Black

Totally hear you in this, the urge to confess every details, the relief it brings, then the increased anxiety later on. It’s so hard as ocd makes you feel guilty for not confessing every minute thing but it really is just reassurance seeking, you’re right to resist it if you can. But if you stuff up and end up confessing anyway, just be sure to acknowledge it for what it is, l’ve just done a compulsion, you got me this time ocd but next time I’ll be stronger. Take care x

Gosh what an ordeal you have been through. Thanks for sharing, really great to hear your story and your progress :)

I definitely had a worsening of symptoms when I moved from 20 to 30 then after 10 days it subsided so I’d give it another week if you can.

And for anyone trying fluoxetine it really can take a while to kick in and it’s worth considering adjusting your dose if it’s not working for you after several weeks.

Just wanted to update incase anyone was reading this. So I stuck with the fluoxetine in the end and exactly 9 weeks after starting and 2 weeks after increasing the dose to 30mg, it finally kicked in. Such a relief! I stopped the lorazepam without any issues at all and have now done 3 sessions of therapy which is going well. I honestly feel almost back to my old self but will stick with the therapy. Thanks for all the support when I really needed it.

I do a lot of exercise by the way lol. A lot! It helps in the moment and for 30 mins afterwards but doesn’t stop the obsessions. That’s my experience anyway

I think also when you treat he anxiety medically the intrusive thoughts decrease with the reduction in anxiety. For me anyway. I should add I increased from 20mg to 30mg of fluoxetine a week ago so that may be impacting on how bad I’ve been feeling. Still in two minds about what to do. I might just give it until the weekend ?

Good advice thankyou. It was brainlock that helped me most last time along with the meds but neither seem to be helping much at the moment. I’ve only had one session so not a lot of homework set yet, just relabelling, accepting and refocusing. I’ve been doing my own exposures but again don’t seem to be moving on from crippling anxiety. I feel exhausted, not sleeping well at all and depression is creeping in. I have another session tomorrow so hopefully that will help. I’ve restarted yoga and have just done a 4 week mindfulness course so I feel I’m working really hard but not getting anywhere. It’s the anxiety that is the worst part for me, I know they are stupid thoughts and know to agree with them which I can do in the moment (most of the time) but then there is just this generalised and constant anxiety ? I just feel like the meds should be doing something rather than nothing. I’ve been given quetiapine and zopiclone for sleep but each have only given 2-4 each on a bad night, have a new one to try tonight as I’m not taking quetiapine again, I feel it’s made me worse particularly in the mornings.

Thanks so much for this, I really appreciate you taking the time, so lovely of you. That does make me feel a bit better about the switch. I know when Prozac worked for me last time I felt a lot better by this time and certainly not worse so yes I think it’s right to switch also ocd is making me doubt.

I’ve actually been doing this on my phone which is why I know I’m having a lot more bad days than I was, hence I’m thinking of stopping the Prozac as my doc has suggested, but she’s not an ocd specialist so I’m not sure that’s the right thing (it’s been 8 weeks). As I said on my new thread scared to stop and change and scared to carry on with them.

Sorry to post another question about medication. I’ve been on fluoxetine for 8 weeks, increased from 20mg to 30mg just over a week ago. The thing is over the past month I’ve had way more bad days than good days, I feel it’s not working for me this time and my GP wants me to stop abruptly and start taking escitalopram 7 days after stopping. I’m not sure how much more anxiety I can take so now I’m scared to continue and scared to stop. I’ve recently started therapy so will discuss there also but what you you guys think? Have I given it long enough as my gp seems to think? The only days I have good days is when I’ve taken 0.5mg lorazepam in the morning. I know this is not good but I need to be able to function for my daughter. I am taking it more days than I would like but it seems to be he only thing getting me through at the moment. My gp isn’t concerned about addiction saying we can taper when an antidepressant actually starts working for me. I’m obviously concerned about addiction but I’m only taking 0.5 when take it when she said I can take up to 4 x that amount. I am not sleeping well and have no appetite due to anxiety. Anyway, what are your thoughts on the fluoxetine, surely I should be noticing a little improvement by 8 weeks?

All of the above unfortunately! Yesterday was a good day but today not so much. Gonna try and refocus on something else, like work

Thanks, I’ve been on fluoxetine for 8 weeks now but although I thought it was working at first I’m feeling worse. My gp has told me to stop it today and start escitaloptam in 7 days. I really don’t know what to do. Scared to stop and scared to carry on as I’m sure last time I was feeling better by 8 weeks not worse. I’ve had some really bad days recently.

Thanks so much. It’s been very up and down since my appointment, lots of paranoia about what he thinks of me, what he’s written about me in his notes, what he will do with that information etc etc but I’ll be going back again in Thursday and will tell him all about those thoughts, as they actually sent me into a tail spin on Sunday ? I’ve calmed down a bit now though.

Thanks, doubts and anxiety creeping in already but I will relabel, accept and refocus ?

It went really well. It was tough but I told him everything and he really wasn’t phased. Said he hears this stuff everyday and that I 100% have ocd, that there isn’t a doubt in his mind. He’s given me some things to work on and I think he will be a great therapist. Thanks for encouraging me to seek help, right now in this moment I’m really glad I did. I will expect doubts and thoughts to creep in but it’s a marathon not a sprint x

I’m so hoping he’s the right person though, I need the help now!

Thankyou, my husband had the same rationale last night but I’m so fragile right now that I fear it might tip me over the edge. If I get the feeling he’s not the right therapist I will look into Skype options with ucla I think.

Thanks so much for your support ladies, I’m a bit shaking this morning, huge step for me I’m sure you can remember that feeling. Anxiety is terrible. I mean it says he has 15 years experience of treating ocd on his website but he doesn’t only deal with ocd so now I thinking we’ll what if he’s only had one ocd client a year! Such a peep of faith isn’t it, he has the capacity to make me ten times worse with what he says or to show me he can really help me to make myself better. So scared.

Well after 8 years of suspecting I have ocd, which I now realise has been there in many forms since childhood, today is the day that I see an ocd specialist for the first time. I have to do this as I can’t handle this flare up by myself. I’m in my 40s and a mum now so have to do this for my family as well as for myself. Yesterday was an awful day with lots of sheer panic about today. I am so nervous and have so much riding on this therapist being knowledgeable. Like what is he says I don’t have ocd and my themes are true? That would mean I’m a terrible person and I just couldn’t cope with that. But I have to be brave and do this to get better as my anxiety is getting worse. Wish me luck guys and if anyone has any words of wisdom or advice on how to handle this, how to phrase things, getting through the morning before my appointment, that would be much appreciated.

Thank you will do

Has anyone been prescribed quetiapine to help with sleep? I already take fluoxetine and was taking half a zopiclone every other night to help with sleep, but it’s just been switched to 12.5 - 25mg quetiapine as gp says it’s less addictive than zopiclone. I’m a little anxious about trying something new. Brazen reassurance seeking here.

Thanks dksea. Yes I know in an ideal world I would feel comfortable talking to my GP but she’s not my regular gp. The one I’m signed up with is off sick and even she is new to me. I guess because I don’t even know for sure yet whether I have ocd I want to see what the ocd therapist thinks before taking that step of having it diagnosed or put on my record. I’m seeing the ocd therapist for the first time on Friday so it will be good to get the opinion of someone qualified and experienced in ocd when i speak about it for the first time rather than from a gp who may misunderstand or not have good knowledge of ocd. I have been told today I can increase my dose to 30mg or 40mg if I want to in a couple of weeks which solves the problem of ocd normally being treated with a higher than 20mg dose. However I do want to give it 10 weeks (I’m in 6 now) as I’m quite sensitive to meds and 20mg worked well for me last time. She has prescribed me something for sleep which I’m hoping will help also. Thanks for your comments and support

Sounds great Roy, living in the moment. Wonderful x

Much deserved Roy but you will be missed. Thankyou for all your advice x