OCD Action

person
Member

It's all getting so much worse :(.

Mon May 16 2011 16:54:46 #
nettlenoo
Member

hello person whats happening hun? ocd is pretty sucky when things are bad though pm me if youd like to chat

Mon May 16 2011 18:10:53 #
OCD!
Member

i know how u feel, mine is getting worse day by day (the anxiety and OCD) the last few years i have avoided any sort of situation that made it worse (being a hermit basically) and the stress of things over the last 12 months has led me to this point...off work, had some valium (helps! but the physc nurse wasnt happy about it, but they saved me from a panic attack this sunday) now they want me to start sertraline. I've got reservations about takin SSRI's as i havent been overly depressed, but am getting there as im VERY compulsively cleaning now and hand washing (with bleach sometimes) on top of the ever present obsessive thoughts
i dont like what the anti D's do to me after i took clomiprimine, they didnt do anything for my OCD and fluoxetine actually gave me more anxiety!
only alcohol works for my OCD, but that snowballs into heavy drinking, dont wanna go there again, i dont even like booze either, helps in the short term though
your not alone...i think im the lowest ive ever been with it, an the last big ocd "downer" had me on incapacity benefit for months
good luck

Tue May 17 2011 20:58:33 #
Tess
Member

Hi OCD
Sorry to hear things are bad for you at the moment. I can understand your reservations about starting sertraline after having had poor experiences with clomipramine and fluoxetine. We are all different when it comes to medication but I think it's worth giving the sertraline a trial, if it works, great, if not you will have tried three different meds without success which will then entitle you to more specialist treatment. The NICE guidelines above (under Health Professionals) explain this in more detail.

Wed May 18 2011 9:33:09 #
Truddles
Member

Hi person,

I'm sorry to hear that you're having such a rough time at the moment.

Is it a problem that we can help you with on the forum?

Please PM me if you need to talk to someone.

Trudy

Hi OCD!

It’s a common misconception that SSRIs are only used to treat depression. They are also used to treat a variety of conditions amongst other things OCD, anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain. You don’t have to necessarily be depressed to take them.

How we each react to them varies considerably and so it’s a question of trying them in turn until you find one that suits you.

Doctors are reluctant to prescribe Diazepam (valium) because it is not only addictive but the body soon develops a tolerance to it and so gradually it becomes ineffective. But when you try to stop it you can get serious withdrawal symptoms. If they do prescribe it these days it tends to be short term or for you to take it occasionally if things get really bad. As far as I'm aware it doesn’t help the OCD but does help to reduce the associated anxiety.

Drinking in the short term may appear to relieve the OCD, but in the long term can make it worse especially if you have intrusive or obsessive thoughts.

I'm not a professional but it does sound as if you need more help. Have you been referred for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)? As this is the treatment of choice for OCD with or without medication.

If you go to http://www.ocdaction.org.uk/support-info/resources/ you will find plenty of information on OCD including Accessing Treatment - your rights and the NICE guidelines.
But if you require more specialist treatment that you can get locally go to http://www.ocdaction.org.uk/support-info/files/2010/12/Referral-Final.pdf this tells you how to access treatment at a Centre of Excellence for OCD.

Trudy

Wed May 18 2011 11:48:47 #
OCD!
Member

hiya
i did a course 5 years ago...it was like a group therapy, a mix of CBT i suppose, didnt really do anything for me...except for meeting other OCD sufferers (one of which i stayed in contact with...very similar symptoms)
ive been referred to the physcology dept now, i had the choice of that or more group therapy...so will see how that goes...
as for the meds i dont think any of them ive tried yet actually did anything regards my OCD (seroxat, fluoxetine and clomiprine)
the seroxat made me sick and dizzy
the fluoxetine made my anxiety worse!
clomiprimine just zombied me, didnt do anything for the OCD and i was on them for months...in fact they made me feel a bit depressed as i couldnt erm...how do i put this perform in the bedroom!! took months for that side effect to wear off too, im talkin a couple of years after finishing the clomiprimine!!
so have some concerns about sertraline! dont want it affectin the one thing i can do thats free! though i hear u can get tablets for that too now!! i am going to try the sertraline as the doc wont give me any more valium. but if it doesnt touch the OCD symptoms i cant see the point of taking them...i was on clomiprimine for months and they didnt help OCD wise
so just waitin to hear from the physcology dept now, but started attending a support group which is sort of run by the staff who ran the course i attended, so nice to see some familiar faces!

Wed May 18 2011 21:48:19 #