Hi everyone,

Thank you all so much for your advice and support--it's really comforting to hear from people who have the same problems as I do. I didn't know that it was possible to have OCD & Anxiety at the same time. I had read that OCD is a type of anxious disorder, so somehow I assumed that they were the same thing. Boy, nothing's ever simple, is it?

About my doctor, yes, he's a GP. He doesn't seem to think anything is wrong, despite the fact that I've gone to him on numerous occasions to discuss my concerns with my health. With all due respect to him, I'm beginning to think he is not qualified enough to discern whether or not I have an anxiety disorder.

So, I'm pleased to announce that I've made an appointment with a local psychiatrist who accepts my insurance. Hopefully I'll get some answers soon, and treatment if I need it. Hah, it'll be funny to see my grandmother's reaction. She thinks only people who are "quacked out" go see the "head doctors". I should start crossing my eyes and walking sideways, maybe stick my tongue out and tell her about "the aliens"....o_O

About the EKG, my GP sent me to have one after I told him about my symptoms of elevated heartbeat, nervousness, shaking, dizziness, vision obscurity, rapid breathing, and pressure in my head & chest. I was then sent to the hospital for an EKG. The doctor viewed my EKG and said it looked "interesting" ( a word that should invoke terror in any hapless patient) and sent me to go have some sort of heart scan. Because I have a half-brother who has a slight heart problem, I was numb with worry while the nurse rubbed some sort of warm jelly over my chest and swirled around a wand with a ball on the end of it to take pictures of my heart. The hospital sent the pictures and recordings over to my doc and he gave me the all clear, so that's how I came about getting the tests.

I have to say, considering my immense fear of illness, the experience was quite the torture trip. Oh, I despise hospitals. I'm actually not so afraid of getting or giving illness, than I am of sick people in general. Especially vomiting, I am terrified of it. I go into full-blown panic attack when I know someone is sick nearby. I remember when my mother got back from the hospital, she was sick from all of the medication they gave her. I thought I'd die from the stress. Would that be considered OCD or a phobia, I wonder?

So, I'm making a list of my symptoms for the doctor visit (scheduled July 30th). I feel optimistic about getting some help, and I can only hope that the visit will be fruitful.

Thank you all again for the advice and support you've shown me. I've been doing some surfing around the web for information, so hopefully I'll come to the doctor prepared. I also took two of the tests offered on this site (one for OCD and one for Anxiety), and well....I scored 35 on anxiety and 20 on OCD. I suppose those are pretty strong results, and I'm doubly glad I made the appointment. I'll continue to come to this board for the great support, and I hope I'll be able to help other people out, too. If anyone else has any more advice or opinions, please feel free to share, as I'd love to hear them. Take care, folks.

Sincerely,

Ronni


Your shadow is laughing.