How do i get rid of OCD

[flyaway]

Originally Posted by In My Own World

Thanks, excellent post. One thing that deeply troubles me is when I can't tell the difference between OCD and a real concern... since my ocd themes are death, germs, getting sick, my general health, and over responsibility/paranoia. See how it can get mixed up?! Any thoughts?

please dont get troubled when u cant tell the difference between OCD and real concern.

im sure u have heard of "if it feels like OCD it probably is OCD". it is useful to some extent but i am toward the belief that if we could tell the difference exactly, then OCD would not be a problem for us. if we could tell the difference, it means our mind is normal and we wont have OCD. perhaps u'd have to accept that we would not be able to tell the difference and then try to move on. i think this problem arises precisely because of our OCD. meaning that u have to believe that whether it is OCD or a real concern or not, it doesnt matter, do not spend the time worrying the things beyond our control. And precisely because it is beyond our control, the more reason why we shouldnt worry about it.

Originally Posted by In My Own World

But the problem I find with always trying to accept is that there is always a strong desire for ocd to "just go away." I mean when ocd starts in with me I always FEEL like "oh no not you again... now I'm going to feel like crap for a while... it never shuts up"

if this is any consolation, i'd like to tell u that i feel exactly the same way as you do. i want it to get lost and not come back. it is not i choose to feel this way. it is my wish. particularly because my case is so severe that it has affected my ability to function in life, be it studying, working, having fun etc. for some pple, even though they ruminate all the time they somehow are able to hold their job and earn a living, so by applyin CBT they can lessen their OCD to their acceptable standards live with it. but not for my case.

Originally Posted by lkay213

the thoughts are the worst for me. the fact that such a thought would enter my brain is the worst element of it. the subsequent anxiety and panic i can deal with. for me, i just wish the thoughts never existed, because i always feel somehow different in personality, or tainted when i have the thoughts.

Originally Posted by anything2feelbetter

well, i have the same case exactLY, i always wish the thought never existed moreover, i always feel am a different person when am under obsessions, like m not the person who makes other laugh and have fun.. ocd really sucks, hopefully all of us will feel better

Precisely. Exactly how i feel. and honestly, this is what i cannot accept. As in I cant condition myself to think that ocd is a 'friend' or something when it clearly is not.

[flyaway]

Originally Posted by zbign

Learn to overcome fear by whatever works for you. counselling has good results and so does therapy. Dont focus on any of the side issues such as brain chemistry, because this will only get you bogged down and even more confused. Fear is what feeds OCD, if you can target fear and bring it under control, Ocd has nothing to feed on and it dies.
All the other technical stuff about OCD can bring you to a place where you feel that there is nothing much that can be done for you and you can just resign yourself to it, and this can seriously damage your chances of a full recovery. Dont research alternative medication or any fancy suggestions although there are some things that can act as a placebo and you feel like your doing something to help yourself. Fear is what is causing it all and it shoud be your focus if you are looking for a full recovery.

Fear feeds on OCD and aggravates it, i totally agree, but lack of fear doesnt mean u wont be faced with any spikes. i suppose your definition of a full recovery means able to accept it, bring it under control, live with it and function in life without it being able to traumatize you anymore? and not in the sense that it wont ever come back?

fear is causing it, but what is causing this fear which is unreasonable and when it shouldnt be there in the first place? And, to each his/her own, if alternative/natural treatments work for you, why not research on them? Anyway, i strongly believe that if natural treatments work for OCD, it is NOT a placebo effect(for most cases).

i do agree that if issues like brain chemistry brings u nowhere and causes u more doubt, then there is no point pointing the focus to it. however if it helps, then it should be researched on. most importantly is not to focus on something which cannot help.

sorry, im not here to start a tirade if i sound like it, im just honestly expressing my feelings and opinions.

[rafayelyan2000]

your right fear feeds on ocd i remember when i was little my grandpa warned me about seria@ ki@@ers, also dont go outside, he used lock the door 3 times in perfect order and he was always scared to leave outside. It was ingrained in me when i was little so thats why i developed ocd. I have a question does that mean my grandpa had ocd?

[HollyW]

Learn to overcome fear by whatever works for you. counselling has good results and so does therapy. Dont focus on any of the side issues such as brain chemistry, because this will only get you bogged down and even more confused. Fear is what feeds OCD, if you can target fear and bring it under control, Ocd has nothing to feed on and it dies.
All the other technical stuff about OCD can bring you to a place where you feel that there is nothing much that can be done for you and you can just resign yourself to it, and this can seriously damage your chances of a full recovery. Dont research alternative medication or any fancy suggestions although there are some things that can act as a placebo and you feel like your doing something to help yourself. Fear is what is causing it all and it shoud be your focus if you are looking for a full recovery.

Interesting points of view here. I must say, I'm with you on the whole alternative meds side of things; but that's only because they've done nothing for me. I tried St Johns Wart and also a vitamine B complex (high strength) - both, I feel made my anxiety worse. Saying that, that's only my experience and I can only speak from that.

Saying that, I've also tried various forms of counselling and most recently a long course of CBT - again this did nothing for me, although I objectively recognise the therapist was excellent. I was totally committed to it and genuinely thought I would see some progress from doing it....but nothing.

So here's what I've tried in the past 10 years:

counselling (4 different therapists including one specialising in CBT)
hypnotherapy (absolutely awful - therapist was totally rubbish and caused more harm than good)
St Johns Wort
Vitamin B Complex
Emotional Freedom Technique (where you vigourously tap parts of your face and hands...can't beleive I stuck at it for so long - did nothing!!)
Audio reconditioning programmes (felt they were starting to work initially...then BAM! Back down.)
Clomipramine
Escitalopram
Prozac

Of all the above,it's only when taking the meds that I've seen any degree of improvement. But even then, it's only manageable by the skin of my teeth. I'm beginning to lose hope...actually scrap that, I'm sad to say that I actually have lost hope of ever improving. If anything, I seem to have got worse as the years have gone on.

Perhaps some people are just treatment resistant??? My psychiatrist thinks I've got a personality disorder...might that by why I don't seem to get better when I've tried so hard to battle this for so long??

[rafayelyan2000]

http://www.brainphysics.com/refractory.php
here is a site that talks about treatment resistant ocd
hope this helps

[HollyW]

Thanks refayelyan. It seems that I don't actually qualify as having treatment resistant OCD as I've only been on the max dose of SSRI once. And to be fair, it did make things more manageable. I've recently increased my dose of Prozac to 40mg and am hoping this'll help...I really don't want to have to go down the whole 60mg route again due to side effects (sexual dysfuction, racing heart, nausea, inability to drink alcohol without horrendous hangover the next day)...but I suppose I might have to consider this option if I really want my life back.

[flyaway]

Originally Posted by rafayelyan2000

your right fear feeds on ocd i remember when i was little my grandpa warned me about seria@ ki@@ers, also dont go outside, he used lock the door 3 times in perfect order and he was always scared to leave outside. It was ingrained in me when i was little so thats why i developed ocd. I have a question does that mean my grandpa had ocd?

Yes. this goes to show that OCD is genetic. if u are not genetically predisposed to OCD, fear and stress(and what your grandpa ingrained in you) will not cause you to have OCD thoughts.

please dont be afraid to type out the words, typing them wont cause anything bad to happen.

Originally Posted by peanut3

I am so very glad that I stumbled upon this site because now I know that I am not alone. I hate that we suffer through this everyday, people who don't have OCD can't possibly fathom the agonies we as sufferers have to face. I have had to deal with obsessions and compulsions since my early teens. Family and friends just don't understand what I'm going through and it makes me feel awful but I just can't help it. I wish I didn't have it! It's terrible no? lol. The thoughts and the anxiety just won't go away, I don't think it's ever been quite this bad before, I mean, I've pretty much always been able to deal with it. I hope this goes away..or atleast gets better soon.

Agreed. People who dont have OCD would not be able to empathise. if they do not have the awareness, they would blame you and say that its all in your mind, which is clearly untrue for OCD.

[partlycloudy]

i think sometimes what holds us back is wanting to completely eradicate our ocd and all the bad memories and thoughts that go along with it. for years, i would only have been satisfied with an absolute annhilation of my fears, thoughts and memories and anxiety, and all the happiness i had in that time was strangled to a certain extent, because it could never meet those expectations.

needless to say, i haven't succeeded in getting rid of my ocd, i still fall down and it can be so awful.

but, in the past few years, there have been good stretches of time where i have been happy, really happy. for the first time in many years, i think i felt what it is like to be a normal person, and it is pretty great!

it's hard to know if i *earned* those happy times or if they just happened, but they give me hope, and hope for every single one of us here. what i did try to do is be accepting of my ocd and to live in the moment.

sometimes i do hope my ocd will never come back, but i don't really think that's my goal. my goal is simply to make it through every low point, and hopefully to learn a little something about life from it, so that it might enrich my happy times.

i am not a very strong person - not incredibly gifted or special, and that makes me certain that all of us can taste happiness and have a good life. and i think what we have gone through makes the happiness so much sweeter. i wouldn't have the same appreciation and joy in my good times if not for the bad. i know it's really really hard to see that in the lows, but it is true.

[flyaway]

Hi, HollyW,

thanks for sharing your experience of tackling OCD

i've read that st john's wort is only effective for mild OCD, not moderate to severe cases. Actually there are other supplements good for OCD which you could try, like vitamin B6, inositol, GABA etc. there is a whole forum on natural/alternative which u can explore. Also, the following website might interest you.
http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/ocd.htm

I had been on 40mg generic prozac and the drug did manage to reduce some of my distressing ocd symptoms. but there were side effects and after i stopped the symptoms returned.

[HollyW]

I had been on 40mg generic prozac and the drug did manage to reduce some of my distressing ocd symptoms. but there were side effects and after i stopped the symptoms returned.

Flyaway, this actually gives me a bit of hope that things may improve!! As right now, things are terrible. Believe me, I'm aware of the sodding side effects, but for now, I need to get myself and my life back on track.

Thanks also for the info on alternative remedies - don't think I'll be going down this route though..going to concentrate on the Prozac helping me to get myself together.

but, in the past few years, there have been good stretches of time where i have been happy, really happy. for the first time in many years, i think i felt what it is like to be a normal person, and it is pretty great!

Partlycloudy - an optimistic post. I think what you say above is what keeps me going really..the knowledge that there are good times when life is easier and I get to experience a little happiness. Though for me, it's days, months at best. But still, that feeling of knowing what it's like to be normal is brilliant - so liberating!!

I wish everyone luck in getting to grips with their own variant of this horrible affliction.