So are there any success stories here? Like I know this seems needy but I just kind of want to manage my expectations when it comes to “recovery”....like who here tried therapy or medication or both and had it really help them in their lives and how?

Yes. I never had medication but I did have ACT based therapy, and I attend workshops/support groups online. I also read a ton about ERP and ACT and was able to apply it with a lot of success. I believe I caught myself before my compulsions got out of control, and I've improved immensely since then. There was a lot of thoughts like 'Am I sick enough to deserve treatment? Is this actually real?'. I decided to take the risk that it wasn't real and get help anyway. I'm doing very well now, I'm just posting here lately to try and help people who were in the same position as me two years ago :)

Therapy helped a lot , I still have physical anxiety tho. So I went through a couple of meds , I’m finally on one that works and therapy works better now as well. I’m living my best life, just came back from vacation that I wholly enjoyed and now back to work and school. I look forward to life now so that’s a plus.

I'm also getting better with therapy ♡ just 3 months and Im not like I used to, but I feel happy and positive again

Dude I wish we could high five on here!

Like with me, I’m just kind of an anxious guy, like on my best days I still have little fears and anxieties and that’s fine...generally I like myself...it’s just sometimes (usually when I’m tired or have been eating unhealthily or am stressed) I’ll just get triggered and can’t handle my ocd for a bit...like I guess my dream is to just keep myself from letting it get on top of me, so I can live my normal life as a somewhat anxious individual

Awesome!

Thanks 4 hope