Body aches - due to ocd?

[Sophhh]

Hey,

So recently i have been slightly happier since the sun is shining! I hope everyone is having a lovely easter...

So for the last few months or so my body had been really achey like a heavy muscley aches throughout my body (mainly) in my hands feet and lower legs around the calf area.

One of my major ocd triggers is health and so i am a known hypocondriac however i am trying to not panic or ruminate about it. The problem is the more my body aches, the more i worry, the worse my ocd becomes. I physically can not go to the doctors as i have a massive fear of them and last time i went into i was so anxious i dont want to put myself through it again. 

As well as this i have like a tingling feeling as if its like a full crampy feeling and have been extremely tired and irritable. I feel as though i sleep enough but am still really exhausted. And although annoying it seems to flare up, not all the time. I was wondering if anybody else had experienced this with anxiety and if so how did they help combat it. Any advice is appreciated?. 

I know i none of u can diagnose me, and altho it scares me i am working on building the confidence to go to the gp about it, but just in the meantime. 

Thanks xxx

 

[malina]

Hi Sophhh,

I had some physical symptoms of anxiety about 6 months ago so I can relate to what you're saying. Basically, the right side of my body started to feel kind of "heavy", I don't know how else to describe it. It was sort of like walking in a swimming pool but only on the right side. Then I started getting tingling sensations in my face and legs. I was terrified and went to see my GP, who could find nothing wrong with me. I even did a self referral to a physio and he also said that everything seemed fine and the symptom presentation wasn't very clear to him. Ultimately I read about how anxiety can cause physical symptoms too.

I just accepted that it was due to anxiety and it stopped. It comes back now every once in a while but I just remind myself it's anxiety and ignore it. Surely enough, it goes away. 

Going to the GP isn't a bad idea, if it turns out to just be anxiety related they can help you with that too.

Good luck, I hope it all goes well!

[BelAnna]

Hi Sophhh,

It's completely possible that this is caused by anxiety- you could be hyperventilating with anxiety (without necessarily appearing to have a panic attack) or tensing muscles through anxiety. 

It's also possible that it's something like a mild virus, which might disappear within the next few days. If it carries on for more than a week then you should pop into a Pharmacy or try to get a phone call appointment with a GP but provided you do not have a high temperature, a rash etc. and do not feel terribly unwell then it doesn't sound like a big deal. 

[lonely mum]

Fibromyalgia - google it.  It is possible 

[Sophhh]

1 hour ago, lonely mum said:

Fibromyalgia - google it.  It is possible 

Yes i was thinking this. I tend to obsessively search and google my symptoms but am trying not to feed my ocd. The possiblilty of fibromyalgia and was on my mind as this is sometimes caused by anxiety. 

3 hours ago, malina said:

I just accepted that it was due to anxiety and it stopped. It comes back now every once in a while but I just remind myself it's anxiety and ignore

Yes i have tried to ignore it and it works sometimes. It seems to get worse with lack of exercise, i am quite an active person but if i have nothing to do it usually get worse. 

1 hour ago, BelAnna said:

hyperventilating with anxiety (without necessarily appearing to have a panic attack) or tensing muscles through anxiety. 

Could anxiety be worse in times where i am alone or down??? I find that i am highly anxious when out, at college, in busy places and train etc. However these aches seem to occur when i am not doing anything most of the time altho not always. I dont know if this is becuz i am not occupying my mind and letting anxiois thoughts seep through???

Thank you 

[malina]

I would try to avoid Googling and self diagnosing, that is such a bad path. I did that when I had my physical symptoms and it made everything so much worse - I got more anxious and the symptoms became stronger. If you are really worried, talk to your GP. 

I think anxiety can manifest at any time. Mine often gets worse when I’m alone and there isn’t much else going on. This is when your mind becomes active and starts to invent things.

Are you getting treatment for OCD? 

[BelAnna]

4 hours ago, Sophhh said:

Yes i was thinking this. I tend to obsessively search and google my symptoms but am trying not to feed my ocd. The possiblilty of fibromyalgia and was on my mind as this is sometimes caused by anxiety. 

Yes i have tried to ignore it and it works sometimes. It seems to get worse with lack of exercise, i am quite an active person but if i have nothing to do it usually get worse. 

Could anxiety be worse in times where i am alone or down??? I find that i am highly anxious when out, at college, in busy places and train etc. However these aches seem to occur when i am not doing anything most of the time altho not always. I dont know if this is becuz i am not occupying my mind and letting anxiois thoughts seep through???

Thank you 

Fibromyalgia is just a diagnosis of exclusion- so it basically means that a patient has unexplained distributed pain and/or fatigue so it's not something to worry about. It can have lots of different causes and is not a disease in itself but a collection of unexplained symptoms.

Anxiety could definitely be worse at times when you are alone, depressed or not actively thinking about other things. I definitely find my anxiety and some of my OCD thoughts are worse in those situations. You could always see whether if you engage in an activity/hobby when you're alone, the aching is less noticeable?

 

[Guest]

Hi Sophhh, hope you are having a good Easter. Just my thoughts but, anxiety can cause us to tense our muscles, which over time will cause them to get tired and achy. If you are anxious when out and about, and then when you get home and relax, it's at that point you will notice the aches - anxiety can be like doing a workout sometimes because it involves muscle tension and rapid breathing/heartbeat. Rapid breathing can also effect circulation and cause tingling sensations. Exercise helps because it strengthens your body to withstand the work anxiety puts your body through so you don't get worn out from it as quickly, and exercise is also good for mental health for various reasons such as using up adrenalin, so maybe that is why you notice it more if you don't exercise. Mindfulness can help to build self awareness, so that you can notice in real-time if you are tensing your muscles, so you can then take steps to relax them before they get worn out and begin to ache. Having said all that, I'm not a doctor, do you have anyone who could go to the gp with you? 

[Handy]

‘Rumination’, which is a compulsion, refers to prolonged thinking that is experienced as
uncontrollable around and around the same subject includes both intrusive thoughts,
often in the form of doubts or questions, and repeated attempts to find an answer. In
this way it covers both the obsession (the doubts or question) and the accompanying
compulsive thinking which attempts to answer the question.

Excessive reassurance promotes avoidance. It also reinforces the idea that the person cannot cope with the uncertainty or distress associated with an obsession and that avoidance is the only way to deal with it. Avoidance is particularly harmful in the case of OCD as it keeps the person from discovering that their fears may be unfounded. In this way, although excessive reassurance makes the person feel better in the short-term, in the long-term it only serves to perpetuate the symptoms of OCD.