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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 15 of 15. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by detroitpistons on May 30, 2006, at 11:43:31
Everytime anything happens to me that is outside of my regular life routine, I think about it constantly. For example, if I get into a serious fight with somebody, I can't stop thinking about it. I will go over and over it in my mind, and I rehearse what I'm going to say to that person next time I see them.
My mind is like a broken record. I obsess and worry about things, even little things. When I'm depressed, I especially worry about every little thing.
But even when something good (or neutral) happens to me, I'll even think about that to no end. I don't have to be depressed to ruminate...anxiety and rumination can remain.
I've always thought that I have GAD, so anxiety about random things is a given for me. I've also been diagnosed with bipolar II and possibly ADD.
My doctor suggested that I may have OCD, but I don't really have compulsions. I looked into pure obsessive or "pure o," but I don't obsess about things in the context of being "scared" of something. I don't have the phobia type of obsessions described as symptoms of pure o.
There is one thing that I do that me be considered compulsive. But again, it's not in response to something that I'm afraid of....There is really bad traffic where I live, and it's very random. The time it takes to get home from work is not consistent. It's either a long time, or a really long time. Every day I set my stopwatch to record the time it takes me to get to or from work from the time I leave until the time I arrive. As I'm driving, I divide the time by the number of miles travelled to determine if I'm on pace to get to home/work in the "normal" time range. When I arrive, I almost always check the total travel time. Is this normal or obsessive? I also talk a lot about my commute (as if it's the focus of my attention) and one person basically said that I think about it too much.
Posted by TJO on May 30, 2006, at 12:26:45
In reply to Ruminating and Obsessing, posted by detroitpistons on May 30, 2006, at 11:43:31
Hi
Hey I'm not a shrink but I'll give you my 2 cents :-).About the traffic thing-that sounds normal to me (then again I'm bipolar but I do take my meds). I don't think its obsessive. Obsessive would be driving back home 5 times to check to see if you turned off the stove or shaver or curling iron. Or driving back to the office to shut off the coffee pot more than 1 time well.......you get my point. OCD can have some wierd symptoms and only the docs know for sure sometimes and they can also be wrong sometimes. Do you take meds for bipolar????
Tam
Posted by detroitpistons on May 30, 2006, at 12:54:27
In reply to Re: Ruminating and Obsessing, posted by TJO on May 30, 2006, at 12:26:45
I take 225 mg Effexor and 300 mg Lamictal. I take 100 mg Trazadone at night to sleep and .5 mg Xanax as needed (not frequently though) for certain situations. I just started taking Adderall XR as well.
> Hi
> Hey I'm not a shrink but I'll give you my 2 cents :-).
>
> About the traffic thing-that sounds normal to me (then again I'm bipolar but I do take my meds). I don't think its obsessive. Obsessive would be driving back home 5 times to check to see if you turned off the stove or shaver or curling iron. Or driving back to the office to shut off the coffee pot more than 1 time well.......you get my point. OCD can have some wierd symptoms and only the docs know for sure sometimes and they can also be wrong sometimes. Do you take meds for bipolar????
>
> Tam
Posted by willyee on May 30, 2006, at 13:15:45
In reply to Re: Ruminating and Obsessing » TJO, posted by detroitpistons on May 30, 2006, at 12:54:27
I feel the same way,not full blown OCD where im counting numbers or washing my hands,just rituals and obssesive thinking in genral,a way to describe it is i truly dont know the meaning of the word BORED any longer,to be bored u have to be at some sort of ease,and im never there.
All i can say is this about ur meds......be very very careful on adderall,it might help and be the very thing u need,HOWEVER if its not,it is likly to be the oppposite and totaly drive that mental energy making it so much worse.
I thought my obessions might be a form of ADHD,but instead all the stimulants did was give me more energy to make things even worse.Im not saying this to frighten u,its just ur complaints sound so close to mine i thought id give u a heads up.
Posted by detroitpistons on May 30, 2006, at 13:52:08
In reply to Re: Ruminating and Obsessing, posted by willyee on May 30, 2006, at 13:15:45
> I thought my obessions might be a form of ADHD,but instead all the stimulants did was give me more energy to make things even worse.Im not saying this to frighten u,its just ur complaints sound so close to mine i thought id give u a heads up.
I'm still confused as to whether I'm bipolar II, ADD, anxious, one of them, two of them, or all of them. Right now, my concentration is worse that it's ever been because of Lamictal, I believe.
Also, I supposedly had my first discernable hypomanic (dysphoric) experience recently while taking Effexor. That's why I was diagnosed BPII, although I'm not completely convinced of the diagnosis because I don't recall prior instances of hypomania (only periods of high irritability), and this hypomania only occured after taking an AD.
At that time, my mind was racing and I was very distractable, so my concentration was terrible. I started taking the Lamictal and it helped, but I'm wondering if I'm still a bit hypomanic. Maybe that's part of my problem with concentration right now. Maybe some of the symptoms of hypomania are still there. It makes sense because I don't think Lamictal is a very potent antimanic. It's much better for the depressive side of things.
I think I have a history of mild AD/HD. I can definitely be inattentive and space out, but I did very well in school (learned a lot by reading the books at home, not necessarily in lecture) so nobody ever suspected it. I adapted while in school. I scored very high on Dr. Amen's AD/HD test, but a lot of the symptoms are common with anxiety/depression/bipolar II.
OK, I went off on some tangents there. I started Adderall on 5 mg and it made me feel weird and nervous. I'm on 10 mg now, and I don't feel the nervousness anymore. I'm not wired either, and I never was. I feel normal in that respect, and it actually makes me tired when it wears off. But lately I've definitely been ruminating more, and I've had more symptoms of anxiety and depression. I don't know if this is related to the Adderall because I had some stressful things happen to me.
So far on 10 mg, I'm not noticing any increase in focus/concentration. I'm going to give this trial a fair shot though and continue to go up as my Dr. instructs. I will keep some Xanax close in case of emergency.
Thanks for the comments Willy.
Marc
Posted by Phillipa on May 30, 2006, at 22:13:00
In reply to Re: Ruminating and Obsessing, posted by detroitpistons on May 30, 2006, at 13:52:08
Just started lamictal to help with tx resistant depression so it sounds like might be a good med afterall. No mania. Love Phillipa
Posted by UgottaHaveHope on May 31, 2006, at 0:13:59
In reply to Ruminating and Obsessing, posted by detroitpistons on May 30, 2006, at 11:43:31
The things you say hit a nerve.
I have tried 30+ meds over the past nine years and none of them really worked.
Almost by accident, I tried Seroquel. It was the first thing to really hit the GAD. When it calmed me down, then I became less depressed.
You might want to look into it. 300mg of Seroquel, 20mg of Paxil and 1-2mg of Klonopin.
Posted by TJO on May 31, 2006, at 5:21:43
In reply to Re: You remind me a lot of me, posted by UgottaHaveHope on May 31, 2006, at 0:13:59
Hi P,
Good Luck with the Lamictal :-). Hope it agrees with you better that I. Tried it a few months ago to replace Neurontin and it gave me case of acne so no more lamictal. Trying Topamax now -so far so good.Tam
Posted by detroitpistons on May 31, 2006, at 9:20:56
In reply to Re: You remind me a lot of me, posted by UgottaHaveHope on May 31, 2006, at 0:13:59
It's nice to know that other people can identify with you...Did Seroquel numb or dampen you at all?
I will say that the first time I was on Effexor, I felt really well. It did take care of the GAD. Now I'm on it again and it's not working the same way. The SSRI's that I've tried didn't work very well either. Effexor can really pull you out of the dumps if you are suicidally depressed. It's good, but it doesn't cover all the bases for me anymore. I've thought about Seroquel instead of Lamictal. I want something that has a calming effect.
> The things you say hit a nerve.
>
> I have tried 30+ meds over the past nine years and none of them really worked.
>
> Almost by accident, I tried Seroquel. It was the first thing to really hit the GAD. When it calmed me down, then I became less depressed.
>
> You might want to look into it. 300mg of Seroquel, 20mg of Paxil and 1-2mg of Klonopin.
Posted by UgottaHaveHOPE on May 31, 2006, at 12:41:35
In reply to Re: You remind me a lot of me » UgottaHaveHope, posted by detroitpistons on May 31, 2006, at 9:20:56
Yes, Seroquel makes me groggy. That is a side effect, but it is worth it to me because it is the only med I've found that really hits the anxiety.
Posted by Colleen D. on May 31, 2006, at 19:48:14
In reply to Ruminating and Obsessing, posted by detroitpistons on May 30, 2006, at 11:43:31
I have OCD and your behavior does sound obsessive to me. But how much does the rumination inhibit you from living the life you want to live? That's the big question....
Colleen
MDD, OCD, GAD and SP
Posted by detroitpistons on May 31, 2006, at 19:58:58
In reply to Re: Ruminating and Obsessing » detroitpistons, posted by Colleen D. on May 31, 2006, at 19:48:14
> I have OCD and your behavior does sound obsessive to me. But how much does the rumination inhibit you from living the life you want to live? That's the big question....
>That's a very good question but an incredibly difficult one to answer. I can't say that I've ever been completely free from anxiety except the first time I was ever on a medication. During that time I felt a lot more confident and "in control" of things. But besides that I've had some type of anxiety or another for the vast majority of the time, so it's hard to say how much it's affected my life because I don't know any other way to live. I've adapted to the way I am and have managed to stumble through life to this point, but I guess I feel that I could accomplish a lot more and live a happier life if I were free of anxiety.
Posted by detroitpistons on May 31, 2006, at 20:03:05
In reply to Re: Ruminating and Obsessing » detroitpistons, posted by Colleen D. on May 31, 2006, at 19:48:14
Colleen,
By the way, was there any particular part of my post that struck you the most in terms of my obsessiveness? I guess I've never thought of myself as OCD because I don't have any compulsions as far as I can tell, and I obsess over things that don't necessarily scare me. For example, I'm not a "hand washer," afraid of germs, etc...things like that. I just worry and ruminate over random stuff.
> I have OCD and your behavior does sound obsessive to me. But how much does the rumination inhibit you from living the life you want to live? That's the big question....
>
> Colleen
> MDD, OCD, GAD and SP
Posted by Donna Louise on June 2, 2006, at 6:58:54
In reply to Re: Ruminating and Obsessing » Colleen D., posted by detroitpistons on May 31, 2006, at 20:03:05
> Colleen,
>
> By the way, was there any particular part of my post that struck you the most in terms of my obsessiveness? I guess I've never thought of myself as OCD because I don't have any compulsions as far as I can tell, and I obsess over things that don't necessarily scare me. For example, I'm not a "hand washer," afraid of germs, etc...things like that. I just worry and ruminate over random stuff.
>
>
> > I have OCD and your behavior does sound obsessive to me. But how much does the rumination inhibit you from living the life you want to live? That's the big question....
> >
> > Colleen
> > MDD, OCD, GAD and SP
>
>I understand there is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder with all the hand washing, ect. and also Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder which is different in the way symptoms manifest. I guess one being a personality disorder as opposed to a bioligical type illness makes a difference in behaviors but I don't know if it makes a difference in treatment. I need to know more about this myself but it may have something to do with what you experience. I can relate to the ruminating and doing things like clocking time travel, I think I am obsessive in that way but I attribute it to anxiety as far as how to treat it is concerned.
Donna
Posted by pulse on June 2, 2006, at 21:32:01
In reply to Re: Ruminating and Obsessing » detroitpistons, posted by Donna Louise on June 2, 2006, at 6:58:54
like colleen d., i have ocd, mdd, and gad - a very common mix - but no sp.
also like colleen d., i, too, think what you describe sounds like ocd.
you've probably already seen this site, but lots of descriptive info here:
(i'm not aware that the personality disorder, ocpd, as with many, perhaps most, pds, can be helped with meds; therapy is the option and for only some few pds, eg. therapy makes antisocial pds worse - or i should say: it makes a smarter antisocial pd. i don't get a sense that you have ocpd. some therapists dismiss the idea that ocpd even exists. i tend to agree) .
the driving bit is exactly what lead me to think that you might well be suffering from ocd.
pulse
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