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WHAT IF I DRINK ALCOHOL THOUGHT BACK


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I been on 20mg of Citalopram for 19 days and 10mg 7 days before that.. No benefit yet but the anxiety in the mornings still high but has eased a bit the last couple of days. The GP last Thursday was talking of changing the medication in a couple of weeks if no improvement. Seems a bit soon from what I have read?

Over the weekend went on a couple of 30min car trips. I tried to just sit through it with the thought of let the thought come let the thought go. It not really work and the jump out of the car thought was very strong and I became very anxious. But at least I did them and two long country walks which made me very anxious but again I did them at least.

My main intrusive thought the last few days has been what if I drink alcohol on the medication and loose control. I try deep breathing keeping busy and let the thought come and let the thought go technique. But nothing seems to work it makes me very agitated and restless at times,

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Guest Kendal

Hi Mac, I think you might want to be open to changing the meds if that's their suggestion. Meanwhile you are doing the right thing - trying to ignore the thought. The thought is not real. You are on the right track.

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Have you considered thinking the thoughts you fear on purpose rather than letting them float in and out. It can help with exposure exercises because you are taking control rather than the ocd.

Gemma x

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Yes think the thought deliberately and then let it go. It can help if you are scared of getting the thought and it can reduce anxiety you would get in the future if the thought came intrusively.

Gemma x

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The Citalopram is working quite well for me now. I am grateful to my doctor for encouraging me to wait, and to the forum friends who advised me both to try that med, and what behavioural changes to make to reduce my anxiety - it was only when I got my very high anxiety levels down that the drug started to work.

In my case I got the arousal down by;

Stopping overtrying and overthinking

Spending minimum time on the forum as I had been spending too much time thinking about OCD.

Getting really really really busy supervising my roofers, helping my wife and her siblings with their Mum's issues, gardening, getting out and seeing my friends, sorting out my remaining pensions, getting my correspondence up to date, playing the arcade computer games, going for mindful walks, reading, listening to radio and watching TV.

I think it is important to remember that the drug is not itself an anti-anxiety medication.

How it seems to work is what I had hoped for. In me, it has lifted my depression and helped me eat properly and take my vitamin and mineral supplements, so I have strength and feel well.

It has given me more mental resilience so I have been able to properly work ERP on my graded hierarchy of triggers. I have been deliberately seeking out triggers and successfully taking on board the anxiety, reminding myself that the meaning being given to the thoughts is all false and exaggerated then holding the thought for a while as the anxiety fades, then refocusing.

Edited by taurean
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Thanks for your input.

Certainly the side effect of increased anxiety in the morning is lessening.

I went on a coastal walk walk yesterday on my own and although anxious at times it was bearable. I have been to the shops this morning and plan another coastal walk and some gardening this afternoon. So is it the meds? but seem at times I am more positive.

The downside is

1) My worry over car trips. We plan a couple more at the weekend and I not finding the techniques to cope with the jump out of the car thought easy to do I am in all honesty grinning and bearing it..

2) The GP was already talking of changing the medication if no improvement when I see her next which is now 3 weeks. I think I will ask if I can stay with it for a little longer to give them more time to work.

3) This intrusive thought of what if I drink alcohol and loose control. This thought is troubling me and will not go away. Even when I am busy it at the back of my mind. I just wish I could find some technique to at least reduce its power over me

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Let's try going back to square one and reviewing a moment.

Anxiety is the brain's reaction to a perceived threat. It follows that dealing with that perception and reducing it reduces the anxiety.

So someone perpetually anxious - as you seem to be and I was - needs to address the cause(s) of the anxiety - that perception to threat - in order to reduce or remove it.

In my case, I had to do that to get the anxiety levels down before the Citalopram was able to work.

If someone not in a high state of anxiety was taking the drug and didn't have any reservations about it, and became more anxious - then the drug seems a likely culprit.

Its so difficult - someone else I know did get more anxious on it, and changed to fluoxetine which she is doing well on.

But fluoxetine really does have a much higher initial risk potential of suicide or self-harm, according to my psychiatrist and doctor who checked really carefully on this with me before prescribing it, and told me to get straight back to the doctor if I felt like that on it.

Its so subjective how any one individual might react. There are other SSRI options mind you, but I haven't personal experience of them. The fluoxetine made me too sleepy by half so I couldn't function on it, but my sister does well on it with no such side effect..

I would maybe give it more time and do things to target reducing the anxiety rather more than ERP and car trips right now - the car trips - which are overt exposure - will increase anxiety right now. For me you see, I could do your car trips now as I am able to do my own ERP, which I couldn't do until the Citalopram started to work.

Re point 3, and the intrusive thought re alcohol.

One of my therapists was good on this type of thing. She told me to be blasé about it, sort of welcome it by saying to myself - oh hello, there's that OCD intrusive thought again. But you are OCD, and I am not going to give the meaning to this thought you want me to because it is all just bunkum.

She and my latest therapist - and Caramoole - pointed out that treating the intrusive thought indifferently so as to not give it credence, showing it you know its game, takes power away from it - having done that you refocus onto a distraction.

Summing up, it has ;power over you because of the meaning it is giving to the intrusion and into which you are buying. So see that thought for what it is, OCD, and refuse to buy into the thought - reattribute it to OCD, then calmly refocus away.

keep doing this and it should lose power.

All the best.

Roy

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One more problem I have with the alcohol thought is triggers. I find going anywhere that has alcohol intensifies the thought ie restaurants the club to play snookeror even at home when other people drinking.

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That makes sense. The OCD will take any opportunity to spook you.

Note that this is what it is doing, be aware it will use various ways and guises to go about its deadly business.You have to rise to the challenge and fight the compulsion to let it take the iupper hand.

You have the moral high ground, becasue you know what your real character is, so don't let this throw you.

Treat it the same way my friend (a recovered alcoholic) does. He plays snooker in the snooker club with friends, and there is a bar there. He ignores the bar as if it wasn't there!!! You have to take that same ice cool stance.

I may have mentioned this, but I do this when I go fishing at a certain lake where there is a boarding kennels. I don't like barking dogs, but when I go there I completely ignore the sound of the dogs barking as if they are not there.

It take a little while to apply this technique, but if I can do it and my friend can, so can you.

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Well the thought was so intense I cancelled snooker Friday ecause could not face the bar and people drinking. So many triggers.

I felt a failure but was advised by Taurean to have a rethink.

So last night I went out for a meal with a meal and a couple who are close friends for a meal and then back to thee place.I did not enjoy it. It was exposure for me and for the most part grin and bear it especially as our male friend was drunk and very loud.

I got through it which is a plus but today am very anxious reliving it and thinking how I can improve to cope with this situation better and the triggers that ere everywhere

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I got through it which is a plus but today am very anxious reliving it and thinking how I can improve to cope with this situation better and the triggers that ere everywhere

This is really how the anxiety maintains itelf isn't it?

Overanalysing is a compulsion so you need to limit time to purely looking at any improvements you can make to cope better - use my decision-making process to do that - , then stop analysing knowing you have formulated a plan for next time, and dismiss all anxiety about it having made that decision.

Triggers for me are also everywhere, but once I got my overall anxiety levels down I found that the Citalopram started to work and definitely operates for me as "waterwings" to help me float and tackle those triggers with ERP.

.

Edited by taurean
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Perhaps things will get easier if I can reduce my overall anxiety. Hopefully Citalapram will soon help to lower my anxiety?

Certainly I do overthink my OCD and coping with exposures. I must try and think about more non OCD things.

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mackem, you are operating under a false expectation - from my experience the Citalopram did not lower my anxiety - it only started to work when I got my excess anxiety levels down. It is not an anti-anxiety medicine - it is an anti-depressant that also has known benefits for OCD .

A quote from one of my favourite books by Dale Carnegie says "Our life what is our thoughts make it". If we think anxious thoughts, we will be anxious.

It's not the situations thoughts and triggers that are your problem, i'ts what you think about them and how you react to them that causes the anxiety. Change that thinking and those behaviours and your anxiety will come down. Then hopefully the Citalopram will kick in (but of course how it affects people is very subjective) lifting your mood and spirits and helping you then engage with with ERP; that has been my - very beneficial - experience with it.

Remember what Caramoole and Ashley say - we can learn as much as we like about OCD, but only we can make the necessary (thinking and behavioural) changes to apply that learning and get better.

Good luck with this,

Roy

:cool2:

Edited by taurean
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I genuinely thought Citalapram reduced anxiety levels. It certainly increased my anxiety levels in the mornings but that has touch wood gone and I am now back to my original anxiety levels in the mornings.

I think I need to work harder on the intrusive thoughts I have when not in an exposure situation Then perhaps I will deal better with them when in an exposure situation.

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If Citalapram does not reduce anxiety levels then I must find other ways to reduce my anxiety. Yesterday | tried to keep busy went to the shops twice went for a coastal walk on my own and did some gardening. I actually found weeding for a couple of hours did reduce the intensity of the thought.

However once I stop the thought comes back and the anxiety too.

I cannot seem to find a technique to combat the thought at the moment.

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You must reduce the anxiety by changing how you think and feel about intrusive thoughts.

The goal is to not react at all to them so they fade away into the background.

Note the meaning OCD gives them, see it for falsehoofs then leave the thought be and keep refocudsng away whenever it calls.

Engaging swth it in any way - worry research ruminating - will just strengthen it and trigger an anxiety rezponse.

You cannot take a pill to do this, you have to make the changes yourself.

Roy

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I had a very bad day yesterday and today.

I tried ignoring the though but it just wont go or fade away.

The only respite seems when I am very busy or when I am asleep. This is making life very difficult because you cannot be very busy 24/7.

Whenever I stop the thought is there and the anxiety is high.

I know the only answer is me and keep on trying to ignore the thought but at the moment it is very very hard.

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