OCD Action

Dirvan
Member

Helloo, hope you all are having as nice a day/evening as possible. Just wanted to say hello and give a little description of myself and my problems in the hope that I can make a few friends on here, and even help others.

Im 27 years old, male, and live in the East of England. I have had ocd since I was 10. It took about 4 years before I realised something was wrong, and the doctor confirmed it when I asked about it. Since then I have had a few courses of CBT, group sessions and various one to ones. Thankfully my ocd is much improved on how it was when I was at college, where I was clinically depressed and suicidal. I was on betablockers since I was 15 for anxiety, and have only recently tried to come off them, which has been managable so far, but still having bad spells. I did go down the prozac route too, to see if a higher dose would reduce my ocd inclinations but it didnt have much affect, so the dr agreed I should come off them at my request.

Unfortunately, for the last 9 years, I have also been sufferring with chronic fatigue syndrome aka M.E (or CFIDS in the U.S I think). This has left me unable to use my usual coping strategy of exercising at the gym, which set back my ocd once again. I do not leave the house most days due to feeling so exhausted, I have no social life, no offline friends, and am unable to work or do the things that I would be expecting to be doing at this time of my life. The C.F.S is a very nasty bed fellow for the ocd, when one is bad, the other gets dragged into it.

Getting back to my ocd, it mainly affects me with checking things are off/locked/shut etc, health worries/checking, anxieties about little inconsequential things, seeking reassurance, and a few other ways that escape me right now.

I think the one phrase that sums me up would be "tired of living, scared of dieing".

I think thats about all, thanks to anyone who takes the time to read it, hope it wasnt too depressing.

Dirvan

Fri Jul 17 2009 21:19:36 #
Unregistered

Hello Dirvan, Welcome to the forum.

I was just writing about what I refer to as 'Ol' Man River Syndrome'- tired of living, scared of dying. It's a coincidence that you should also mention this!

Like you, I have CFS (M.E.), I also have Meniere's, or at least similar symptoms, doctors can't seem to agree over it, but it causes vertigo and nausea. How I can empathize with you, OCD is bad enough on its own, but when physical illnesses are added it becomes almost intolerable.

One tip I can give you is diet, although I am sure you've probably heard this before (having said that my GP failed to inform me, it was the ENT specialist who gave me this adivice). Diet has led to a 70% improvement in my CFS. I am not saying that a bad diet caused it, nor am I saying stress is always a factor, but I am in agreement with my doctor who is convinced that high levels of stress caused mine.

A few years ago I could barely climb my stairs, but now on good days I can exercise and feel so much better. If I let my diet slip I soon revert to the extreme lethargy and I have heard other M.E. sufferers say the same. Clare Francis (the yachtswoman) spoke of how she manages her M.E. with a careful diet and hers quickly worsens if she doesn't eat well.

I avoid all processed foods, biscuits and cakes seem to really trigger the tiredness.

Tricia x

Sat Jul 18 2009 13:15:52 #
lioness
Member

Hi Dirvan,

Welcome to the forum, hope it helps you. I too have M.E like you and Tricia, its awful to have to cope with that and OCD so I really do sympathise. Sorry I haven't got much helpful to say, my mind is a bit all over the place at the moment but I wish you well.

Sat Jul 18 2009 23:25:07 #
Dirvan
Member

Hi, thankyou for the kind replies

Sorry that you both have CFS too

Diet doesnt seem to affect my CFS too much, my diet has improved greatly in the last few years but my CFS stays the same whatever I eat. My Dr said I was unusual in that I hadnt lost my appetite like allot of people do lol.

I think my CFS was just caused by stress. My ocd was so bad my body just caught the brunt of the stress and slowly wore down. Now I feel tired after the smallest unexpected event/happening in my day, so does feel like an anxiety link there somewhere.

I hope you are both as well as possible and having a great start to the week

Dirvan

Mon Jul 20 2009 9:04:18 #
Unregistered

Dirvan, I was encouraged to take a short trip abroad in 2006. My CFS is so much better these days, since a change of diet. However, the stress of the trip really took its toll and the old symptoms returned and it was over a month before I recovered. A very stressful shopping trip, or any few hours of elevated stress, always affects the CFS, though I usually take no more than a week to get back on track.

By the way, the CFS hasn't affected my appetite either. I only eat raw foods now and although I didn't really believe the ENT specialist who suggested this diet, I was desperate enough to try anything.

Tricia x

Wed Jul 22 2009 14:01:34 #