Posted by Sarahmarie on May 19, 2002, at 9:38:05
In reply to Re: Need OCD info and experiences, posted by fairnymph on May 17, 2002, at 4:32:29
> When I first went on prozac (which very effectively cured my OCD while I was on it), I noticed that my brain worked in a totally different way, and for the first time I truly understood what it is like for my brain to operate normally, and how different the functioning of the OCD brain is.
>
> The best way that I can explain it to you is thus:
> When you have OCD, and you are obsessing about something (and if you have it enough to be diagnosed, you will nearly always be obsessing about something, to some degree), then that train of thought (thinking about whatever it is) will persist from the moment you wake up until you go to sleep at night. An example -- let's say I have a test I am stressing about. Well, all day long I will be thinking about this test. No matter what I am doing -- eating, showering, having sex, studying, socializing, whatever -- I cannot stop thinking about that test. Even if I am thnking of other things, thinking/worrying about the test persists in the back of my mind and cannot be dispelled no matter how hard I try. Many such obsessive trains of thought can exist simultaneously, and they often change from day to day. But almost always, I am obsessing about SOMETHING.
>
> When I was on prozac, I began to observe that iinstead of my thoughts being one long drawn out thought (as in ocd world), I had SEPARATE thoughts! This was like a great revelation to me, that I could have different, separate thoughts; that I could think about something for a while and then STOP thinking about it and move on to an entirely different thought. There was this amazing FLUIDITY to my thought process that I had never experienced before. Thoughts came and went, there was none of this persistant worry and anxiety.
>
> As for treating OCD....I've tried Prozac, Remeron, Effexor, Reboxetine, and Tianeptine...and ONLY Prozac really helped my OCD. Unfortunately it had other side effects which I could not tolerate. :(
>
> ~fairnymph
>
>
> Hi All,
> > I'm here wondering about OCD and thinking 'hmmmm, maybe I need to look at this more closely'. So, I'd really appreciate some info from y'all who have experience with it.
> >
> > I think most of us are aware of the stereotypical symptoms - checking over and over, intrusive thoughts, washing till hands are raw, etc., but what does it feel like? How do the ruminative thoughts in OCD differ from those in major depression? How does obsessing about a problem or idea in OCD differ from excessive worry due to an anxiety disorder? Are there shades of hypomania? Basically, what's the gist of it and what's an effective treatment?I definitely have OCD, however it is not just limited to ruminating thoughts. When I am trying to figure something out I obssess on that for days and hours. I can be at work and my brain is spending a 50% of every hour thinking about the problem. I think about things when I go to bed and hope that somehow I will awake with an answer or a solution. I also have some physical OCD things that I do,but are rather embarrasing for me to discuss. I too am on Prozac and that seems to have helped the most particularly with the behaviors. I am still working on the thought issues, but I am improving. SarahMarie
poster:Sarahmarie
thread:106680
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020517/msgs/106956.html