Have you ever experienced a relapse on ocd? I think im having one right now (i had my worst period a year and a half ago, i had to start Zoloft and therapy. Now it’s happening again but im feeling stronger than before and with more ways to cope. Someone that lived the same thing?
Hi! I can relate to your experience. Relapses are tough but not uncommon so you're certainly not alone. I'm currently in recovery; however, I usually notice a spike in symptoms when I'm under a lot of external stress (work, family obligations, errands ,etc.). What usually helps me is meditation and kind of anticipating symptom spikes during times of high stress. For example, if I know I have a lot of meetings in one week or other obligations, I'll ramp up ERP practices. This helps me feel more in control. Symptoms will come of course, but at least you can feel prepared for it. But, sometimes, you can't prepare for stress because unexpected things happen all the time. In those moments, meditation and going for runs outside help me a lot. Also, listening to funny podcasts help direct my thoughts to something more positive. I hope this helps. Good to hear you're feeling stronger! Keep it up! :)
Love the preventative steps you practice
@Maybe,MaybeNot - Yes! Definitely a big help!
Thank you so much! I’ve tried meditation but i guess i did something wrong because it made me ‘feel’ more thoughts (idk if it makes sense ahahah). Do you have any suggestion?
@Clairslemon A meditative state is not an absence of thoughts. Thoughts are still going to pop up and the goal is to let them pop up without engaging with them. So, if you’re meditating and you have a thought about hurting a child, you may choose allow it to sit there, or you can say: “hey thought, I know you’re there, but I’m not going to pay attention to you because I’m meditating right now.” Then, you can go back to focusing on your breath or repeating a meditating mantra. I typically don’t focus on my breath because I find that unhelpful so I usually repeat mantras or do walking meditations where I take a walk and pay attention to all of my surroundings. “That’s a tree over there, I hear birds, the sun is so bright.” My thoughts about harming people still come up, but I quickly turn my attention back to the trees. I hope that helps!
@NOCD Advocate - A. Thank you so much! I will definitely try!
🙋🏻♀️
Yes I’ve have a couple relapses. Don’t hesitate, jump on that ERP train immediately. Call your psychiatrist and get an appointment scheduled asap. There is a good chance you may need your dose increased. Zoloft can go up pretty high- I think like 250mg? I’ve been on Zoloft before and had to switch to Prozac because it didn’t work for me, but some people do really well on it, so sometimes a med change helps too. Take everything you used before to get better and use it again. Don’t delay.
I first sought help for SO-OCD in 2017 after a sudden onset of the thought, "what if I'm gay?" I had been reading an online college fiction story that included a sex scene with two women, and that idea sent me into a spiral of sleepless weeks (literally), constantly checking my level of attraction to women, comparing it to my attraction to men, reevaluating past events, checking to see if my physical behaviors were "straight." It was awful. Fortunately I found help online when I realized that I wasn't alone and that countless others found themselves obsessing over a "sudden change" in their orientation. I was able to get therapy, though out of network and very expensive, and worked through CBT/ERP to overcome my most significant challenges. After about a year, through therapy and eventually on my own (costs, again smh) I felt I'd successfully managed my SO-OCD and experienced no distress on the rare occasion a thought did come to pass. Now, 5 years later, I've found myself back in familiar territory. I can't figure out what the trigger was here, and I've been experiencing immense distress as my brain constantly throws doubtful thoughts my way, and I unfortunately do my mental checks of reviewing memories, seeking online reassurance, and trying to "prove" to myself what is true by constantly thinking about proof one way or the other. Has anyone else experienced a spike after a long time of having managed their SO-OCD? And if so, was it difficult to get back on the recovery track? Is it normal to backslide like this?
I am struggling with a relapse of OCD after years of feeling much better with CBT and Sertraline. I took Sertraline for 7 years and stopped a few months ago, but found my OCD has come back as strong as ever. I have since resumed the medication by titrating back up to what will hopefully be a helpful dosage (under the supervision of my doctor), but I would like to know if anyone else has had a similar issue of relapse after stopping an SSRI. Additionally, did anyone find that resuming the same drug was effective in returning them to their previous baseline? I am new to NOCD and look forward to getting started with my new therapist in March. Thanks for any and all responses in advanced!
Hi everyone, how are you doing? It’s been a really long time since I’ve posted on here. I still remember at the beginning of this year (in January) I had gotten my ocd diagnosis. After that I did ERP and I did get better thankfully. Started doing mindfulness and being present in the moment. 11 months on I feel better than I was at the beginning. Yes there are times where it is tough, but after the rain there is always a sunshine Right now I feel like I’m relapsing, but the truth is ocd isn’t something that goes away… it’s something that will always be a part of you. You just need to learn to accept it. Sometimes when we get better we forget that ocd is still there, that’s when we get caught off guard. This is a reminder to myself first, always continue to be consistent with ERP. By the way, has anyone got any advice for when ocd themes/symptoms resurface again? Thanks!
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