Does anyone have experience with thyroid disease and ocd? I had to go to the hospital in 2017 for ocd and it was there that it was discovered that I have autoimmune thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s causing hypothyroidism). My Mom had her thyroid removed at 32 but probably had thyroid issues dating back before that age. My ocd became severe about halfway through high school. I remember having to literally leave class to check to make sure that my belongings in my locker hadn’t been stolen during the time that I had been in class. I hit puberty at the right time and correctly hit all other markers. The endocrinologist said that an endo surgeon would remove the thyroid for different reasons, and I have one of them: nodules. I’m kind of hoping that they take it out due to my familial history of autoimmune disease. I just keep hoping there’s a way to rid myself of distress and intrusive thoughts. It’s pretty messed up that I’m hoping to have part of my body removed but I have this gut feeling that my thyroid could be fucking with everything. I’m not sure if I’d feel any different if my Mom didn’t have thyroid cancer, but that gives me hope that it’s not all my fault. The intrusive thoughts have become less frequent since starting thyroid hormone therapy. But they still come and go and it causes comorbid depression. Sucks. Anyone else with similar experiences and/or thought processes? I also had a cortisol test done today to see how well my body tolerates stress. Upon blood testing, the endocrinologist discovered that I my cortisol was super low in the AM. It’s supposed to be the opposite in the AM. If the same holds true after my cortisol test today, then it’s a problem that has to be addressed with more immunosuppressant medicine. I also take 150mg Zoloft. I don’t notice much from it, but I take it.

Good morning to all. I have OCD and have had it since high school. However, I was not formed diagnosed until 2003, when I was 45 . I have a psychiatrist and Licensed therapist, and have been on Zoloft/sertraline ever since. Currently I have to have cataract surgery in a few weeks and I am very anxious about the whole thing. Of course this has been a trigger for my OCD and dealing with it the best I can. Any thoughts ?

I’ve always had OCD, and for most of my life it was little things that seemed manageable at the time or something that would phase out of my head within a couple days/weeks/months. But, the older I got the more severe it became, I’d find myself collapsing deeper and deeper within my own head trying to out think the thoughts that bothered me. About a year ago I had a thought that rattled me to my core. My brothers and I were watching a movie in our mother’s room when my youngest brother turned to me to say something. His close proximity to me triggered a fleeting sexually explicit image in my head and that thought caused me to spiral. Asking questions like, “are you attracted to your minor brother? Are you attracted to minors? Are you gay? Etc.” a couple days went by and my mental stability continued to crumble until I broke down to my mother, she was understanding and we found a a psychiatrist. I got on medication and for a while everything was slowly but surely trending in a positive direction. The thoughts would still pop into my head but they were becoming more manageable. As we all know OCD and mental illness comes in waves. Currently my OCD has been pretty severe. I feel those intrusive thoughts latching on in my head and it’s been very hard to kick them. It’s gotten to the point where I find myself being uncomfortable being in close proximity with my little brother because I feel as though I am capable of harming him in any way. And the more uncomfortable I become being around him the more I find myself lashing out in anger towards the people I care about the most. Those moments of anger cause me to spiral even farther as my head fills with ideas like “what if you are capable of hurting someone or even murdering them?” There’s times where these thoughts rattle me so much that I feel like it would be better to be in prison where I couldn’t harm someone or that even being dead would be a better solution than possibly running the risk of hurting someone in my life I care about. This is about the jist of it, a majority of the OCD I have is centered around the idea that I am capable of harming my little brother physically, mentally, sexually. It’s been exhausting and it feels like there is no end in sight.

Hiii - hope everyone is having a good day! Has anyone found any type of medication or supplements helpful with thinking sooo deeply about everything and intrusive thoughts? I’m in therapy + doing erp but my brain in this relapse of ocd just thinks sooo deep into my brain and i can’t seem to not to do it pull myself out. Like I’m just paranoid. An example would be if i simply look at my arm I’ll think so deeply about it like what’s under my arm what’s it look like inside etc. but if anyone not in this cycle looks at their arm they’ll be like hmm ok cool my arm and move on w their day. Just looking to see if anyone has had a similar experience of what I’m feeling rn.