How can I accept that I may need medication for the rest of my life? Some background: I have several family members with OCD, my paternal grandmother and one of my cousins on my dad's side. I had anxiety issues from really early on as a kid, particularly around health related stuff. I would clean little cuts frequently, small things like that. Other than that, I never felt majorly affected. That changed when I was 19, a few months after I gave birth to my son. I started having obsessions rooted in hypochondria, like that I might have some disease, or that myself and/or those I love would get some horrible illness and die. I was diagnosed and started taking Prozac at 21 years old. I'm now 27. Medication works incredibly well for me. I have no side effects, I function totally normal when medicated. But I've gone off medication like 5 or 6 times just to see if I'm finally okay, and without fail, I relapse (which is happening to me right now, and yes, I've restarted my meds.) My OCD thoughts don't want to accept this though, and I'm being thrown all kinds of thoughts like what if someday the world falls apart and I don't have access to medicine? Or what if I take it for years and years, just to someday find out that it gave me brain cancer or insertdiseasehere? Does anyone have any tips for accepting medication as a necessary part of my life?

DrBurnzz

Date posted: 5y

I suppose medicine is there to mask the problem and when you come off it shows its face again. Im guessing you've tried ERP? Forcing your brain to accept uncertainty is difficult but the best thing for everyone with OCD long term

seekingvee

Date posted: 5y

I've done some ERP, but I'm not entirely sure how to do it with fears that I can't exactly face in real life, if that makes sense.

DrBurnzz

Date posted: 5y

@seekingvee The way to do it is when the worry comes in, accept that it could happen but until then you don't know so no point in going over it. So every time it comes up which im guessing is a lot, just say, yes that could happen. Yes it would be horrible if it did but its a what if, ERP is about exposing you to your feared outcome and preventing yourself from responding to it. After weeks of showing your brain its response is irrational, you will stop feeling desperate to figure out an answer.

seekingvee

Date posted: 5y

@DrBurnzz So imaginal exposure, essentially?

DrBurnzz

Date posted: 5y

@seekingvee Example; Old way: Thought - What if my meds give me brain cancer; Response - check online Thought - what if im on meds forever Response - check online New way; Thought - What if im on meds forever? response - ye that would be bad Thought - sort it out then?? Response - no its a what if thought Though - but what if it happens??? Response - then it does ?‍♂️ Thought - WTFFFF?? Response - ? Thought - oh maybe its not that bad after all

DrBurnzz

Date posted: 5y

@DrBurnzz Your mind wants certainty thats its going to be ok, its natural state is to survive so when theses thoughts come in and you react with danger then your brains natural reaction is to figure it out. But you cant figure out the future so when your worry thought pops up, react appropriately and say yes that would be bad whatever. Dont go down the rabbit hole of taking the worry seriously and trying to get certainty from an in solvable problem

seekingvee

Date posted: 5y

@DrBurnzz Gotcha! So I have to do that and try to figure out what my compulsions are. I'm primarily obsessional, so I often don't realize that something is a compulsion because it isn't logically related. I do know I skin pick when it's really bad, and I do compulsively research. I've been resisting the urge to research long-term effects of prozac lol

stephy

Date posted: 5y

I think about this too sometimes, but remember you're the only one thinking that. Try to take the medication a month at a time. Set yourself goals in therapy that will help you reduce the medication if you want and your doctor approves it. Focus on recovery rather than the thought that you may never be recovered enough to be stable on your own. By the way, you're not alone in this thought by any means - it's not a nice thought to have.

llamaduck

Date posted: 5y

If you really want to be off meds you need to try imaginal erp. I have a lot of health related fears too, have been working with a therapist. Erp has been like creating a really detailed story where my worst fears come true. (such as: going to the doctor, getting diagnosed with cancer, going through xyz treatments, it doesn't work, eventually dying) I record this story and listen to it in repeat for about 1 hr each day while imagining that this is actually happening to me. I tjink this is the sort of exposure you need to try without giving into compulsions or distractions. If you're able to work with a therapist it would be easier.

Anonymous

Date posted: 24w

Decades of OCD..confused about my next steps!!!

I have had ocd for decades! Could I still be cured???? (Of you can call it that?) I have seen different therapists but it never had fully left me...not by any stretch of the imagination. I do want to be free of this ocd and its power over me and all the bad that it brought into my life!!! Some days I am strong and feel like I am fighting it put other days...many days...I don't get things done or if I do I take a long time to-do the things I need to get done. I feel like I know this is just then ocd stopping me and that these are just thoughts but nobody in my family understands and though they have shared my journey and hated it a I do.....it just feels like I want so bad to be the best person I coukd be but I avoid places, people, things, that have any reminder of my ocd.......and so it restricts me from getting better and completing tasks the way I used to. Now UI might go and make 2-3 trips cuz I am worried to shop at a place and therefore it takes my time up. The avoidance I do is bad! When I actually don't listen to my ocd and don't avoid something...I feel great! ,However, it happens so rarely!!! I.dont know how finding a therapist through NOCD will help me. It is not in person and two be honest I almost think I need medicine to push me along. I don't have anybsteady and consistent improvements. However, I don't think I want to be on medication for the rest of my life! I am very confused!

eb123456789

Date posted: 20w

Medication Symptom Management

This is kind of a weird question, but I recently increased my SSRI dosage and have experienced tremendous relief. It has quieted my intrusive thoughts so much and my compulsions are no longer as all-consuming. However, I don’t want to be on this high of a dosage forever and know that medication alone shouldn’t be my only fix. I’m seeing a new psychiatrist on Wednesday and am wondering if the recent decrease in frequency of my symptoms will be a bar to my getting ocd treatment? In other words, if in this present moment I’m doing better, but up until a few days ago my compulsions were taking up pretty much every moment of my waking day, will I still be classified as having ocd? I start getting worried when I feel better that I don’t actually have ocd and just use it as a defense mechanism to avoid consequences of my actions/I’m secretly a terrible person

juless3

Date posted: 13w

OCD is chronic

The thought of ocd being long-term is scaring me pretty bad. My therapist told me in our first visit last week that it will always come back and it triggered me. I know everyone says it’s manageable, but I keep having the thought that I won’t be able to handle it the rest of my life and I will want to suic. myself. I am terrified :(

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