OCD

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Joined: 6 Mar 2008
Age: 37
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,178

21 Nov 2010, 6:07 pm

my ocd is much better now that i have been on Prozac for a while. i dont check things over and over and i am not panicking over irrational fears anymore.

I used to be anti meds but i am now seeing the light. they never worked for me growing up but they work now. and thank god! cause out of all my disorders i find ocd the most troubling.

and i have had alot of problems psychosis , ptsd, depression, and so on. but with ocd the perceived fear makes me feel like i might die at any moment if i dont do x y and z.

and to have that calmed by the medicine is a god send.

I still have high anxiety and lots of fears but i am no longer in a constant state of panic.

just-me
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21 Nov 2010, 6:12 pm

Mama_to_Grace wrote:

I am posting here because my daughter has been displaying strange rituals for the past 9 months. This came after 6 months of taking a SSRI for anxiety. Prior to that she had barely any OCDish behavior although she did have very typical autistic stims (like chewing and rocking). However, this started in March when she began pulling out her eyelashes. She was having a very difficult time in school and I thought it was due to that. She is 7. This began when she was 6. The eyelash pulling has almost gone away completely but in it's place has been:
pulling her hair out in chunks
tapping her dresser drawers in order whenever she opened one to get something out.
handwashing for long periods (she had to sing happy birthday over and over).
Counting in the shower and while she was doing other tasks.
Now she is picking at her body and flicking her arms. She is doing this more and more. I am unable to discern whether this is OCD or a stim. How can you tell? She does it without thinking. She is not doing it to prevent something bad from happening. She doesn't want to stop.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. OCD meds (typically SSRIs ?) are out because of her previous bad reactions.

Thanks.

This sounds more like Tourette syndrome click the link and read more.

also, if it started suddenly it could be pandas. link that can be cured by antibiotics and a little bit of therapy.

if it appeared suddenly then you definitely need to make sure it isn't pandas. because if it is pandas that means the strep throat infection is attacking and killing needed brain cells.

Last edited by just-me on 21 Nov 2010, 6:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Smike
Snowy Owl

Joined: 6 Nov 2010
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 136
Location: Manchester

21 Nov 2010, 6:15 pm

I've always been obsessive compulsive but have had full-blown OCD since late 2007. I am meant to be getting treatment for it down south next year, if the NHS agree to fund it

PabiGoBoom
Butterfly

Joined: 25 Oct 2010
Age: 143
Gender: Male
Posts: 16

24 Nov 2010, 2:08 pm

Mama_to_Grace wrote:

Take a look at this...sounds like what your daughter may have:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichotillomania

zweisamkeit
Raven
Raven

Joined: 20 Nov 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 105
Location: Harrison, AR, USA

30 Nov 2010, 11:39 am

when i was around age 11 i had full blown OCD. Walking through doors 3 times, praying 3 times at night, walking up and down stairs 3 times. washing hands 3 times...

haunting thoughts... like i was afraid i would do something bad. Like push someone down the stairs. It's really hard to explain, but i thought i might just push them even though i didnt want to.

I felt like if i didnt do my routines, then my family would die.

I do have a bit of OCD right now.... i count things a lot. over and over.... if someone starts counting i have to keep counting til it reaches a number ending in zero...

kitchen has to be spotless but the rest of the house is out of order...I cant handle the kitchen being dirty at all...or else i feel like life is chaotic.

Azolet
Deinonychus

Joined: 3 Aug 2010
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 351
Location: Bababooeyland

10 Dec 2010, 12:30 am

Mama_to_Grace wrote:

pulling her hair out in chunks
Now she is picking at her body and flicking her arms. She is doing this more and more. I am unable to discern whether this is OCD or a stim. How can you tell? She does it without thinking. She is not doing it to prevent something bad from happening. She doesn't want to stop.

Have you ever heard of dermatillomania or trichtillomania? They are under the category of OCD and, in addition to having full-blown OCD, I have the former. I'm still struggling with it, but, for some reason, it actually improved significantly after I went on ADD meds. I do not "pick" at my body because I want to stop something bad from happening - I do it when I'm stressed or overwhelmed, or have just finished doing something mentally exhausting. So yeah, for me anyways, I think it is more related to autism than to OCD. Also, have you heard of exposure therapy? She might be too young to be able to do it, but it's basically where you force yourself into situations that you fear (ex. not washing your hands, even when they "feel dirty"). Also, I've heard tricyclic antidepressants can help with OCD.

Azolet
Deinonychus

Joined: 3 Aug 2010
Age: 34
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Posts: 351
Location: Bababooeyland

10 Dec 2010, 12:39 am

Chronos wrote:

Yes.

And it is not caused by demons. It's a neurological disorder, caused, in part, by white matter abnormalities which impair communication between the basal ganglia and frontal lobes.

It's not caused by stress but stress lowers ones ability to cope with it.

Yeah, and it's also caused by abnormalities in the amygdala.

Wanna hear something really really weird? When I was in fourth grade, I gave my intrusive thoughts "voice" the name Inner Mind, because of where I felt like the thoughts were coming from in my brain - the lower center portion. And where, I found out later, the amygdala is located.

OddDuckNash99
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10 Dec 2010, 1:56 am

Azolet wrote:

When I was in fourth grade, I gave my intrusive thoughts "voice" the name Inner Mind, because of where I felt like the thoughts were coming from in my brain - the lower center portion. And where, I found out later, the amygdala is located.

Wow! I've never heard anybody else say that they have a place where they feel their OCD thoughts come from! And guess what? That's EXACTLY the spot where I feel my intrusive thoughts originate! Only I feel it is probably the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), not the amygdala. While the amygdala is associated with all anxiety disorders, the OFC/basal ganglia connection is unique to OCD.

Question for you, Azolet- have you ever been able to "feel" an obsession coming, starting to originate in your head? Sometimes, I'm able to shake it away. Other times, it just comes full force.
-OddDuckNash99-

_________________
Helinger: Now, what do you see, John?
Nash: Recognition...
Helinger: Well, try seeing accomplishment!
Nash: Is there a difference?

Azolet
Deinonychus

Joined: 3 Aug 2010
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 351
Location: Bababooeyland

11 Dec 2010, 1:50 pm

OddDuckNash99 wrote:

Azolet wrote:

Yep. Sometimes I can feel it coming on, and I'm like "oh for God's sake, stop it!" to myself. Some are stronger than others, and it is harder to fight when I am overtired/stressed out.

That's interesting, I have never heard of the OFC/basal ganglia connection. I will have to do more research about that! I have read that children with OCD have misshapen amygdala's, compared to children without OCD.

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