Hi! I just discovered a couple of months ago that I have ADHD. I already had the diagnose for ocd and now I also have this diagnose, and I was really wondering how can you treat both? Because I think they fuel each other a lot, especially because I have Pure OCD so it’s mainly mental anxiety and compulsions. How do you treat both, does somebody have experience with this? Is there a good therapy for both of these? Thanks :)
I have both as well and you absolutely can treat both! The recommended treatment is likely going to be medication and therapy. The meds would be more than likely an SSRI and for the adhd they would probably avoid stimulants since that can make OCD worse and give you a non stimulant med for it and there are a lot of options of non stimulants, they just take longer to work than a stimulant does. Therapy for both is actually just normal therapy, you talk about your struggles, how your feeling, the affects on you, and they teach you skills to help manage your symptoms and coping skills just like a regular therapy anyone else has. It’s 1000% do-able!
@#Lexiriri Hii! Thanks for the answer :) I’m on Prozac 50 mg and just got prescribed a stimulant for concentration with study, I hope that doesn’t worsen the ocd 🧐
@mieppiep Stimulants are the preferred drug type to treat adhd so it could be they want you to give it a try first and then if it does worsen symptoms switch you over. I’ve had very severe OCD since I was really little and have to have multiple medications just to manage it so when I got my adhd diagnosis my doctor wasn’t going to touch stimulants with a ten foot pole in my case because it was a higher level of concern for me. If your ocd is less severe and/or easily managed with fewer meds and/or on lower doses your doctor probably decided that the pros of a stimulant outweighed the risks for you. They’ll probably monitor the symptoms of both and if they need to switch you to a non stimulant they will. It can take a few trys to get the right mix so I wouldn’t overly stress
@#Lexiriri Hi! Thanks for your reply: I was wondering what does it feel like if stimulants make ocd worse? I do feel heightened anxiety but I don’t know if that’s just my stress regarding my studies or that it’s the stimulants… how is it supposed to feel the stimulants? Otherwise I might request switching to something else if that makes me less anxious
@mieppiep It really depends on the person but yeah an increase of anxiety is a possibility. For some people if they do react negatively it could be the increase in anxiety, maybe you have more intrusive thoughts, but it really is different for everyone. I would communicate with your doctor because obviously they know you and your situation better than I do and also remember every medication has a period your body adjusts to and gets used to it, that’s why with SSRIs they have you wait around a month before you make a change. Remember deep breaths and everything with be okay, your doctor wouldn’t have put you on the meds without weighing the pros and cons of it for you and you always have the ability to communicate with them for whatever you need!
about a week ago my therapist, who is still in the process of confirming that I do have OCD, said that what I absolutely do have without a shadow of a doubt is depression. Hearing that shocked me, I didn’t feel “depressed” at all. I’ve had rough times when I can absolutely say “yah I’m depressed, this is depression” and this didn’t feel like it in any way. I even laughed about it a few times. That was until two days ago, when the diagnosis actually made sense. It was like OCD and its barrage of thoughts calmed down enough to make way for the single line of thought: “you can’t do this anymore. It’s too hard, it’s not fair that you should have to break down so many times and build yourself up over and over again. Why should you even try? How can you continue living like this? It’s too cruel, just give up.” It’s a different type of torture. It makes sense that these two godforsaken mental illnesses come hand in hand. I’m struggling more than I already was. It feels like it’s all over. I’m really having a hard time with this. Although, I’m aware that OCD and depression are the most common comorbid disorders. Has anyone else dealt with this hellish cocktail? Do you mind sharing your experience with me?? I would greatly, greatly appreciate it 😅🥺
(25f) Before I was diagnosed with OCD I tried Lexapro (wasn’t bad but wasn’t great) and Citalopram (partially think it was a part of what caused me to develop severe anxiety that ignited my once not so active OCD.) After diagnosis tried Effexor and didn’t see an improvement. Was on Adderall for a good amount of my life and mentally did good on it, stopped about 2 years ago because the physical side effects started to become more noticeable. Maybe I go back on Adderall? Maybe SSRI’s and I aren’t a great fit? Anyone taking other medications that helped?
Hi all, As of Monday, I received the diagnosis for Pure OCD during an ADHD evaluation. It came as a bit of a shock, despite knowing my grandpa had OCD (according to my parents and extended family, he passed away before I was born). I'm just a little lost on where to go from here. I'm trying to find a therapist who does both OCD and ADHD, but it's surprisingly hard. Do people typically have different therapists for their different needs? I've mentioned it to close friends and family, and when I've tried to discuss what I'm feeling, they said they do it too to a certain extent which is a little invalidating. Anyway, sorry for the ramble. Would anyone be able to give some advice/supportive words for a newly diagnosed college student? Thanks :)
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