Right before my period I spiral SO bad. The intrusive thoughts and anxiety get worse. Can OCD be hormonal? Or have a connection to hormones? Why does this happen? Also side note, when I get an intrusive thought and the hit of anxiety I’ll clutch my fists or my pants. Is this normal? I think I do it to make sure I don’t hurt anyone. Does anyone else do this
Yes I have this problem with the week before my period . It makes it so much worse
Hormones can increase your anxiety. Yes my cycle makes my OCD worse for this reason.
I do the fist thing when I’m very angry , and just like clutch them together and scream. 😂 but honestly hormonal changes in ocd makes sense
Yes like a week or two before my period I feel so crazy& off and the intrusive thoughts are way worse/often. I’ve started taking magnesium & apparently it’s supposed to help. I think it did my last cycle.. but I’m gonna keep taking it to see if it gets better
Breathe. Do some mindfulness. Be kind to yourself. If you can, do one less round of checks tonight. Or choose one thing that you will check one less time. If you can’t do that them just be kind to yourself. I hear you on the physical pain - at one point my thigh would be in agony everyday from leaning forward for hours while using the restroom and my hands and wrists would hurt from so much wiping. An ERP therapist worked with me on a hierarchy for every part of my restroom routine and this has helped. But it’s a huge battle everyday. Like you ERP had helped with so much of my OCD but I’m struggling with this one set of rituals. So you are not alone. Sending you calm thoughts and a virtual hug for tonight. ❤️
Sometimes it’s not every cycle but being kind and compassionate to yourself during that brief time is huge!
I may need to try something like magnesium bc my ocd is so bad I keep hitting the sink faucet to make sure it is off (so it doesn’t run ) and my wrist is bruised from hitting the sink and not believing it’s off.. im I’m so much pain. I’m usually much better than this but my period may be coming soon. I need all the ideas, I think my ocd is coming back hard and way harder at night.
Have you used ERP before?
Yep I’ve been very successful with it except for this part of my ocd bc it’s unacceptable for me to lean into it and try to fix it almost. Idk every night it’s so tough I get so upset bc everything else I’ve overcome ocd wise and this nightly routine emotionally hurts and now physically
Thank you for making that relatable comment I feel a lot less overwhelmed.. I don’t see a lot of people on here who have that physical pain relating from a compulsion but it’s there and it’s scary that I’ve allowed this get too far. The hierarchy is a good idea I might do that for the overall night routine I do as well. The rituals are so important that erp is great but not the most successful.. I really appreciate your relatability and virtual hug ❤️
@Anonymous You’re welcome. ❤️
Does anyone get “intrusive feelings”? I’ve experienced intrusive thoughts and urges, but I’m noticing intrusive feelings too. I’m about to start PMS-ing and I’m having weird depressed feelings like “I hate my life, everything sucks, maybe i want to die”. I have suicidal OCD and it seems like this is what my brain gravitates towards when I’m under stress. Even though I DO NOT want to die by any means, my brain throws these thoughts at me and it’s so scary bc I feel like maybe a part of me actually wants to do it. Idk why I feel depressed and shitty about my life when really I don’t want to be you know?? What do you guys think?
Does anyone like get extra anxious about an intrusive thought because you think to yourself “nobody else has probably had this thought.” “I must be crazy.” Idk those thoughts always seem to make my anxiety worse. I also have a fear of losing touch of reality and believing in crazy thoughts, if that makes sense? TMI but I also notice that my OCD is worse when I’m on my period. Can anyone else relate?
Do any of y’all feel like your focus is gone because of OCD? I’m in school for law and currently working through a couple month long OCD episode after getting Covid and I find my focus is gone. Or my mind just feels so tired and forgetful. Is this common? It’s making anxious as I obviously over analyze everything I feel. And also a question for women do you find that closer to your cycle you get more anxious and triggered?
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