[hoosiergrad]

Hello.

I was diagnosed with OCD about 6 years ago but diagnosed with unipolar depression and not bipolar II until a year ago. Since then, I have been in intensive psychotherapy and have been regularly seeing a psychiatrist. Things have improved ten-fold and I am a much more stable woman now that I can take care of myself again, eat, and sleep for the most part. I was recently hypomanic and it was dealt with by medications, didn't last as long, and was not as dramatic as it had been in the past.

However, my OCD has become really hard to treat. When we thought it was just the OCD, we upped my SSRI to treat it. However, I went a summer without a therapist (I was moving and didn't have a therapist I could trust). When I arrived at grad school, I was a mess and had been on a higher dose of Zoloft for a long time. I was hypomanic and unable to cope. It was awful. My OCD was much better, but I was bipolar.

We lowered the SSRI and within a couple of weeks saw a huge difference in mood. So, now I am still on it, but at 50 MG, which is as high as we have gone without a change in mood. It's frustrating and I am out of ideas.

Has anyone dealt with OCD and BP? And if so, how? Any advice?

[Cole Thornton]

My wife has both. The pdoc has said that OCD is not really treatable through meds and that therapy is more helpful. She has an appointment with a new T who specializes in BPD and OCD issues next month.

You are not alone. The wife's psychiatrist says BPD and OCD go together like peanut butter and jelly!

[SunAngel]

I have been OCD for my entire life, and I truly believe I was BP since childhood.

SSRI's and SNRI's don't kick in on me anymore. I go on them and nothing happens like it did before.

When I am totally stressed out, my OCD goes out of control. However, since meds. don't kick in on me anymore, I have learned to use skills with my OCD. When I am stressed and my OCD goes into overdrive, I pick an hour a day to be "OCD" and then I leave it after the hour is up. It took a lot of practice but since I have started doing it, my OCD has lessend a whole lot when I am stressed out.

Just a thought.

Hello there

I have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and OCD. Fortunately for me, I basically overcame the big chunk of my OCD issues (intrusive thoughts) after lots of therapy. It was afterwards that Bipolar became the main issue, and it's still the big one I'm trying to tackle. At the moment I am relatively stable, in therapy, and taking the following medications: Zoloft, Lamictal, Tegretol, and Seroquel. This is the best med combo I've had yet!

In the past during my worst depressive episode, I also had about 10 rounds of ECT treatments, which were extremely helpful. I had to stop them because I would be very ill for a few days after each treatment.

I'm sorry that you're having to treat both the symptoms of Bipolar and OCD, I imagine that must be very difficult for you. I hope you find a treatment that works effectively on both illnesses as soon as possible.

Hi hoosiergrad, and welcome to the forums.

I've got BPII and OCD too, the OCD only recently diagnosed. (So same, but in opposite order! ) Does your Pdoc have you on a mood stabilizer? That'd be the only advice atm, to discuss that with your Pdoc, because they are so important with BP, as SSRIs alone can be very problematic.

Kind of hard to advise much more, as for me, the BP is the considerably more problematic, so that is what is being treated - with mood stabilizer. (Not sure if my psych has a plan to do anything for the OCD by meds or not.)

[hoosiergrad]

Thanks for your nice comments and helpful words. The SSRI used to work fine, but then my mood was incredibly unstable and I would have insane highs and crashing lows.

I am currently on Zoloft, Lamictal, and Seroquel at night for sleep or as needed for anxiety.

It's the only combo that has really addressed my mood problems, but it doesn't really treat the OCD.

I don't really have any help to provide, as I am an insurance-less & therapy-less wreck... But I CAN relate. I've been bipolar for as long as I can remember & developed OCD as an adolescent, mainly repetitive thoughts & obsessions with patterns/symmetry. My OCD started to get better as my bipolar started to progressively get worse, but when I get a panic attack or overwhelmed, it flares up 10x. So perhaps managing your moods with your current medication & practicing destressing coping mechanisms can be enough to make it not take over your life. It will always BE there, but it doesn't have to dictate your thoughts all of the time... I read something in a book somewhere that Buddhist "mindfulness" techniques are good cognitive therapy for OCD patients because it helps them disconnect from their worries/obsessions & realize that thoughts are nothing to fear or worry about: They are just collections of words & images that merely exist.