Complicated toad Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Over the last few years, I've noticed that once my depression is under control, my OCD takes over. And I haven't found anything that helps the OCD yet. I've tried nac and starting the OCD workbook. I can't take ssri meds because they send my moods twirling. The intrusive thoughts, constant checking, only allowing certain numbers in anything I use, having to step on everything symmetrically, fearing my thoughts are going to cause things to happen.....I could go on, but those are examples of what I deal with daily. I would really like a better handle on this stuff. So in my search for ideas, i would love to hear what has worked for other people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeremonyNewOrder Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 CBT therapy with a therapist or group therapy and/or a meditation mindfulness therapy...my pdoc says OCD is better dealt with therapy then meds and I found the previous mentioned therapies have helped a lot. I still get symptoms but they are not as intense and I feel more control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit37 Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Well, I can tell you that the fog of ocd was lifted by risperdal. Within three days, it was a veil lifted. Therapy also, but risperdal was a lifesaver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Complicated toad Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 I've read therapy is best, I've avoided therapy because of my insurance, I'd be basically paying out of pocket. Maybe it would be worth it. I could set up a payment plan I suppose. It might be worth it. There are a lot of hours I waste on checking and other rituals. I could get that time back for productive things if I had this thing under control. I'm also starting to do some meditation & mindfulness on my own. High hopes for that. not so sure about the risperdal since I already take another AAP. But something to keep in the back of my head if everything else fails. Thank you both Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKC Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 For me, the combination of adderall and Valium controls about 70% of my OCD. It used to be Lamictal that would help but I had to discontinue due to the rash. Valium is a placeholder while I find something else to calm the intrusive thoughts as I know benzos aren't ideal for long term usage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyRedhead Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 (edited) On 2/19/2018 at 7:24 PM, quietly bonkers said: I've read therapy is best, I've avoided therapy because of my insurance, I'd be basically paying out of pocket. Maybe it would be worth it. I could set up a payment plan I suppose. It might be worth it. There are a lot of hours I waste on checking and other rituals. I could get that time back for productive things if I had this thing under control. I have very bad OCD.....So bad that I can't leave my house without help......Unfortunately, I have yet to find any meds that help my OCD. I have heard of a therapy for OCD that is called ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention)....It is a type of CBT therapy, but not all therapists are well-versed in it: https://iocdf.org/about-ocd/treatment/erp/ ERP is now considered to be the gold standard of therapy for OCD, but I have yet to locate a therapist in my area that is trained in it.... https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/exposure-and-response-prevention-erp-therapy-for-obsessive-compulsive-and-related-disorders/ Edited February 21, 2018 by CrazyRedhead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKC Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 2 hours ago, CrazyRedhead said: I have very bad OCD.....So bad that I can't leave my house without help......Unfortunately, I have yet to find any meds that help my OCD. I have heard of a therapy for OCD that is called ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention)....It is a type of CBT therapy, but not all therapists are well-versed in it: https://iocdf.org/about-ocd/treatment/erp/ ERP is now considered to be the gold standard of therapy for OCD, but I have yet to locate a therapist in my area that is trained in it.... https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/exposure-and-response-prevention-erp-therapy-for-obsessive-compulsive-and-related-disorders/ What kind of meds have you tried? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyRedhead Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 (edited) 18 minutes ago, SKC said: What kind of meds have you tried? Many....See my signature below (under Ex-meds) for complete list. Edited February 21, 2018 by CrazyRedhead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKC Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Yeah...I guess that would have been the obvious thing to do You said you can't locate a therapist in your area that provides adequate ERP service; have you tried looking for online therapy options? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyRedhead Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 (edited) 7 hours ago, SKC said: You said you can't locate a therapist in your area that provides adequate ERP service; have you tried looking for online therapy options? ERP therapy online wouldn't work too well, from what I have read about it..... According to most info I have personally found about ERP, it is most effective when conducted with a therapist in person...... I would be very interested in talking to someone who has actually done the therapy, and what their experience was.......Maybe I should start another thread about that. Edited February 22, 2018 by CrazyRedhead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Complicated toad Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 I'd be interested too, I have read about ERP and it sort of terrifies me, because it requires "leaning in" to your intrusive thoughts and not doing the rituals one usually does to combat them. I struggle to leave the house also, and the only way I can do it is through a very specific set of rituals that have to be done otherwise I'll go into such a panic that I can't function and end up turning around and going back home anyways. If I think about not doing those rituals, it scares me to no end. I would guess a good therapist has dealt with this and knows how to handle it, I'd be curious how it has worked for people that have done it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKC Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 (edited) @CrazyRedhead If you can't find an ERP therapist, ACT therapy may be easier to find and is definitely worth a try. My therapist is still in the process of figuring out what style is best for me, but ACT is one that she suggested. Quote The effectiveness of ACT for OCD has recently been tested in a large trial funded through the National Institute of Mental Health (Twohig et al. 2010) In this study, eight one-hour sessions of ACT for OCD with no in-session ERP were compared to Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR), with assessments taken at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at a three month follow-up. PMR was viewed as a control condition in this experiment, so most of this review will focus on the results for the ACT condition. In this study, 79 adults (41 in the ACT condition) diagnosed with OCD were treated. All types of OCD were included in this study (hoarding, primary obsessions, checking, cleaning, etc.) and there were very few exclusion criteria, thus, hopefully representing a fairly realistic sample of participants. The treatment was found to be highly acceptable. Only 12% of the sample in the ACT condition refused or dropped out, which is quite low for OCD treatment trials. All participants in the ACT condition rated the treatment as a 4 or greater on a 5 point scale, with 5 being the most positive score. These findings are meaningful because low drop-out and high acceptability are difficult to achieve in the treatment of OCD. Link to information about ACT and the source of the above clinical trial information. Edited February 22, 2018 by SKC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyRedhead Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 54 minutes ago, SKC said: @CrazyRedhead If you can't find an ERP therapist, ACT therapy may be easier to find and is definitely worth a try. My therapist is still in the process of figuring out what style is best for me, but ACT is one that she suggested. Link to information about ACT and the source of the above clinical trial information. Thanks so much for the link..............I will check it out, and ask my current therapist if she is familiar with it..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKC Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 My pleasure! I wish you luck in your journey to finding the right treatment plan for you (: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianOCD Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 If you can tolerate benzos I feel like they help a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainyday107 Posted May 30, 2018 Share Posted May 30, 2018 Zoloft and Lexapro after Zoloft pooped out. Lexapro helps a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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