I really am not doing well my Prozac is making me feel worse I think I’m gonna switch to another med because I really can’t focus on school or work I can’t eat I can’t sleep can anyone relate? I’m so close to quitting my job because this is so debilitating to me
Hey there, somatic OCD warrior here. I know it's hard but try not to compare subtypes, especially with somatic symptoms. I have experienced the big three on a rotating basis for the past few years and cannot recommend ERP enough. I know how frightening it can be to live with this but you CAN live with this, it just takes a bit of work. Have you just started on your medication journey as anti-depressants will make you feel increased anxiety in the first few weeks. Let me know, we're in this together. C
@CBurnicle Thank you! And no I was on sertraline for 3 years did erp for a couple months and the last year was basically in remission. Got off sertraline a few months ago cuz of weight gain and my breathing ocd came back with a vengeance. I’m changing to lexapro now though because my doc said it is less anxiety and insomnia as far as side effects go. It’s just been a summer of hell for me tbh :( did erp really get rid of breathing ocd for you? I have done some excercises not consistent tho tbh
@CBurnicle Also let me know if u want to chat I really don’t know many people with this sub type that’s why it’s been so hard to relate but it’s such a debilitating thing too :(
@Anonymous I'm so sorry to hear you've been struggling. I'm currently experiencing a bit of a flare up myself and it sure does suck. I'm also prone to inconsistency with my ERP. I usually fall into the trap of letting it lapse when I experience decreased anxiety and periods of no hyperawareness when really the most useful thing would be to bring my attention to it wilfully even when I'm not always obsessing (in a controlled way of course.) I'm conscious of providing "reassurance" for you re answering your question about whether or not ERP "got rid" of it for me. What I will say is that my attitude to my OCD and this particular subtype continues to change and develop over time. The only way is through. I'm beginning to reckon with the notion that this may (or may not) just be always part of my life and whilst it's not fair I truly believe that I can build up a resilience and a rationality toward it. That's not to say it still doesn't trip me up because it certainly does but I will not shrink for it. A big thing for me was/is trying to reframe what I thought of as being "well" and "unwell" and that it didn't have to be as binary as I was making it. Hyperawarenes of any of the functions is neither good nor bad, it just is. Treating it like an annoyance rather than a disaster cam help mitigate the anxiety. I know it's hard but we're here for each other as OCD'ers or OCDivas as a friend calls us (also a good name to refer to it to knock it down a peg or two) More than happy to chat more. Stay strong Cx
@CBurnicle Thank you o really appreciate you taking the time to write all this. I’m starting to feel slightly better today I think now that I stopped Prozac (that shit made me 10x worse I swear lol) and stated on lexapro. I think that with meds I’m able to live pretty normal the thoughts still come up but I brush it off and it doesn’t cause anxiety. I’ve realized that if I need to stay on meds to live a more freeing life then so be it. But I do wanna tackle more erp once my medications kick in more etc cuz I think that will help more in the long run obviously
So I’m 16 years old, currently going through my sophomore year of highschool. I’ve recently quit nicotine and weed after chronic use for about 4 years (has affected my development extremely). I quit because I wanted a better life for myself because I knew that I was using nicotine and weed for short term happiness and long term made me very depressed about this life. I was also experiencing trouble concentrating on simple tasks and what I wanted to do currently in my life. Which was learning about life and having more knowledge about life in general so i could feel more comfortable and happy in the future. So I quit nicotine I thought I was going to be able to overcome it and be more comfortable with myself knowing that I’m not in a constant loop of short term happiness, long term making me less happy overall. Although I have quit nicotine and haven’t touched it in about 3 weeks I expected to have some major withdrawals because I’m still in adolescence and used nicotine about everyday for 4 years. Sorry I’m rambling about this but through those years of always suppressing my anxiety with nicotine when anything came up that triggered it. I started noticing that on vacation in very stressful moments like at the airport and there were people around me when using the bathroom I felt as though it was nearly impossible to go but after sometime I eventually went and shrugged it off. Now that I’ve quit though I’m my 4th week it’s almost like my brain really latched onto that fear of not being able to go around people publicly (paruresis shy bladder syndrome) and that’s also what addiction does to you I’ve acknowledged. But when I started coming home from school I started thinking about not being able to pee more and more to the point i haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since which now every time i feel a slight trigger of having to use the bathroom i start obsessing over it like everything I would try and do that i usually do my brain would draw me away from it and go back to the fear of not being able to go which created a lot of anxiety and thoughts like “would if im not able to stop going” which made me think about it more and more I would just wake up with that thought in my head each day to the point where i was really thinking about killing my self because I thought i would have such a better life without nicotine and weed but ultimately made me feel like i was going crazy and I really wanted to go back to vaping and weed but i knew that this was the cycle of addiction and that i may have a more underlying problem here i need to overcome somatic ocd. I haven’t been diagnosed with it yet and I know a lot of people go through a cycle of self diagnosing. But as I’ve slowly started to mentally figure out ways to get through this obsession over peeing and fight it, it’s like my brain is now trying to look for a new bodily sensation to obsess over. My breathing. I noticed this as well while using that sometimes I would think about my breathing a little bit to much for example saying to myself am I breathing right should I breath this certain way would if I can’t stop thinking about it. But as I was thinking about that I just hit my vape talked to my brother about it and just slept it off. Now that I don’t have a vape I’ve had to go through these expierences but with it feeling more real and not really having something to run to, to suppress like my vape. I’m writing this today as I feel better to myself talking about it and opening up about it as I’m trying to not respond to this fear with anxiety and go throughout my days ignoring these obsessive thoughts leading to extreme anxiety that I don’t have anything to suppress it with anymore besides my own mental. Maybe someone here will have some more knowledge about it than I do and can give me some advice to try to keep me more motivated to deal with this ocd I feel as though I’m having so I don’t end up in a dark place. Thank you.
I started medication and therapy I statted medication approximately two months ago and I m getting worse . I just can t focus on studying I forgot what I did and this didnt happen before my brain didnt stop even in my sleep I just feel exhausted I lost my belief to recover and I dont know what to do I just feel like I shouldnt have statted take medication because It just helo my depression a little but on contrary It makes my anciety much worse and totally I feel much worse I just dont know what to do my life is miserable I feel like no one could help me anymore If you read this could you response me? I just feel like no pne really gets me and my religious ocd hits me very badly
OCD can be so isolating. I’m in a health anxiety spiral and struggling at work. I feel like I am failing everywhere and feeling very alone. My support system is tired of hearing about my fears, health wise and work wise. I find myself crying a lot. I don’t particularly enjoy doing anything anymore. I feel like I just can’t get comfortable in my skin or my head sometimes. I’m not sure how to else to describe it. Like nothing soothes me or makes it better. Even sleep is bad dreams and waking up anxious all night. I’ve always felt different from everyone else but when I’m on meds I can fake it better and I feel more connected. I want to go back on SSRI’s but I’ve been dealing with health issues and the meds exacerbate them so am delaying for the time being
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
