Struggling with OCD

I am 50 years and I have been struggling with OCD, I am on medication for it, but there are times it takes alot out of me where it affects my daily routine. I see a great therapist and she helped me alot. I was wondering if anyone has any great coping skills that might help me. I am new here and I am just getting use to this great place. I also have borderline personality disorder, PSTD. thanks so much. Just hanging in there.

Liz, I have a daily routine that I try to stick to 5-6 days a week because it helps me cope with life.

High protein low carb diet (no sugar or alcohol, avoiding lots of starches) with good breakfast like eggs or yogurt for breakfast.

Exercise and yoga for 1/2 hours gets the energy flowing.

Mindfulness practice in early am and evening to settle energy and get me to stable ground. Breathing exercise helps. Silently count 1 on inhale 2 on exhale continuing up to 10. Then start at 1 again.

Feel free to pm me about more details on any of those.

I am very very obsessive, and for a long time I have used meditation to try to calm myself down. I am finally admitting it's not working, not the way it should. The more I meditate, the worse I feel. It seems that I am trying too hard and just generally being obsessive while I meditate. So I'm trying a break from meditation. And what I'm finding is that life can be like a meditation. There are plenty of opportunities to be mindful in life.

I'm sorry, that probably doesn't help you, but it's just something that's on my mind as I try to cope with my OCD more skillfully.

What medication are you on, by the way? I've tried Luvox in the past, but I'm thinking of trying Viibryd.

Thanks. I am on Luvox and it does help me,it is when my stress level gets high or other things around me get to much for me to handle. I will see my therapist on Monday and the doctor on Wed, so I will let them know what is gong on. again thanks.take care.

Hi Liz, I don't have any advice, but have to say I love Hello Kitty and your little picture is adorable

That is ok and thanks so much. take care.

What did your therapist and doctor say?

My doctor and my therapist tell me to keep using my copings skills and take my medication,but there are times that does not seem enough. I am just trying my best with it. thanks so much for caring. take care.

Yes, OCD can seem overwhelming even with the best coping skills. Hang in there.

Mike

Thanks so much Mike1127. take care and hang in there
Liz1965

I have had OCD my whole life. Two years ago, I felt I was in the position where I felt well enough with other stuff that I was to do something about it.

I have been on medication for just over 2 years for OCD. Whenever asked if it helped I wasn't too sure what to say, but I did think I was coping with the obsessions and compulsions better. I would usually say I think it helps me be able to learn how to cope.

This past January my Doctor decided to take me off the medication. With the second decrease, I saw quite a big difference in my thoughts and behaviors. I documented each decrease and what occurred. We proved that yes the medication was in fact helping.

But it is so much more than medication. I challenge my obsessions each and every day. The more I challenge them successfully, the less anxiety they cause and the less powerful they become. I need to make myself do this. it takes a lot of work.

Distracting myself with other things helps me a lot. Writing, concentrating on breathing and focusing on what I am feeling rather than what I am thinking is a tremendous help.

Some obsessions always seem to be a bit worse when I get in the car. I needed to find a distraction that did not distract me from driving. I learned that if I turn the radio up real loud, and opened all the windows, I got distracted from the thoughts. This worked better in the winter with cold air blowing on me. The A/C just doesn't have the same effect.

So basically for me, it is trial and error. It works or it doesn't, but I keep trying.

Thanks so much for your input and I will check out your blog. I know for myself that I need my medications and I just need to distract myself myself more, that is my problem that I do not. again thanks. have a nice day. take care. hugs

Nice to meet you, thank you, and, Your welcome.

I actually like talking/writing about OCD. The more I talk or write about it, the more I and others are educated. The sense of relief I experienced when I first read about someone else's OCD was incredible. I learned how we can be so different yet so alike at the same time.

Thanks for checking out the blog. I laugh because it is so not what I thought it would be. I am having a lot of fun with it. Every Thursday I try to focus on something OCD related. you might get a kick out of some of it or hate it all. It's all good.

If I didn't have humor, I would have nothing.

I am thinking about getting a blog myself and when I do I will let you know. take care and have a good night. hugs

I'm really glad you can find something that works for you, emwell, but for me I have to be very careful "challenging" OCD or else it will backfire. I have pure-O, first of all, so there aren't rituals to change, but I do get more obsessive under certain circumstances. In particular I seem to want to avoid "living in my body" (want to stay lost in thoughts) which is not helpful when you have OCD, and I have ways of coming more into my body like meditation, but my inner resistance to being in my body is so strong that it can easily backfire and make me upset for days. I'm not very good at navigating the balance because another part of me craves being in my body to escape from the thoughts, so I push for it and fear it at the same time.

So the best thing seems to be if I don't "challenge" the patterns but just do a moderate amount of activity that brings me into my body, not pay a whole lot of attention to it, and just let the deeper healing process work in the background.

I do like your blog!

Thanks Mike, I have a hard time controlling my OCD behaviors even more so when I am anxious inside and it can be real hard for me alot of times. take care. hugs

the illness of OCD can be so different for so many. So i would have to guess that the treatment would be as well.

I can so relate to the O part. that is where the medication has helped me the most.

The more we share our stories, the better off we will be. I will never forget the feeling I had when I first read another's blog regarding OCD. We both referred to Monk when describing what it was not like.
My Doctor has a specialty in OCD and he learns from me. He did ask to read my top ten things NOT to say with someone with OCD....

Thank you Liz. I don't usually enjoy the forums that focus solely on the illness. I am getting a lot out of this thread.

You are weclome. I am doing alright and I hope you are doing good. have a good night. take care. hugs

Nice top ten list.

Yeah I get REALLY annoyed when people tell me "just don't listen to those thoughts."

Also, when people who don't have OCD say something like "we all have those kind of thoughts." It's true that everyone gets a little obsessive about some things, but OCD cannot be understood without either living it or making an effort to understand how it differs from conventional obsessions.

In fact the website GoodTherapy.org - Therapy, Find a Therapist or Marriage Counselor made a point about the ways people casually use the language of mental illness to describe ordinary things, which they find does not aid understanding. BuzzFeed had a list of things "that will bother your OCD" which was basically a series of photos of things that were organized with one element out of place. It was funny, but it was an example of distorting the understanding of what true OCD is.

I have a friend with OCD who takes a very long time to get anything done due to her rituals (combined with ADD distractability too which multiplies the time it takes to finish a ritual).

I, on the other hand, am very fast at getting things done because I have no rituals, and in fact one of my obsessions is with the passage of time. So I really push and rush at things.

Needless to say this friend and I have a hard time coordinating any activities.

Thanks Mike. I have a hard with alot of things and it can be so frustrating at times to control my behavior or my thoughts. I just do the best I can. hang in there. take care.

Thanks, Liz. Yes, OCD is frustrating and can cause a lot of suffering, especially when it multiplies with other symptoms like anxiety.

Bye,
Mike

have a good night and hope to talk to you soon.

keep sharing with us. I love to learn and get to know people better.

If I recall correctly, I started that top 10 because of something my husband said 1 day during one of our "drives". My Doctor thought it was a great idea. I couldn't find one on line so I made my own. It is still under construction, if you want to add to it (I'd like it to be a top 16)

My big three are "just ignore those thoughts," "sure we all feel like that," and for the sake of my friend, "why can't you just hurry up." I don't really have any other than that, as far as frequently said things.

I actually think it's okay to ask someone with OCD "why do you do that?" if it's asked with sensitivity and genuine interest, but I guess you put it on your list because it's often asked with exasperation.

"why can't you just hurry up" I am liking this one.

I remember being a kid and always being asked "why do you do that?" It frustrated me as I never had an answer for the question. I did not know why I did that. It did not take long for me to realize I should just hide the behaviors.