OCD and heart??? - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Message Board

erin1979 · 02-11-2005, 11:55 AM

I am always thinking that I am having a heart attack.
I am so afraid .
like in the middle of the night I had a lil pain in my chest area ( heart area) and thought ohh no this is it!! i am gonna die.
I get lil pains here and there went to the doctors they say all is good , so why do we get heart or chest pains?

dgold · 02-12-2005, 05:27 AM

ok, try this behavoral therapy technique. I am not a doctor but I do read alot and I have been treated for many years with bad OCD.!!!!!!!

When the OCD is weak and not bothering you only. Do this!!!!!!
You need to desensitive your brain to these thoughts. So go in a quite room and close your eyes and imagine that you are going to have a heart attack. Imagine your heart pumping faster and faster until your arteries collapse and the flow of oxygen is cut off to your brain. Imagine the pain and agony. Try to do this for a few minutes and then gradually increase your duration up to an hour if you can. The key is too face these horrible OCD urges and thoughts and not to AVOID THEM. Face them gradually and teach your brain to desensitize them. if it gets too strong and you feel like your going to have a massive paniac attack then stop immediately and leave the house and go for a walk or call a friend. Do be ashamed . I have thoughts that are more bizarre myself.
By visually these thoughts you teach your brain to accept them.
this is just one technque. IF you can have a friend there with you as you visualizing the worse possible thing happen. Exaggerate your thoughts as much as possible about the heartattack. Dont hold back. You may want to contanct the national OCD foundation for a certified behavoral therapist for OCD that does ERP trainning

dgold · 02-13-2005, 07:06 PM

OCD is very powerful enemy. It is a daily battle with me. However, once you take the road of reasurrances and double-checking or avoidance you will always LOSE!!!!!!
I know its hell.......... It has destroyed my life for years. Now with high doses of meds I am improving but still a battle of hell.

leonna · 02-14-2005, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erin1979

I am always thinking that I am having a heart attack.
I am so afraid .
like in the middle of the night I had a lil pain in my chest area ( heart area) and thought ohh no this is it!! i am gonna die.
I get lil pains here and there went to the doctors they say all is good , so why do we get heart or chest pains?

god you sound just like me!
i pullled all my back and shoulder muscles,i dunno how,and i didnt know this at the time.
but i had so much pain,and it was in my left arm 2 * Which i heard is this side you have pain thru when having a heart attack?*
so i worried so much,i got a cold sweat,i got prickley,i worried none stop,i went on every website,i even done a quiz,which told me to dial 999 'cos i was possibley having a heart attack,and my god! that made it ALOT worse.
i cryed so much,mum had to keep telling me every ten mins i was NOT having a heart attack,but i wouldnt belive her,i wanted 2,but i couldnt.
anyway,when she found out where all the pains were,she put this deepheat stuff on me,and it killed..so bad lol. but,she kept doing it,and it went. i had pulled alot of muscles * probley due to the way i sleep,i dunno * but,now,if i get a tiny little pain,i still think im having one.
i cant help it,i wont stop worrying,i wish i could.
sorry,this post isnt going to help you at all,i just wanted you to know,i KNOW how you feel.
x

Yog-Sothoth · 02-19-2005, 02:45 AM

This post won't help you much, but I guess it couldn't hurt to know that you're not alone with the problem. I worry about heart attacks too. In fact, I'm only awake right now because I was worrying about having one while lying in bed (well, that and rabies had me worried, also). I didn't even know I HAD OCD until earlier tonight when a friend of mine told me about the symptoms. Sorry that wasn't very helpful.