- Date posted
- 3y
- Date posted
- 3y
Thank you for sharing your story. I’ve taken medication in the past, about 20 years ago and it did help. And j ageee 150% about therapy. I’ve been in and out since 6 but never long enough with one for it to really help. I start ERP with NOCD on wed and also have a therapist I will be working with weekly to get to the bottom of all my trauma that triggers my anxiety and phobia (I don’t have ocd). I’m so happy you found what works best for you. I want to do that as well and I know that medication isn’t always forever and sometimes it is and if it helps me to have a healthy and happy life along with working through all the things that got me to this place, that will be ok. Thank you so much for your encouragement and kind words and your blessings. God bless you as well and sending hugs back to you from Massachusetts.
- Date posted
- 3y
the side effects are only a slight weight gain for the medication i'm using
- Date posted
- 3y
Hey ChefT! I was there where you are and terrified of trying medication. So, I wanted to share my story and what I've learned personally. First, each person is different. Some people medication works for, others do not. Medication though isn't the singular answer. You must work through it by doing therapy. Therapy has been scientifically proven to help just as well as medication, if not better because there are no side effects. However, if your life is truly debilitated by your thoughts and compulsions medication combined with therapy is gold standard. Also, just because you decide to try medication doesn't mean you'll be on it forever. It could be used during your ERP sessions to make them easier to accomplish instead of having such fear that you avoid the exercise altogether. Second, medication is not a one size fits all. If you try it and it works for you, great! If it doesn't - that's okay too! Just because prozac works for someone better than sertraline, doesn't mean you'll have the same reaction. Just know that you've got to give yourself grace and stop comparing to others. Third, healing is not linear. Healing is a lot like chutes and ladders. You'll take steps forward and have a week where you fall a few steps back. Again, give yourself grace. Fourth, medication won't make it go away completely and make you have your old self back. It's a bad thought pattern to wishing to go back to your old self. You need to learn to really love and accept yourself as you are now. The challenges we face in life make us truly stronger and able to handle the things that will come our way in the future. For example: I always used to wish I could go back to the old me. Once I realized that was a compulsion for me (and feeding into my abusive, negative thought pattern about myself) it made me realize that I don't need to be my old self, but be a better self and use this trial to forge me. I'm not broken or consumed by this fire, if anything I come out stronger (just like when swords are made). I use this now to help others and educate. Once I changed my mindset to that, I no longer wish for the old me, because the old me wasn't an advocate for this. Once I did that, those feelings fled. Lastly, I tried prozac 20mg caps once daily. I stayed on for almost 2 weeks and had a horrible time. The intrusive thoughts were worse, I had tremors, I would sweat so bad my phone wouldn't recognize my fingerprint. Now, I'm not saying this would happen to you, just sharing my experience. After that I decided to quit and leaned into my choice. When my OCD creeps in and tries to make me second guess my choice I stand firm and remind myself it's MY CHOICE. I remind myself that the feelings and thoughts are intrusive and go against who I am. I remind myself they are just thoughts. I hope this helps you and hope that you find the answers you're looking for. You are so strong and I definitely recommend therapy. ERP is SCARY but has helped so much. You can do this! Whatever you decide, remember it's your decision. No one else has a say or can take that from you. God bless you and I know you'll make it through your journey. It takes a while but remember to always give yourself grace. Hugs from Ohio 🤗
Related posts
- Date posted
- 23w
Hi everyone, I’m 23 and have been on Zoloft since I was 16. For the past couple months I’ve been having panic attacks more and I’m sick of feeling like a zombie everyday. My boyfriend said I’m very sad and unhappy then when I first met him 2 years ago…. He thinks it’s the medicine. Throughout the years I have upped and lowered my medication, but now, I feel as though it’s not helping. Either it was too much where I didn’t feel emotions at all like very scary stuff or it wasn’t enough to help me. I was given 5mg of Lexapro to try…. I’m scared to take it. All I know is how Zoloft is. I don’t want to go crazy on it, be allergic to it, etc. I feel like I’m going to trip myself out when I take it and not actually feel the difference. I could really use some positive feedback I really just want to be a normal human😭
- Date posted
- 20w
I'm really frustrated right now because once again I feel like I can't keep up with my own brain and I just can't keep doing this. I'm so tired of doing this. My head is always going and going and going and I just want to unplug it. It makes me so stressed. It's like I have someone else in my head who won't shut up and is always pointing everything I do out. Like I'm walking on eggshells around myself so I don't trigger these thoughts. But if I walk on egg shells then it just goes on about something else and I feel like I'm going crazy.. I feel so bad because it makes me so snappy. I want to bash my head in because I'm so over it. The only thing I know that helps is anxiety meds, because I had one one time and it actually really helped me (it didn't even do it's job! Because of how bad my anxiety is!! I'm just so desperate at this point for relief) But the last time I brought up going on meds for anxiety with my mom she said I'll get addicted, like my dad, or my grandma, or whoever else in my family because everyone in my family is addicted to SOMETHING. I don't see the issue in trying though. I feel like I'm someone who could really benefit from anxiety meds. I don't talk about my feelings often BECAUSE of anxiety, so it seems like I'm just trying to go on meds for no reason. But it's like..my body hurts. All the time. And my brain never stops. My brain is so messed up. I feel like I could do so much more if I wasn't like this. It's never going away, I've tried and I've tried and I'm still a mess. I just want it to stop. I'm not asking for much. I just want the fear to stop and the intrusive thoughts to stop and the racing thoughts and the feelings of doom and the nervousness and and I actually want to feel okay in my own skin for fucking once. I've tried everything nothing works im losing patience and I'm losing hope. I feel like there's something wrong with me. I feel like my brain is broken and that makes me sad to be honest. I feel like everyone around me can work. Why can't my stupid brain work???? I try so hard. I try so hard all the time. And it still doesn't do what it needs to do. I hate myself so much.
- Date posted
- 16w
I just feel like therapy isn’t working… like I get to talk about myself and understand myself… but I’m already incredibly self aware. My therapist thought I was like 5 years older than I am… and she gives me such basic strategies that do absolutely nothing for me. And a psychiatrist prescribed me with Zoloft… but I don’t know if T want to take medication. I’m scared of side effects… and I’m scared of getting better… I’m scared of letting my guard down. I know it will make me less cautious which makes me less likely to push myself to perfection like I currently do, which I can’t have happen. Every time I talk to my mom about it, she’s always like “Let’s talk about this some other time, I’m busy with other things”, and then never remembers. But in the rare moments we do talk about it, she treats it like I’m signing up to be a drug addict. I also feel very guilty for spending so much of my parents’ money- therapy… medication… etc… and also the idea of my being unlovable is so deeply engraved in my brain… I genuinely, truly believe it. No therapy or medication can fix it. I can’t change my mind. My therapist tells me my misophonia is not a “deal-breaker” and that someone would be lucky to have me as a partner… but then why hasn’t anyone ever liked me? My own FAMILY can’t stand me. How do I believe something I know isn’t true? That’s even harder to accept than me being unlovable. I can’t see someone loving me. And it is so incredibly exhausting to seek love,e I know I cannot have. My sister says, “It will get better with age…” It has only ever gotten worse. To the point I don’t want to get better. It has reached the severity where I feel more safe and successful with anxiety. My past 3 birthdays have been me wishing for therapy. And now I have therpay- and medication, the potential key… and I refuse? Am I too deep in? I cant get out, it’s too late. How did absolutely no one notice how much I had and have been hurting? Why did no one listen to my cries or worries? I feel really depressed and hopeless right now. It takes so much effort to get up every day… I’m so tired.
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond