Please help- Health anxiety and OCD

About a month ago I was told by my therapist that I have OCD (mainly pureO). The day before I went to the psychiatrist who told me I have panic disorder and perscribed me medication (SSRI) for the anxiety, which is mostly when this all started. I read up on side effects of the medication I was taking because I was extremely fearful of them. The week I tried taking them I didn't get out of bed; I felt miserable. I couldn't stop thinking that I was going to pass out or have a seizure. This is when I started getting head tics/jerks. They are localized to where the bottom of my head meets my neck. It feels like a tensing up and then my head jerks. It is not noticeable to other people. The past three weeks have gotten increasingly worse. Despite working on this with exposure therapy, I am so afraid that something is wrong with my head. Along with the jerks, I constantly feel the tension in the back of my head/neck. I get funny feelings in my head that really scare me, and my ears are ringing constantly. I am so afraid of something bad happening that when even the slightest hint of something bad comes up (like my cat puking), I feel it all in my head. I haven't been able to get out of bed. I'm having frequent panic attacks and I just feel physically and mentally horrible. I'm afraid something is wrong with me and everyone is just passing it as anxiety. I'm also constantly on edge and scared something bad is going to happen. I have also started having actual physical compulsions, like grabbing the back of my neck, touching my face, looking in the mirror to see if my head is moving, and constant googling. These compulsions really don't relieve my anxiety; if anything it makes it worse. I had blood work done in July and everything was normal except my b12 was slightly low. Has anyone else felt this stuff with their head? If so, what helps it or makes it go away? This is really starting to affect my life.

Sorry this is happening to you Cat Lady. Did you call your doctor (Psych) when you started experiencing some of the physical issues?

Yeah, I can relate to this, Catlady.

The problem with SSRI's are they take FOREVER to actually work, and most of the time actually exacerbate the issue before it actually helps. The point of taking a medication is that the need for treatment outweighs the side-effects of the drug. I know it's hard to deal with, and trust me, I've been on a LOT of SSRI's when I say this, you may have to suffer for a while before the medication becomes effective. And even then, you may have to adjust dosing to get the right amount.

Anxiety can cause all of those physical symptoms you described. That's what makes it so scary, your mind can trick your body into believing something is wrong, and your body WILL respond to it.

If you have been on the medication for a while now, and aren't receiving any alleviation, then you should call your doctor and try something else or maybe even change the dosage.

Trust me, you can find a happy medium, it just takes time for some people.