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OCD and menstrual cycle


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Hello everybody, 

I've been noticing these last couple of months since I've been on medication that whenever I'm on my period, my ocd gets substantially worse. Never noticed it before starting medication, so I'm not sure if there's any correlation there. Is it just with me, my head, or do any of the ladies in here felt the same? 

Since my last post, I've gone back to my doctor and increased my meds to twice a day, as I wasn't feeling any better, except for a decrease in anxiety. It's been two months since that and I'm still struggling with my obsessions, although, I haven't seen any psychologist to help me with cbt and all that... can the meds by itself work?

Sorry for having two questions in one topic. 

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OCD has an estrogen component so periods affect it. 
 

meds take 8 to 12 weeks & if you change dosage another 8 to 12 weeks just to be sure. 
 

frankly I don’t think there is any med that can change thoughts or actions they just mute anxiety as you saw. 

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1 hour ago, VNDO said:

Hello everybody, 

I've been noticing these last couple of months since I've been on medication that whenever I'm on my period, my ocd gets substantially worse. Never noticed it before starting medication, so I'm not sure if there's any correlation there. Is it just with me, my head, or do any of the ladies in here felt the same? 

Since my last post, I've gone back to my doctor and increased my meds to twice a day, as I wasn't feeling any better, except for a decrease in anxiety. It's been two months since that and I'm still struggling with my obsessions, although, I haven't seen any psychologist to help me with cbt and all that... can the meds by itself work?

Sorry for having two questions in one topic. 

Hello VNDO,

Personally, I don't think there is a correlation between meds and period. My OCD gets substantially worse when I am on my period. You are not alone.

According to what I know, Medication (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)) helps you to decrease anxiety. And CBT helps you to deal with obsessions and compulsions.

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Thank you both for your answers!

I was on the fence about it, as I don't recall noticing any differences in my obsessions  prior to starting medication. But, indeed, my anxiety increases and it's like I've gone back to what I was before... have to do all my routines before bed or before leaving the house, whereas, when I'm not on my period I cant control it better. 

So, basically, the meds just mute the symptoms, they don't cure it... I've been asking my mother for ages for an appointment with the psychologist to no avail. I do feel like I need to talk to a professional regarding some family issues and I think that would help me a lot with my ocd, although I also need to learn some coping mechanisms instead of relying just on my meds, if that makes sense.

 

Edited by VNDO
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3 hours ago, VNDO said:

So, basically, the meds just mute the symptoms, they don't cure it... I've been asking my mother for ages for an appointment with the psychologist to no avail. I do feel like I need to talk to a professional regarding some family issues and I think that would help me a lot with my ocd, although I also need to learn some coping mechanisms instead of relying just on my meds, if that makes sense.

 

It makes sense. You need to see a CBT therapist to help you to deal with your OCD symptoms VNDO. You are right asking your mother for an appointment. Why your mother doesn´t want to take you to see a specialist? 

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On 16/02/2020 at 11:01, VNDO said:

Since my last post, I've gone back to my doctor and increased my meds to twice a day, as I wasn't feeling any better, except for a decrease in anxiety. It's been two months since that and I'm still struggling with my obsessions, although, I haven't seen any psychologist to help me with cbt and all that... can the meds by itself work?

 

5 hours ago, VNDO said:

So, basically, the meds just mute the symptoms, they don't cure it... I've been asking my mother for ages for an appointment with the psychologist to no avail. I do feel like I need to talk to a professional regarding some family issues and I think that would help me a lot with my ocd, although I also need to learn some coping mechanisms instead of relying just on my meds, if that makes sense.


I'm a guy so I can't speak to the period aspect of your questions ? but I do have some experience with medication so I can offer some on that.
First, it will depend on what the medication is.  Assuming it is an SSRI (the standard for treating OCD) the effects will vary from person to person.  For some people it acts mostly to reduce the levels of anxiety, though for others, like myself, overall symptoms are decreased including the frequency of intrusive thoughts.  I have described the medication like lubrication/oil for my brain, it helps the thoughts be less sticky than they otherwise are.  So in a sense the meds can work by themselves, HOWEVER I highly highly highly recommend not relying on meds alone even if they are effective for you.  From my own personal experience I learned this the hard way, the meds effectiveness can vary overtime (maybe its hormones, maybe its stress, etc.).  Its great when they are working properly, but it can be hell when the effects start to fade a little for one reason or another, because you aren't prepared to deal with the intrusive thoughts.  CBT helps you to better handle intrusive thoughts and respond when they happen.  Its a tool you can always use, whether the medication is being very effective or less effective.  And utilizing CBT can make the difference between an intrusive thought becoming a minor inconvenience or a major spike.  I spent the first 10 or so years of my OCD journey relying almost exclusively on medication.  Starting CBT made a big difference in my quality of life and I feel has helped prevent some major spikes since then.  While neither meds nor therapy can currently cure one of OCD, they can give you the tools to effectively manage OCD and live your life inspire of this stupid disorder.  I think you are absolutely on the right track with pursuing therapy and I hope your mother will be more receptive in the future.  Studies have shown that while patients on CBT or medicine alone report about the same levels of improvement, patients who do both tend to better than those who do one or the other.  Maybe letting your mother know that would help.  If necessary I can help you find the research citations that back that up.

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11 hours ago, Andrea said:

It makes sense. You need to see a CBT therapist to help you to deal with your OCD symptoms VNDO. You are right asking your mother for an appointment. Why your mother doesn´t want to take you to see a specialist? 

She doesn't really care, I think. I've been asking for months and she says yes, but never sets up the appointment. Even with the medication, she's not really on board with it. We don't have the best relationship as well. But I really feel like I need to see a psychologist. Just need to find a way to set up the appointment...

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9 hours ago, dksea said:

 


I'm a guy so I can't speak to the period aspect of your questions ? but I do have some experience with medication so I can offer some on that.
First, it will depend on what the medication is.  Assuming it is an SSRI (the standard for treating OCD) the effects will vary from person to person.  For some people it acts mostly to reduce the levels of anxiety, though for others, like myself, overall symptoms are decreased including the frequency of intrusive thoughts.  I have described the medication like lubrication/oil for my brain, it helps the thoughts be less sticky than they otherwise are.  So in a sense the meds can work by themselves, HOWEVER I highly highly highly recommend not relying on meds alone even if they are effective for you.  From my own personal experience I learned this the hard way, the meds effectiveness can vary overtime (maybe its hormones, maybe its stress, etc.).  Its great when they are working properly, but it can be hell when the effects start to fade a little for one reason or another, because you aren't prepared to deal with the intrusive thoughts.  CBT helps you to better handle intrusive thoughts and respond when they happen.  Its a tool you can always use, whether the medication is being very effective or less effective.  And utilizing CBT can make the difference between an intrusive thought becoming a minor inconvenience or a major spike.  I spent the first 10 or so years of my OCD journey relying almost exclusively on medication.  Starting CBT made a big difference in my quality of life and I feel has helped prevent some major spikes since then.  While neither meds nor therapy can currently cure one of OCD, they can give you the tools to effectively manage OCD and live your life inspire of this stupid disorder.  I think you are absolutely on the right track with pursuing therapy and I hope your mother will be more receptive in the future.  Studies have shown that while patients on CBT or medicine alone report about the same levels of improvement, patients who do both tend to better than those who do one or the other.  Maybe letting your mother know that would help.  If necessary I can help you find the research citations that back that up.

Thank you! Yes, that makes total sense. It's like you said - some days the meds work and my brain understands how silly it all is and is able to just fight back. But then, there are days where it gets very difficult. Like I said in the previous post, I don't think my mother is very interested in this. She doesn't like that I see the psychiatrist and take medication. She even said that she thinks I should just see the psychologist and not take the meds. I've been asking her for months to go back there, but she never sets up the appointment. I just gave up. Maybe I should just do it myself... I'm at a point where I really need to vent and let it all go. 

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7 hours ago, VNDO said:

She doesn't really care, I think. I've been asking for months and she says yes, but never sets up the appointment. Even with the medication, she's not really on board with it. We don't have the best relationship as well. But I really feel like I need to see a psychologist. Just need to find a way to set up the appointment...

I am really sorry your mother doesn't care VNDO. The good news is that you can find great support here on the forum. You can share with us your symptoms and we can teach you how to face them. You are a very smart girl, I am sure you are going to find a way to have an appointment eventually. In the meantime, there are very good selfhelp books you can read to learn good tools to deal with your OCD symptoms. I recommend the book: Brain Lock by Jeffrey M. Schwartz.

Here is an Introductory Overview of the book Brain Lock, this way you can see what the book is about:

I am sure other members can recommend other selfhelp books.

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4 hours ago, Andrea said:

I am really sorry your mother doesn't care VNDO. The good news is that you can find great support here on the forum. You can share with us your symptoms and we can teach you how to face them. You are a very smart girl, I am sure you are going to find a way to have an appointment eventually. In the meantime, there are very good selfhelp books you can read to learn good tools to deal with your OCD symptoms. I recommend the book: Brain Lock by Jeffrey M. Schwartz.

Here is an Introductory Overview of the book Brain Lock, this way you can see what the book is about:

I am sure other members can recommend other selfhelp books.

Thank you so much for the support. It's nice to know, even though I've never met neither of you, that I'm not alone. My OCD is mostly about checking things: if the doors are locked, if the oven is off, if nothing is plugged in, etc... with that it comes the worrying and the stress. I've checked everything, but then I'm in bed and I start to worry if I'm mistaken and must check everything again. When I leave the house I have to photograph everything so I have proof that everything is as it's supposed to... I need to touch things until they feel right,  whatever that is. It is a struggle... I feel tired and I know that's my brain playing games with me, but I just can't fight back. As I've said in some other threads, besides my sister who's a nurse and understands this, I think my mother just believes it's some sort of quirkiness and that I do it because I want to. She doesn't understand how stressed and almost breathless I feel when I don't 'obey' to my rituals. I've always been this way, but I think my parents' divorce somehow acted as a trigger and it got much worse. 

Thank you for the books recommendations, I will take a look at the video ?

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18 hours ago, VNDO said:

Thank you so much for the support. It's nice to know, even though I've never met neither of you, that I'm not alone. My OCD is mostly about checking things: if the doors are locked, if the oven is off, if nothing is plugged in, etc... with that it comes the worrying and the stress. I've checked everything, but then I'm in bed and I start to worry if I'm mistaken and must check everything again. When I leave the house I have to photograph everything so I have proof that everything is as it's supposed to... I need to touch things until they feel right,  whatever that is. It is a struggle... I feel tired and I know that's my brain playing games with me, but I just can't fight back. As I've said in some other threads, besides my sister who's a nurse and understands this, I think my mother just believes it's some sort of quirkiness and that I do it because I want to. She doesn't understand how stressed and almost breathless I feel when I don't 'obey' to my rituals. I've always been this way, but I think my parents' divorce somehow acted as a trigger and it got much worse. 

Thank you for the books recommendations, I will take a look at the video ?

You are not alone VNDO. I am glad your sister understands you, that is a very good news.   

I am also glad that you understand very well when you are performing a ritual. You know when your brain is playing games with you. Understanding this is very important to start your journey towards recovery.

The hard part about OCD is that to get better we have to learn to stop performing our rituals. For example having to photograph everything is a compulsion. This is something you don't have to do. And you have to resist the anxiety that is going to arise when you don't take the photographs. This is the difficult part: resist the anxiety. 

The good news is that the more you practice not performing your rituals the more your anxiety will start to reduce. You have to remember that OCD is a big fat liar, and nothing bad is going to happen if you don't perform your rituals.

 

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34 minutes ago, Andrea said:

You are not alone VNDO. I am glad your sister understands you, that is a very good news.   

I am also glad that you understand very well when you are performing a ritual. You know when your brain is playing games with you. Understanding this is very important to start your journey towards recovery.

The hard part about OCD is that to get better we have to learn to stop performing our rituals. For example having to photograph everything is a compulsion. This is something you don't have to do. And you have to resist the anxiety that is going to arise when you don't take the photographs. This is the difficult part: resist the anxiety. 

The good news is that the more you practice not performing your rituals the more your anxiety will start to reduce. You have to remember that OCD is a big fat liar, and nothing bad is going to happen if you don't perform your rituals.

 

Oh yes, I totally agree! I know that what I do is unreasonably, but then I think that if I dont do it I will fail the exam I have that week, or my cat will get hurt. So, even though I know that won't happen, I still must do it just in case. The hard part is to fight back and put my foot down. That's what I need to practice ?

My sister is a great support right now. She understands how it works and she cares, which is the most important. 

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On 18/02/2020 at 16:40, VNDO said:

Oh yes, I totally agree! I know that what I do is unreasonably, but then I think that if I dont do it I will fail the exam I have that week, or my cat will get hurt. So, even though I know that won't happen, I still must do it just in case. The hard part is to fight back and put my foot down. That's what I need to practice ?

My sister is a great support right now. She understands how it works and she cares, which is the most important. 

You are right VNDO, the hard part is to fight back and put our foot down. However that is what we have to do to get better.

Always remember that OCD is a big fat liar, and nothing bad is going to happen if you don't perform your rituals, that is the key.

I am really glad your sister is a great support VNDO :hug:

 

 

Edited by Andrea
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On 16/02/2020 at 02:27, Handy said:

meds take 8 to 12 weeks & if you change dosage another 8 to 12 weeks just to be sure. 

* Can sometimes for some people.  Please be careful how you word things when it comes to meds. 

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On 20/02/2020 at 11:06, Ashley said:

* Can sometimes for some people.  Please be careful how you word things when it comes to meds. 

I've increased the dosage back in December and I haven't noticed any changes at all.

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On 20/02/2020 at 00:09, Andrea said:

You are right VNDO, the hard part is to fight back and put our foot down. However that is what we have to do to get better.

Always remember that OCD is a big fat liar, and nothing bad is going to happen if you don't perform your rituals, that is the key.

I am really glad your sister is a great support VNDO :hug:

 

 

That's really the hard part about OCD - not believing our own thoughts. She is! She's amazing with me :) 

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On 18/02/2020 at 00:10, VNDO said:

. My OCD is mostly about checking things: if the doors are locked, if the oven is off, if nothing is plugged in, etc... with that it comes the worrying and the stress. I've checked everything, but then I'm in bed and I start to worry if I'm mistaken and must check everything again. When I leave the house I have to photograph everything so I have proof that everything is as it's supposed to... I need to touch things until they feel right,  whatever that is. It is a struggle... I feel tired and I know that's my brain playing games with me, but I just can't fight back

Could have written this myself, when every one else at work is sharing pics of what they got up to at the weekend, I've got hundreds of pics of a light switch!

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2 hours ago, Closed for repairs said:

Could have written this myself, when every one else at work is sharing pics of what they got up to at the weekend, I've got hundreds of pics of a light switch!

I learned that trick when reading an article about things that help you when you travel for holidays. One of the things was about taking a picture of the oven to make sure it's off so people wouldn't worry about that and could enjoy their vacation. I thought I could do that, since I worry about everything as soon as leave the house. I have thousands of photos in my phone of stuff like that. It gets worse because when I photograph something, I have to do it an even number of times, never an odd number. When i finish photographing everything, sometimes I have to go back and do it one more time. It's exhausting. I guess glad shouldn't be the word, but it's somehow comforting to know that someone else does it too. I feel ashamed when I want to show someone some picture, but to do it I have to go through all of those I took as a compulsion. So, not only is checking things a compulsion, but I guess my coping mechanism (the pictures) have become one too, doing more harm than good. Is this you case as well? Or can you cope without it?

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On 21/02/2020 at 16:47, VNDO said:

I learned that trick when reading an article about things that help you when you travel for holidays. One of the things was about taking a picture of the oven to make sure it's off so people wouldn't worry about that and could enjoy their vacation. I thought I could do that, since I worry about everything as soon as leave the house. I have thousands of photos in my phone of stuff like that. It gets worse because when I photograph something, I have to do it an even number of times, never an odd number. When i finish photographing everything, sometimes I have to go back and do it one more time. It's exhausting. I guess glad shouldn't be the word, but it's somehow comforting to know that someone else does it too. I feel ashamed when I want to show someone some picture, but to do it I have to go through all of those I took as a compulsion. So, not only is checking things a compulsion, but I guess my coping mechanism (the pictures) have become one too, doing more harm than good. Is this you case as well? Or can you cope without it?

Yes it's becoming a problem, I've got hundreds of pictures of keys and switches, and they don't stop me from worrying so I do them again, classic compulsion!

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1 hour ago, Closed for repairs said:

Yes it's becoming a problem, I've got hundreds of pictures of keys and switches, and they don't stop me from worrying so I do them again, classic compulsion!

Same here. And, to be honest, I rarely look at them when I'm out and about. I do it 'just in case', but I never look at them. It's really a compulsion like you said.

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