SavPierce

I second the dry air as a probable cause. Could also just be simple dermatitis - new sheets on the bed, new clothes, anything like that could potentially be a surprise irritant. If it's bothering you, try a Minute Clinic - they can diagnose and give you something to relieve the itching.

Amen - it's a hard road but every day you confront your anxiety rather than allowing it to dictate your behavior, you're reinforcing a pattern of healthy coping and making it easier to deal with the next time it rears its head.

I'm so sorry you're going through this. You will make it - it might be a rough couple of weeks, but you have survived everything else up to this point, and you'll make it through this as well. Try to be present and focus on the moment because now that you've got an action plan laid out, there's nothing that worrying will do to change the outcome.

It is ABSOLUTELY possible that it's harmless. It's likely that it's harmless Our digestive tracts are pretty complex things so stuff changes at the end of the track based on a lot of different everyday factors. It could be as simple as something you ate. I know it's easier said than done, but try not to worry about sudden "new symptoms" - it's only been two days and you didn't mention any other problems, so assume that it will resolve itself and try not to look so closely in the meantime. If you had something horrible, you'd have other symptoms and it would be going on for a much longer period of time.

Another thing that it could be is overactive thyroid, which is pretty common. I have that and choking/swallowing problems was one of my first symptoms. Have they taken blood or other more basic labs before they did the barium swallow?

The "danger zone" for botulism to grow on a baked potato requires that it was kept in aluminum foil at room temperature for about 4 hours - it's highly unlikely that those conditions would occur in a restaurant setting, and if they're anything like the one I worked at, they don't even use aluminum foil to make potatoes. You're fine

Oh man, I've never worried about a brain eating amoeba before... off to add that to the list! XD

Depersonalization, depression, yes - both of those things can have that effect. It's unlikely that it's anything other than a mental health symptom.

You're in control of your mind and body - it might be scary to have those thoughts, but even for people with pure o, if you don't actually want to harm someone, the thoughts are not going to make you do it. If this is a pattern, or if you already have an OCD diagnosis, you should probably talk to a mental health professional to figure out the best course forward. If it's an isolated incident, then it's probably just anxiety getting the best of you for a little while.

Food poisoning is almost always a 2-6 hours later thing. If you're not sick by now, you can rest assured you're not going to be!

Don't bother to reply to them - it's all bot activity. On the internet, no one can hear you scream at the advertisers lol.

What if you think of it more like putting your problems in perspective? There are some people here who have very similar issues to mine, and others whose issues are so different that I can't really relate to them, but it all boils down to anxiety. If you can acknowledge that some of the things you worry about feel trivial, then you can assume that there are a lot of people here who are also worrying that their concerns are trivial, and still more people whose worries seem trivial to you because it's not the same anxiety presentation that you have. At the end of the day, it's all the same problem expressed differently.

Do you have an actual heart condition, or is it just anxiety? Did you tell your doctor about the palpitations? If you did, you can rest assured because they would not have prescribed you something that could be dangerous combined with other conditions.

It's great that you've been able to manage your anxiety and improve the severity of it - you should be proud of yourself for coming so far. Welcome to the group, hopefully we can help you through your present stressors.

Breathe and try not to go down the "what if" path - good luck, I hope it's nothing!