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What to do when you’re actually ill


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Hi guys,

i have contamination ocd and at the moment I’m really ill with ye flu, I’m talking migraine that hurts my teeth, vomiting every day and a fever, so far has been going on a week and shows no sign of slowing down. 

Its hard when your fears come true and now I’m finding it really hard to manage my compulsions, as well as the fact that my brain is saying I told you so you’d get sick 

I guess I’m just wondering if anyone has any advice, but I’d like to say I’m kinda fragile at the moment 

vi

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Hi vivi

Sorry to hear you're feeling so unwell!

I find compulsions harder to challenge with any extra stress in my life. A physical illness is an extra stress, so maybe that's also making it harder to manage your compulsions. When I see that stress is making my OCD temporarily worse, I just try my best to keep the compulsions limited but also try not to beat myself up about it, knowing that once the extra stress goes, I will go back to better management of the ocd.

People do get sick. It's a part of being human. No amount of compulsions will stop a person from getting sick, so the ocd part of your  brain trying to blame your lack of compulsions for getting sick is faulty thinking.

Rest up and get well soon.

Wishing you well! 

 

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On 11/01/2020 at 00:46, vivi_x said:

i have contamination ocd and at the moment I’m really ill with ye flu, I’m talking migraine that hurts my teeth, vomiting every day and a fever, so far has been going on a week and shows no sign of slowing down. 

If you've been sick for awhile like that its totally reasonable to see a doctor, in fact i'd recommend it!

P.S. The actual flu, aka influenza, seldom if ever involves vomiting.  

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Hi vivi,

I hope you're feeling better now!! I've just had a virus that lasted a few weeks (sore throat, chokey cough and fatigue) and it has made me a bit more anxious about contamination too. Did you go to see the GP in the end? 

I think that for every OCD thought such as 'I'm ill, therefore I wasn't careful enough so I need to make sure I wash my hands more/am more careful in the future'; you need to think something like 'I'm deliberately dropping my safety behaviours (e.g. excessive showering/use of disinfectant) in order to overcome my OCD' and/or 'I might be ill for two or three weeks this year but I will probably be well for the other 49 weeks and if I don't let my OCD ruin them then I can really enjoy 2020.

On 11/01/2020 at 16:12, dksea said:

If you've been sick for awhile like that its totally reasonable to see a doctor, in fact i'd recommend it!

P.S. The actual flu, aka influenza, seldom if ever involves vomiting.  

Yeah that's true Dksea. Apparently some strains of swine flu do cause vomiting but it is less common. It might be a sickness bug with a fever and the migraine from that or some people do just vomit whenever they have a fever. 

 

Edited by BelAnna
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 14/01/2020 at 18:20, BelAnna said:

Hi vivi,

I hope you're feeling better now!! I've just had a virus that lasted a few weeks (sore throat, chokey cough and fatigue) and it has made me a bit more anxious about contamination too. Did you go to see the GP in the end? 

 

 

On 15/01/2020 at 00:02, Handy said:

Or a Norovirus, aka Winter Vomiting disease.  It’s usually a 4 day thing but you can get it more than once. 

 

On 12/01/2020 at 01:40, leif said:

Yes I do also agree about going to the doctor for sure. 

I just thought you meant your usual compulsions were getting harder to manage while you've been sick. That happens to me.

 

On 11/01/2020 at 16:12, dksea said:

If you've been sick for awhile like that its totally reasonable to see a doctor, in fact i'd recommend it!

P.S. The actual flu, aka influenza, seldom if ever involves vomiting.  

Im finally getting a bit better, though it’s still not gone, I was put on antibiotics for 7 days and was told it was a really bad virus 

I ended up at a&e and my gp after calling 111

im struggling that if I was more careful and had listened to the ocd this wouldn’t have happened, I would have been safe, and I wouldn’t have had to miss 2 weeks of uni, meaning it’s all my fault that I’m behind and if anyone else gets it that’s my fault too 

im still not quite better, and the last month has be the hardest I’ve had in a really long time and it’s really hard to cope 

vi

 

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3 hours ago, vivi_x said:

im struggling that if I was more careful and had listened to the ocd this wouldn’t have happened, I would have been safe, and I wouldn’t have had to miss 2 weeks of uni, meaning it’s all my fault that I’m behind and if anyone else gets it that’s my fault too 

There's no reason to believe this is true though.  People get sick. Its a reality of life.  Its impossible to live a life where you both interact with the world AND stay perfectly healthy.  Don't let your OCD bully you in to thinking otherwise.  

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9 hours ago, vivi_x said:

 

im struggling that if I was more careful and had listened to the ocd this wouldn’t have happened, I would have been safe, and I wouldn’t have had to miss 2 weeks of uni, meaning it’s all my fault that I’m behind and if anyone else gets it that’s my fault too 

Agree with all the advice, just like to note, that this is a good example of "OCD says";

You do all your compulsions and still get ill.

OCD says " the compulsions haven't worked,better do more, and do them more often."

The impartial observer says

" The compulsions haven't worked, they are obviously a waste of time,  let's cut back on them!"

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