please I just need a hug and chat to x

Feel like crying! 

Jo

[dksea]

Hi Jo, sorry to hear you are going through such a rough time right now.  On its own being sick sucks, but when you throw some OCD on top of it, well it just doesn't seem fair.  I can relate to the anxiety you are going through, i've had more than one occasion where my OCD took some physical symptoms and ran with them to the worst case scenario.  One in particular stands out, a while back I was getting ready to visit the US for the holidays (I currently live in Japan).  The day before I left I woke up early to go take care of some errands before my travels.  I recieved quote a shock as I used the bathroom for the first time that day and instead of the normal pale yellow my urine came out deep red.  So there I am, bordering on the verge of a full on panic attack trying to decide what to do.  Conveniently enough I was on my way to see my psychiatrist to get a prescription refill before my trip (Escitalopram in my case) so I e-mailed him to let him know i needed to stop by the clinic first because of my symptoms.  He called me back shortly after and helped talk me down a bit, saying it was probably nothing serious, most likely a kidney stone, and he'd call the clinic (its where I get my prescription filled anyway) to let the doctor know i'd be coming in and why (my Japanese is very basic).  Well I went in, they did a urine test, the doctor said it probably was a kidney stone, they'd send the sample in for review just in case but i was fine to travel home.  Fortunately my urine started to look more normal after that and I was able to relax enough to get things done and fly home, but I spent the next week still on edge, even though I was on "vacation".  Well about a week later I had red urine again, so I decided to go to a clinic back in the US to see if I could get some answers.  A few hours and some expensive tests later (including an MRI of my abdomen) I got the results....it was, in fact, a kidney stone.  I told the doctor I may be the first person whose ever been RELIEVED to get the diagnosis of kidney stone, because my OCD had (of course) convinced me it was probably going to be cancer.  Sound familiar?  Oh, and a few days later I got the e-mail from my Japanese doctor confirming that yes, in fact, their test also showed kidney stone, no cancer markers at all.  If I'd just waited a few days I would have saved myself a decent amount of money and gotten the exact same answer.

The moral of the story is, that OCD can make us assume the worst, even when all the intelligent people around us tell us otherwise.  I learned from that experience and when I went through a different situation a year later that involved a rare possibility of serious problems, but a likelihood of nothing serious, to trust the doctor and work on avoiding compulsions (like Google researching symptoms and possibilities) and rumination, and just keep going forward.  In the end the results were good (no serious problem!) and i saved myself a lot of unnecessary worry (though I did still worry some, thats normal when you are ill after all).

So my advice is to trust the odds, trust the doctors, and accept that while we unfortunately occasional illness are just a part of life, and while you feel crappy now, in time you'll be over it and back to your normal self.  Give yourself permission to feel like crud, treat yourself to some things that make you feel better, splurge a little as it were, and focus on getting well again.

[oetegenn1976]

Thanks much appreciated x still feel like I'm losing my mind or something.  Just taken Imodium, asked pharmacy if i can with sertraline and she said yes, but on Google it says no.... so now my nerves are shot to bits with that now, proper panicking.

[dksea]

6 hours ago, oetegenn1976 said:

Just taken Imodium, asked pharmacy if i can with sertraline and she said yes, but on Google it says no.... so now my nerves are shot to bits with that now, proper panicking.

My advice?  Trust the pharmacist and not Google when it comes to these sorts of things (unless its from an actual medical site such as the drug manufacturer, a government regulatory website, etc.)  Otherwise the internet is FULL of people who lack even the most basic understanding of the scientific method and how things really interact.  But you shouldn't be googling symptoms and drug interactions on Google anyway, thats a compulsion ;-)

 

[Guest Paul92]

Hi, 

I recently had a terrible sickness and flu bug. And I swear it messed with my head! In fact, before it started I was in the supermarket and I felt like my thoughts were intensifying. I had to go home. I didn't even feel sick at this point. But I got home and it all began. 

I'm still not 100% and I think anti biotics are having an effect on me. 

Just thought I'd say because I know that it can mess with your head! It'll pass. 

Take care. 

[oetegenn1976]

My anxiety is through the roof at the min, I've lost my brother in law to a sudden heart attack, so I'm grieving and now had blood tests back, in which the doctor rang me and said my ca125 levels are raised and need to have an ultrasound.   I'm not dealing with this at all, my stomach is in bits and have the runs again cos I'm worried about the what ifs! OCD is certainly not helping at the minute either. 

I'm so scared,  how can i possibly stop worrying and start relaxing with all this going on? 

Jo

[dksea]

17 hours ago, oetegenn1976 said:

My anxiety is through the roof at the min, I've lost my brother in law to a sudden heart attack, so I'm grieving and now had blood tests back, in which the doctor rang me and said my ca125 levels are raised and need to have an ultrasound.   I'm not dealing with this at all, my stomach is in bits and have the runs again cos I'm worried about the what ifs! OCD is certainly not helping at the minute either. 

I'm so scared,  how can i possibly stop worrying and start relaxing with all this going on? 

I'm so sorry to hear about the sudden loss Jo, thats terrible.  It must be a very stressful time for you and your family right now.  Of course stress and anxiety about that and the health tests are going to cause you anxiety, which only makes the OCD worse and that absolutely sucks.

For me, when my OCD was at its worst, the way I made it through was trying to focus on short term goals, one day at a time, or even a few hours at a time.  What could I do now.  Maybe it wasn't much, simple getting out of bed and eating a little food.  That was it, I'd do that and sit on the couch for a few hours watching TV.  It wasn't much but it was better than just lying in bed all day.  
For the health stuff, yeah that is hard, having to wait, all the unknowns.  Obviously talk with your doctor and schedule an appointment, but other than that its going to be a frustrating wait.  My advice there is to avoid research completely.  Its so tempting to google symptoms and possibilities when it comes to that stuff, but it almost never helps in my experience.  Even if it gives me temporary relief I always come back with more what ifs.  Again, just do your best to focus on what you can do, try to find things that you can focus on, or keep you busy, maybe even enjoy a little, though thats going to be tough when dealing with real problems like the loss of a loved one.
And give yourself permission to feel bad, you are going through a very tough time right now, its normal to feel bad about that.  We OCD sufferers tend to seek only happy, relaxed, good feelings because we deal with anxiety so much, but we forget that sometimes its normal to feel anxious or upset or angry or sad.  Give yourself permission to feel crappy sometimes, maybe a good cry, etc.  Do what you can and take it a little bit at a time.  And again, so sorry for your families loss.