Talk Cancer

Question:

I do not know if I have OCD or if I belong writing in this group.  But I obsess about getting sick.  I have a tremendous fear of getting ill.  I can think about so much that I believe I have the symptoms.  It drives me and people around me crazy.  I try to control it and sometimes I can and other times I cannot.  I constantly need reassurance that I am not getting the "flu" if I feel the slightest ache or scratchy throat.  I have thought about seeing someone about this but just haven’t yet.  Any one else with a similiar situation and what do you do to control this?

Response:

I do not know if you have OCD, but I do know that this is one of my biggest fears and I obsess about it a lot. My husband has a cold right now so I am "on alert" now for any signs of a scratchy throat or excessive sneezing, etc. I will only kiss him on the cheek, poor guy. Colds are not too bad, though- as I know I can function with one. A co-worker’s daughter had a stomach virus and she told me yesterday that she thought she was getting it. ALERT! ALERT! My worst fear. Puke. I backed away from her like she had the plague. Health concerns have always been a big problem for me. Right before my monthly period, when your breasts swell and get tender, I will sometimes get a shooting pain and the first thing I think of will be "I know I have cancer!" It’s terrible. Ida Jenny Cain <monk…@execpc.com> wrote in message

news:38336035$0$96896@news.execpc.com… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I do not know if I have OCD or if I belong writing in this group.  But I > obsess about getting sick.  I have a tremendous fear of getting ill.  I can > think about so much that I believe I have the symptoms.  It drives me and > people around me crazy.  I try to control it and sometimes I can and other > times I cannot.  I constantly need reassurance that I am not getting the > "flu" if I feel the slightest ache or scratchy throat.  I have thought about > seeing someone about this but just haven’t yet.  Any one else with a > similiar situation and what do you do to control this?

Response:

Jenny. I too fear getting ill.  Like Ida, my main thing is vom.  Gross!  I am trying to get over this fear because I tend to obsess about it for obsessing’s sake i.e. I see people on the street and imagine them voming all over. I actually did get a nasty cold just recently with sore throat, fever, chest and nasal congestion…the whole deal (not Voming though…whew)  and I was fine with it except one night after having the cold for about 3 days, I went to swallow and my muscles didn’t work and I couldn’t swallow until I tried it 3 or 4 times.  Well, let’s just say I flew into a frenzy of OCD thinking I was gonna die and it was gonna remain like that etc.  My partner had the same cold and I asked her about it…thank God, she said the same thing had been happening to her.  It was like the mechanism was off or something.  Apparently, that is normal though as my partner asked a woman freind at work about it and the woman said that it’s the congestion that causes this. It happened more of course when I began to obsess that I was dying and basically I had to get quite the grip or it would still be happening today. Hoping I didn’t add to your already fear of getting sick……it’s not common or anything. As to whether or not you have OCD?  Who knows.  I think many people in the "norm" are overly nervous about getting sick.  It doesn’t mean it’s a problem…unless of course it takes time away from your day or creates panic. take care tiff

Response: