I am a 26 year old single mom of 2 kids, ages 8 & 5. I am divorced and have been alone for 4 years. I have been dealing with OCD ever since I can remember. It all started when I was a kid and everything in my room had to be just perfect. My brother's would come in and move something 1/2 inch, becasue they knew I would be able to tell and they wanted to get me going. As I grew up and had my own place, of course it got worse and other obsessions were added. Anyone ever spend an hour in the bathroom trying to make the towels perfectly straight on the rack? Or pick up little pieces of fluff on the rug, because if I dont, it will bother me until I do. Everything has to be just perfect, which doesn't make life easy with 2 kids. My schedule and my time are huge ones. Everything has to be on schedule or I want to loose it, even if it's just a few minutes off. My cleaning always has to be done even before I can sit down and relax, the same goes for the kids' homework, laundry, making lunches for the next day, etc..... Recently, I have started spelling, if that makes any sence. For instance, I will see a sign that says "Great Hamburgers here!!!" and I spell it out with my fingers like a pen, but not just once, I will do the letters every which way I can think, and I dont have to see a sign, it can even just be spelling things out that I am thinking, which makes it way worse, becasue I can lay in bed and not fall asleep becasue I am spelling everything and thinking too much. I try to get myself to stop doing it, but I can help it, it's like it just happens. I feel like I am crazy! My friends make fun of how much of a neat freak I am, thats what they call it. My Dr recently started me on Celexa, about a month ago, but not for the OCD, for Depression, but I read that it can help OCD as well, but I have not noticed any difference. I would appreciate any feedback I can get. Thank-you!!
I don't honestly know hun but I thought I'd give you a response. I think you should go back to your doctor and ask them- they'd be able to tell you and give advice. Maybe they'd even referr you to a specialist? This is obviously really controlling your life and it seems like you want help with it. Your doctor will hopefully be able to help you on this.
About the medicine as you've said it doesn't seem to be having that much of an affect it could be that it just isn't for you, or that you haven't been using it for a long enough time. I don't know though.
It can sometimes take a while for an SSRI to take affect. You should maybe try calling your doctor and finding out how much longer you should wait before maybe trying another med. I take Zoloft, and it took about 6 weeks before I could REALLY feel better. What I did in the meantime is rearrange my schedule a bit so I wouldn't be stressed out. Stress definitely makes my OCD worse. My OCD is different then yours but most forms of OCD are disruptive and can reach almost unbearable levels. Also, you mentioned in your post that you are being treated for depression. Have you ever been treated for OCD? You may want to look into Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and/or I suggest reading books on the subject that will give you different ideas on managing your OCD. I read the book "Brain Lock" by Jeffrey Schwartz and once I implemented his methods, I was rid of my compulsions to check light switches, locked doors, unplugged appliances etc. It didn't however help with mental compulsions (such as the spelling you mentioned). I'm still struggling with that but some progress is better then none. If you get a chance, buy Brain Lock or go to your local library if possible and read some of it to see if it might work for you.
I really can't relate to THAT particular OCD, but I have health ones, like currently I am having an eye problem and all I do is test it all day long!! I'll have to stand in the exact spots at the exact time of day to see if it improved (different lighting changes it, so I have to make sure...) then I'll test it and walk away then think, hmmm... I think I wasn't exactly in the exact spot as LAST time, I better check it again - if I DON'T go back and check it, my anxiety level starts to rise and rise until I have to do it again! Is this sort of how you are? Not with health necessarily.
I am a 26 year old single mom of 2 kids, ages 8 & 5. I am divorced and have been alone for 4 years. I have been dealing with OCD ever since I can remember. It all started when I was a kid and everything in my room had to be just perfect. My brother's would come in and move something 1/2 inch, becasue they knew I would be able to tell and they wanted to get me going. As I grew up and had my own place, of course it got worse and other obsessions were added. Anyone ever spend an hour in the bathroom trying to make the towels perfectly straight on the rack? Or pick up little pieces of fluff on the rug, because if I dont, it will bother me until I do. Everything has to be just perfect, which doesn't make life easy with 2 kids. My schedule and my time are huge ones. Everything has to be on schedule or I want to loose it, even if it's just a few minutes off. My cleaning always has to be done even before I can sit down and relax, the same goes for the kids' homework, laundry, making lunches for the next day, etc..... Recently, I have started spelling, if that makes any sence. For instance, I will see a sign that says "Great Hamburgers here!!!" and I spell it out with my fingers like a pen, but not just once, I will do the letters every which way I can think, and I dont have to see a sign, it can even just be spelling things out that I am thinking, which makes it way worse, becasue I can lay in bed and not fall asleep becasue I am spelling everything and thinking too much. I try to get myself to stop doing it, but I can help it, it's like it just happens. I feel like I am crazy! My friends make fun of how much of a neat freak I am, thats what they call it. My Dr recently started me on Celexa, about a month ago, but not for the OCD, for Depression, but I read that it can help OCD as well, but I have not noticed any difference. I would appreciate any feedback I can get. Thank-you!!
Single_mom_of_2
I was the same with the room thing when I was little. All my work in the house has to be done too, for me to relax. Really, I rarely sit down-except at the computer, because there is always something I need to do. I also do the spelling things out with my fingers, and my husband will ask "What are you trying to spell?" Kind of funny. But, mainly my obsessions are with keeping the house clean. I don't let anyone else in, just my husband and kids. I am doing the Behavioral therapy, it is slow, but I'm trying. Medications seem to do nothing for my OCD.
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