Contamination - String Cheese

Hi everyone,
I'm going on almost two months of thinking about this contamination fear. I think about it every day, several times a day and have done my normal mediation and OCD exercises, but this thought is particularly sticky. I'm not sure if this is my OCD at play or if something is actually wrong.

Two months ago, I ate string cheese. I immediately got an upset stomach (felt like a slight burning sensation like if you took a shot of alcohol). I thought the ache would pass by morning, but I had some stomach pain for the next few days. I know the cheese was taken out of the house since it wasn't attached to the rest of the cheese in the package and probably left the house and came home with my 3 year old.

This is the hard part ... I remember seeing string cheese in the garage a few months ago and brought it back in the house. I'm worried that the string cheese sat out in the garage for a long time and was exposed to chemicals. I called poison control on the third or fourth day I was having stomach pain, and they said it is unlikely that I can have any permanent damage from eating string cheese that may have sat in the garage near chemicals since the food was still in its sealed package.

Over the past couple months, I've been suffering with this idea that I was poisoned by the string cheese and because it was exposed to dangerous chemicals in the garage, I now have brain damage. I feel like I'm not thinking clearly and people are asking me if I'm OK, which makes me think there really is something wrong.

I am having a hard time shaking this thought and since my OCD exercises are not working, and people are noticing that I am not OK, I think something may actually be wrong and I have permanently damaged my brain from eating string cheese that was contaminated.

Is this OCD or is something actually wrong?

Maybe read this old post of yours ..

https://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showth...13#post1846213

You thought something else had caused brain damage then so this is a reccurring theme.

Just based on the fantastical nature of your train of thought, I can safely say it's OCD. On a side note, I now have an inkling where "The String Cheese Incident" got their name ;)

Positive thoughts

No, you don’t have brain damage. Your anxiety can cause symptoms that terrify you.

Keep on trying with those exercises, don’t give up hope.

Thank you, everyone, for responding. I'll keep the OCD work up and hope the intensity of this thought lessens soon!

Fishmanpa - Too funny about String Cheese Incident. :)