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OCD treatment advice


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Hello!

I would like to begin this post by saying that I'm pleased that you guys are still here & providing support.

Despite not being active on here for some time, I'm afraid I'm once again in need of some support.

I was diagnosed with OCD about 10 years ago now. Over the years,I've received some good CBT from the local IAPT service, as well as some treatment that didn't seem to be that helpful, or evidence-based!

Anyhow, I'm just about to embark on another course of CBT. The therapist seems lovely and talks a lot about CBT and the evidence for it in the treatment of OCD, which is good. 

However, I'm feeling particularly low at the moment, and am just not convinced that another course of CBT will help, as I've actually got worse over the years, rather than better.

my life is now very limited, and I have had several days lately where I just wish it would all just stop and go away. I feel pretty hopeless that things will ever get better and have been very distressed.

anyhow, I'm off to see my GP tomorrow, in hope that they can help. I'm keen to ask my GP a few things, but don't know if this is the right thing to do?

I'm hoping GP can offer something other than SSRIs. Have tried 3 different SSRIs over the years, but I just don't feel that that's enough or having any benefit. At what point should I ask if alternatives or additional meds are available, eg. Trying clomipramine? I've never been offered this, and feel that people don't think my OCD is bad enough to try it?

i'm keen to try anything now and don't know whether it would be okay to ask to try beta-blockers or antipsychotics, too, for example?

i just don't feel that people think things are that bad for me, but OCD is now making me very low and my life very limited. I would appreciate a specialist unit or inpatient stay, but again don't know how to approach this with GP.

I think my OCD is limiting (can't use loos at home, can't make a drink or food , now only have one set of clothes that I can wear and so wash these every night, i have a bath every night before going straight to bed using a whole bottle of bubble bath, can no longer use the car or relax in the house eg to watch tv, can't buy any shopping, struggle with post and bills, can't clean the house but am making things dirty through my coping strategies, can't even play with or give treats to our family cat). Perhaps this isn't that bad, but to me it is, especially as I live alone. My main coping strategy is to avoid things and so I spend time in work, but because I work I think people think I'm okay.

 

sorry for the rant. I'm just wanting some support and guidance about how best to get it.

any help would be gratefully received.

 

kind regards

 

 

 

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Hi Ocd10. Unfortunately when it comes to OCD, medications are hit or miss. They do some very good things for some people and others get no benefit from them. On average, SSRIs can help reduce the amount of anxiety you feel so you are better able to engage with therapy. And that is the key. Regardless how well you do with meds, you still have to do the hard work necessary to recover from OCD.

You have listed off quite a few things that you won't do. They're all avoidance compulsions and, like it or not, they are all things that you are going to have to reverse if you want to recover from your disorder. CBT is the way to go. It's supposed to give you the tools you need to be able to confidently start stopping your compulsions, in a well thought out way. The first round of CBT you went through obviously didn't work but a second chance is definitely worth a try. Never give up.

I'm not going to kid you. It's hard. It's really hard. One of the reasons CBT doesn't work is the client is not willing to engage with what needs to be done. They can't bring themselves to slow down and stop their compulsions. Yet that is what must be done.

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