hotandbothered
20-06-23, 10:36
Hello - first post here, not sure where to turn.
Amazingly I can remember posting on here about the exact same thing about 15 years ago, look how far I've come! :shrug: /s
I have had the same health related anxiety since I was about 12. When I was 18 I was found to have a genetic predisposition to the thing I was worried about (fabulous for someone with OCD/premonition type mental stuggles).
I don't even want to mention the 'thing' because really I want tips and advice on the mental side. I have been to the doctor before last year and the thing I thought was there simply didn't exist.
Basically recently I turned 30 which is a huge trigger for me. I have had a year of the worst health anxiety flare up I have ever had. I'm in a cycle of times where i constantly (30-40 times a day) check the area. Poke and prod. and times where I hide under layers and layers of clothes and dodge the shower or sex or any reason to get undressed.
I'm in a checking, googling, checking, googling cycle at the moment. My recent period of depression induced shower avoiding has left me with spotty, itchy, scaly skin. The constant checking cycle i'm in has left me with sore, bruised skin. Now in my rational moments, I can see where I've caused my own downfall. When the panic takes over I think it all points to a serious illness and that's the end for me.
Not sure where I'm going with this but I just wanted to get it all out. I've tried fluoxetine when I was 17, I tried sertraline over the last year. I recently came off it because it exacerbated my previously undiscovered ADHD. I feel a bit like I'm just floating around in some kind of alphabet soup of mental health acronyms.
I really just want some tips and advice on how to manage better. Or to hear from someone who has been in the same mental space as me.
Thanks
Amazingly I can remember posting on here about the exact same thing about 15 years ago, look how far I've come! :shrug: /s
I have had the same health related anxiety since I was about 12. When I was 18 I was found to have a genetic predisposition to the thing I was worried about (fabulous for someone with OCD/premonition type mental stuggles).
I don't even want to mention the 'thing' because really I want tips and advice on the mental side. I have been to the doctor before last year and the thing I thought was there simply didn't exist.
Basically recently I turned 30 which is a huge trigger for me. I have had a year of the worst health anxiety flare up I have ever had. I'm in a cycle of times where i constantly (30-40 times a day) check the area. Poke and prod. and times where I hide under layers and layers of clothes and dodge the shower or sex or any reason to get undressed.
I'm in a checking, googling, checking, googling cycle at the moment. My recent period of depression induced shower avoiding has left me with spotty, itchy, scaly skin. The constant checking cycle i'm in has left me with sore, bruised skin. Now in my rational moments, I can see where I've caused my own downfall. When the panic takes over I think it all points to a serious illness and that's the end for me.
Not sure where I'm going with this but I just wanted to get it all out. I've tried fluoxetine when I was 17, I tried sertraline over the last year. I recently came off it because it exacerbated my previously undiscovered ADHD. I feel a bit like I'm just floating around in some kind of alphabet soup of mental health acronyms.
I really just want some tips and advice on how to manage better. Or to hear from someone who has been in the same mental space as me.
Thanks