The Worrier's thread

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

For instance ... the last week or so I've been getting lots of little muscle spasms (in my hands, shoulders, and legs mostly).  So I immediately assume it's something like MS, or Parkinson's disease.

What a coincidence, Darth, I've been having muscle fatigue/weakness in my arms and legs randomly and my mind conjured up similar possibilities.  Since it goes away (even if it comes back), logically it is a physical manifestation of stress-related anxiety.  If only the human mind could be so easily convinced, however...

[LimpingFish]

I've talked about this before, but what the hell...

I'm all too aware of the catalog of shite an OCD infested mind can produce, having experienced most of it during the fourteen years, or so, since I was diagnosed.

My OCD flavour is "Germs, Diseases, and how to contract them."
At one time or another, I have been convinced I've had:

Cancer (All varieties).
Aids.
Weils Disease.
MS.
Motor Neuron Disease.
Variant CJD.
Hepatitis.
Legonnaires Disease.
The one were the bacteria gets into your head, and eats your face from the inside out.
Etc, etc...

Every lump was a tumour, every bruise was Kaposi's sarcoma.

Area's of my own house became no-go zones, if occupied by clothing or objects that may have come into contact with a person who I perceived may be "infected" (with what, was never clear to me).

Routines I had to go through to ensure I felt "safe" became more bizzare and intrusive until...

Well, until medication was the only answer.

...and fourteen years later, here I am. The OCD is still with me, as it probably always will be, but now, through a build up of many factors, I control It, rather than It controlling me.

[Raggit]

Well, until medication was the only answer.

I was prescribed medication for my anxiety on my last doctor visit, but am afraid to take it due to fears of having an allergic reaction, becoming dependent, etc... 

I don't really know if I should.  I want to talk about it more before I take it.  Maybe a different approach would be better, rather than just going to pills right off the start.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

The only other approach is to gradually control your phobias,etc (as I do) through positive thinking.  It isn't 100% successful, but neither is medication.  I take medication if I feel it is necessary, but I simply refuse to have my senses dulled when I am capable of controlling my hypochondria.  Remember, anxiety and depression medications are a crutch; they cover up the problem rather than resolving it.  While this may be preferable to some people, I would much rather work through my fears than take a drug that hides them.

[Renal Shutdown]

I have to wear a certain t-shirt on a certain date, every year, or bad things happen.  I've missed that said date twice.  One year, a plane crashed a few days later.  The second time, London got bombed.

It might seem like coincidence and superstition, but personally, I'm not going to test the theory a third time.  Just in case.

As for things pertaining to myself, I couldn't care less.  It's not a fear of self-harm, it's a fear that others will suffer if I don't do things.  Life threatening illnesses don't worry me in the slightest.  I know I'll die sometime.

That said, I do have a mild fear of germs in certain places.  Toilet seats, for one.  Public phones for another.

[Raggit]

Okay, so I talked to my doctor again today.  I'm going to start taking Citalopram.  Anybody here know anything about?  I've been researching it, and I guess I'm comfortable with taking it. 

I'm only going to be taking it for about six to twelve months, on a very low dose.