Is this really OCD?

[tashbarnes87]

HI Guys, a people i have spoken to about my health anxiety have said that they think that i have OCD? I am not convinced and i think i have health anxiety.

I have become very aware of sick people around me and wont go near any one thats ill or potentially ill going to the docs is horrible. A guy sat at my desk the other day who had a cold and i cleaned my desk with my antibacterial spray until i was sure it was clean. I tend to breath in when i walk past people who look like they might be germy :) . I am that scared / wary of HIV that at the weekend i took up cross stich ( making a wall chart for my little boy when he's born) and i couldnt use the needle until it had been sterlised just in case the person who packed it had HIV and pricked his finger with it ( how in sane is that!!) i dont think its taking over my life im just very aware of things now. I think this is health anxiety as surely im doing all of these things as i dont want to get sick?

Any thoughts?

x

[joyce1980]

Anxiety and ocd go hand in hand.
I have acted the way you have.... even now i went to cut my broken nail with the scissors at my work desk and just in case someone had used them without me knowing i cleaned them with alcohole rub cos they might have aids or something...... and I know that aids does not live outside the body, so I think ocd is just part of health anxiety.

I have exhausted myself with many other forms of ocd as well.

[Rootytooty]

Hello

I completely agree with joyce.

Due to current Bowel problems, I have now become completely obsessed about food. I can't look at bacon, or any other processed meat. It makes me come out in a cold sweat. Eggs are another food I cannot look at, although I used to really like them.

I am also terrified of going to the toilet, but at the same time am obsessing about bowel movement (frequency, consistency, time of day). Sorry if that is TMI.


I think some people are just prone to this - many years ago I had a hand washing OCD - about the time AIDS hit the news in the 80's.

[tashbarnes87]

Thanks guys, im sure it is Healthy Anxiety with a little bit of OCD included. Right now i am currently obsessing over my teeth as i have a hole in one that is slightly painful and i have become aware that the dentist wont do anything until the baby is born. I have become obsessed with the fact it might start hurting and theres nothing that can be done so i do stupid little things like biting down to see how much it hurts and tapping that tooth just to see. Which is stupid becuase i reckon it hurts more now grr. its so annoying

xx

[joyce1980]

Yep, checking is so common.

I had this fear that a patch of skin on my back was going numb so every chance I got I would put an ice cube or cold spoon on that patch of skin to make sure I could feel it also I would pinch all over to make sure I could feel that too

I thought all of my skin was going to go numb........

I feel well silly now but at the time i needed to keep checking to reassure myself.

It was exhausting

Hugs to you