New. To this group

[Wjohnjack]

Hi everyone. I am new here but not new to OCD . I am in a very bad place right now and my symptoms are odd. I have health problems that I am trying to deal with but am not sure which are related to my neck issues and which are somatic and OCD related. I am just a twitchy mess.i twitch constantly when stressed mostly my hand. I am finding hard to function as I am constantly hyper focusing on my body which I think makes things worse. I wonder is our brain can cause these symptoms and make the symptoms worse I have a medical follow up with neck surgeon onTuesday. It don’t want a life altering surgery if not necessary at this time. Then my brain takes me to places like ALS and other horrible diseases. I google too much and think the worst. Any words of wisdom would be great or even someone who can relate to this might help a little . Thanks for reading

[Hidden]

Dear Wjohnjack,

I am very sympathetic. OCD can make your brain come up with some really awful, scary scenarios and because it's the "doubting disease," and the "What-if" disease, the scenarios can be really upsetting. The trick is not to try to suppress these "what-ifs," but to embrace them. My therapist had me do a lot of "Flooding," where you write long scenarios, horrible to the point of ridiculous. Then you read them repeatedly till you get bored. Can write yoy more later. Seems very counterintuitive, but really works!! Take care.

[Fargo-Guy]

Your mind can make your body ill. I have had ocd about illness of me and my family all my life. The anxiety caused by reading and thinking about it makes it worse. Are you in medication for anxiety? And OCD. If not you need to be. Get exercise to get worry off you mind. God Bless you. I will pray for you. God can help also.

[MyOCD123]

Hi there!

It’s funny you mention the whole ALS thing. That was one of my first real big obsessions before I got diagnosed after having some muscle twitching in my leg. The more I thought I had it, the more the twitching extended into other parts of my body, specifically my hands. If you did actually have ALS you would be experience a lot of muscle weakness, not so much twitching. My psychiatrist happens to work alongside many colleagues who specialize in movement disorders. What I thought was ALS for months turned out to be stress. Crazy how our brains can affect so many other areas of our body. But think about how stressed your mind and body are all the time! Twitching is very normal and nothing to be worried about. If you want some piece of mind and are truly concerned I would recommend seeing your primary doctor. But trust me, it’s most likely not ALS. Been there done that lol! Oh also, stay off of google! It won’t do you any good!

[bab5]

Hello.

I am glad that you have discovered this community. I have been in a place similar to yours in the recent past.

Health-related OCD affects me as well. Hyper-focusing tends to be one of the main symptoms of Health-related OCD (as well as nearly every other type of OCD). The body can definitely suffer physical symptoms based on mental worries/compulsions. That is something that we both have experienced.

I hope that your medical follow up today went well.

ALS is a major cause for concern for my brain as well. It can strike anybody at any time, and therefore I am constantly in fear that I will come down with that fatal disease.

It gets better. I promise.

I hope that your medical follow up today yielded some good news for you.

I struggle with health-related OCD. I know what it feels like

I may not have the same physical compulsions as you, but my brain knows exactly what your brain is currently going through.

Thanks for posting!