At a loss for what to do

[NicoletteCB]

Hi everyone,

It saddens me I have to post on here twice in several days as I had recovered a while back but oh well.

Back in April I had to have an emergency laparoscopy to remove my left ovary. It was a very traumatic experience for me. 

Ever since my surgery my OCD has switched sadly over to worrying about sudden health or death crises.

I have worried about everything from having a stroke, heart attack, blood clots, aneurysm, to even choking on my food and dying.

Recently the obsession has expanded to included fear of death by sleep deprivation or sudden death in sleep. It’s a lose- lose eitherway.

Last night I did not sleep, I slept in the morning for maybe three hours. I had to miss my college class due to my tiredness. 

I’m not sure what to do because I try to label and move on but I’m absolutely convinced I’m going to die. 

I’m considering taking something like Zoloft at this point honestly. I have a therapist who is an OCD specialist but I can only see her twice a month as she’s out of my insurance and expensive

[paradoxer]

Sorry to hear about your 'real life' problems, as for the 'might happens' of OCD, I suspect you know what tools to implement. If you think an SSRI might give you the useful water-wings, why not?  

[Sodovka]

NicoletteCB, sorry to hear you’ve been struggling with health related themes. Those can feel really terrible, like all OCD. I can only really speak about my own experience, but I have found that it’s been really helpful to be on an SSRI, and I’ve been on a number of different ones over the past  24 years. There are definitely some side effects for a lot of people, but I believe they are a part of the solution for many of us. I’m currently on duloxetine 60 mg per day but I’ve also taken paroxetine, sertraline, and some others.  My only advice is to make sure you go to a psychiatrist who understands something about OCD, because that has been the most helpful for me.