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- 5y
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It took me about 5 months after I was first diagnosed and started doing ERP therapy for things to start getting better. I had intrusive thoughts all day long too. Hang in there and God bless :)
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- 5y
thank you! i’m glad it got better for you. i hope i can get better too with time :)
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Hey man! In my experience going on meditation was really hard for me, but being on medication didn’t make me suicidal or anything like that, it essentially lowered my anxieties and OCD. It didn’t get rid of then but it made them less intense! ( hope this is helpful ) ?
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really that’s great! thank you so much it means a lot :)
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From what I heard, meds can help a with anxiety, but ultimately it’s the therapy that has you reaching recovery. I was on medication (Buspar) for a little bit before I was diagnosed or doing therapy and it actually eliminated not only my anxiety but also the intrusive thoughts as well. In my case it did not cause any suicidal thoughts (I actually have suicidal OCD, and after taking the medication those intrusive thoughts went away!) I had to get off them eventually because they were causing me lightheadedness but it could be different for someone else. If you don’t feel comfortable taking them, you don’t have to. Just be vigilant with ERP and therapy and you’ll get there. My old therapist used to say that just using medication is the fast route but you don’t learn anything and once you get off it’s back to square one, but with therapy, while it is the long way, it’s the one that will produce actual change. Also I don’t think the medication is really supposed to eliminate the intrusive thoughts completely, but rather it lessens the frequency and intensity enough for you to be able to properly do therapy. Good luck :)
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I agree with this. Well put !!!
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thank you so much for your feedback i appreciate it and will keep that in mind :)
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My recommendation is to work through your fear of the medicine. For me, medication really helps me function more “normally”. It’s easier to do the work of ERP when my anxiety is brought down closer to a healthy level at baseline.
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thank you so much!
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Hi I have this same fear. The thing with meds is they are different for everyone. They could potentially help you with some side effects! There are pros and cons and I am personally against them and am trying to do things naturally. Don’t make this a reassurance check or compulsion but what I suggest is ready the mood cure by Julia Ross or speaking with a psychiatrist if you are ready for medication.
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thank you much! i think i’m gonna stick to therapy for now because i’m scared of meds
Related posts
- Date posted
- 22w
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- 21w
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
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- 15w
I had a very bad session with a therapist today (NOT FROM NOCD). She basically told me I can’t be helped without medication, said I am too needy and if I keep being needy, people will continue to leave me, and my past trauma from relationships is my fault. I then had a second session with my old therapist who helped process and explain that OCD is lifelong and some people manage it but others have flare ups and I think I’m having a bad flare up (a month long basically) and that I may need medication which I’m terrified to go back on. Does it get better? Will I need meds? I’m scared. I don’t want to get worse and I don’t want these thoughts to scare me.
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