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Rumination OCD - ignoring intrusive thoughts and medication


Guest trickytree

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Guest trickytree

Hi All - my first post. I have had several episodes thoughout my life but current one is particularly troublesome. What do we understand by 'letting thoughts go' - a very tricky technique it seems - if you say to yourself 'ignore that' have you in fact responded?

I would also love to stop looking at everybody with envy thinking your OK and I am not! (I do know in reality that not everybody is OK )

Re medication I would be very interested in people's experiences of higher doses of fluoxetine such as 40mg or 60mg a day.

Currently on 20mg which is helping with depression. Thanks

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Guest bluecanary

Hi tricky, and welcome to the forums.

I tend to think of intrusive thoughts like flies buzzing around our heads. The OCD in us becomes immediately focused on catching the fly, to the point where we'll get up from whatever we're doing to follow it around the room to try to silence it. We quickly become frustrated, because the fly is just too darn fast, and we don't end up being able to focus on the things that matter. By letting the thoughts go, we're merely swatting at the fly (so to speak) when it comes near. Yes, you're responding, but you're responding briefly in a positive way that says, "I know you're there, I'm not going to try to destroy you, but I'm also not going to let you hover around in front of me, so get lost." Not a perfect analogy, but it's the one that immediately came to mind when I thought about it. My boyfriend gave me a very simple and very wise piece of advice once when I was expressing my worry over something silly: "Don't think about it so much." It's become my mantra. For me (and I'm sure this is true for many other folks as well), the biggest problem with my OCD is that I tend to start overthinking things that other people simply brush off. I think everyone has intrusive thoughts now and then. The main difference with OCD sufferers is that when they occur to us, instead of just releasing them like we're supposed to, we tend to try to overanalyze and pick them apart.

As far as meds, I think I took fluoxetine once (that's Prozac, right?), but it was so long ago that I can't recall the dose or its exact effects on me. I'm currently on 50mg of sertraline (Zoloft) each day, and while I still have my rough times with anxiety and OCD, I think I'd probably be much worse off without it.

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Guest londongirly

^ perfect example! And tricky I get jelous of people too. Today I asked my friend 'so, life without sever anxiety. Is it good?' And she replied 'yes. Its pretty good.' She understands I have problems and actually asked me today if I was mentally gone! Had to smile. I know we can beat the little ***** (thoughts) if we try:) recently I've just been saying 'no, shut up, **** off, not interested, don't care, cya' it helps :)

Edited by Ashley
Removed inappropriate language
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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest trickytree

Hi tricky, and welcome to the forums.

I tend to think of intrusive thoughts like flies buzzing around our heads. The OCD in us becomes immediately focused on catching the fly, to the point where we'll get up from whatever we're doing to follow it around the room to try to silence it. We quickly become frustrated, because the fly is just too darn fast, and we don't end up being able to focus on the things that matter. By letting the thoughts go, we're merely swatting at the fly (so to speak) when it comes near. Yes, you're responding, but you're responding briefly in a positive way that says, "I know you're there, I'm not going to try to destroy you, but I'm also not going to let you hover around in front of me, so get lost." Not a perfect analogy, but it's the one that immediately came to mind when I thought about it. My boyfriend gave me a very simple and very wise piece of advice once when I was expressing my worry over something silly: "Don't think about it so much." It's become my mantra. For me (and I'm sure this is true for many other folks as well), the biggest problem with my OCD is that I tend to start overthinking things that other people simply brush off. I think everyone has intrusive thoughts now and then. The main difference with OCD sufferers is that when they occur to us, instead of just releasing them like we're supposed to, we tend to try to overanalyze and pick them apart.

As far as meds, I think I took fluoxetine once (that's Prozac, right?), but it was so long ago that I can't recall the dose or its exact effects on me. I'm currently on 50mg of sertraline (Zoloft) each day, and while I still have my rough times with anxiety and OCD, I think I'd probably be much worse off without it.

Thank you Blue Canary for taking the time to reply - sound advice

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Guest trickytree

Thanks for your comments - seems different things work for different folk - just a thought (ha ha) I have found from past experience that once I have got my anxiety under control then managing the OCD gets easier.

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