Another OCD sufferer with some tips and questions..

Bond007 · ‎15-02-2017

Hello folks,

New to this site but let me start by saying that I have suffered with pure type of OCD for 7 to 8 years now. It all began when I suffered from testicular cancer stage-1 many years ago. Unfortunately there was no one to talk to and was pretty isolated due to my family being overseas during treatment. It was bloody heck of a difficult and testing times. This obviously caused me depression, anxiety and OCD. I have overcome this cancer.

Moving forward to present, I still have OCD and depression. My OCD seems to lie dormant if I take proper sleep and if I can avoid caffeine completely. I mean even damn decaf tea can cause me anxiety, obsessions and compulsions to come back which means i have grown sensitive to caffeine. If I take caffeine even in decaf tea or coffee form, than I need to make sure I take my medication too. My doctor has prescribed SSRI which I am taking daily.

As my OCD/anxiety lies dormant without any caffeine, doing ERP/CBT is pretty ineffective. I read somewhere that for CBT/ERP to be effective there has to be some level of anxiety while doing exposure. For example one of the obsession and anxiety I suffer from is fear of addictive illicit drugs like ice. It just scares me completely even when I have never taken any drugs whatsoever.

My main questions are:

Have you been able to completely quit caffeine altogether? I mean no decaf as well. If so how easy you find to not take any caffeine at all?

What is your main tip about overcoming OCD?

How do you practise ERP for pure type of OCD without any physical compulsions?

Any suggestions for my obsessions and fears?

Tips:

Eat and rest well.

Avoiding caffeine seems to definitely help.

Going for a run or even walk can be helpful too.

Look for less stressful job if work makes you more anxious.

Use of essential oil like lavender oil on your feet before going to sleep is helpful.

Meditation and affirmations on youtube are handy.

Please share your thoughts..

thanks

BballJ · ‎15-02-2017

Hi Bond007,

Firstly, welcome to the forums.

For starters congratulations for overcoming your cancer battle, it seemed to have really tested you and I believe it has made you a lot stronger.

I haven't suffered from OCD in a major sense as you have but more anxiety and light OCD... I have done CBT and to be honest I didn't even know I was doing it until my psych told me we were, like 3 sessions in.. I was suprised but I can understand how you would need some form of symptoms for it to work as it almost using your anxiety and trying to reform it. At least that is my understanding.

I had to ask, what exactly do you fear of illicit drugs, especially since you haven't taken them before, is it the thought that if you did, you would become addicted? Our minds are so complex and can turn anything into anxiety and obsessive thinking so I can understand why this would become an issue for you. Currently I have a lot of health anxiety and obsessively thinking if I eat one wrong thing how bad it could affect me. I tend to use a distraction to take my mind off my anxiety - speaking to a friend really helps, going for a walk with the dog or playing with the dog, spending time with my wife, avoiding my phone as well... your tips are great as well.

I don't have a lot of answers for your caffeine question as I have never really been addicted to it so if I don't have it, it doesn't worry me. Nor have a I done ERP. I wish I could give some good advice to help you in relation to your questions but I just wanted to reach out and show my support for you and offer what little advice I had.

Always happy to talk if that helps you too.

My best for you,

Jay

geoff · ‎16-02-2017

hello Bond, firstly well done for overcoming your cancer.
Do you mean that pure type of OCD is actually having 'intrusive thoughts' and if you don't have any caffeine is a habit you have developed, meaning that you have told yourself that if you avoid it then you will be OK, I only ask this because I've had it for 57 years.
The caffeine is no different than what you say by your fear of taking any addictive drugs, so obsessions increase anxiety whereas mental compulsions are intended to decrease anxiety, but do they.
With ERP the person must avoid doing mental rituals during exposure, but private rituals can prevent the person from getting better, in other words, it's OK doing all of this while in therapy, but when that finishes, you are left all by yourself to keep practising what you may have learnt, but that's when we get lazy, so we end up where we first started.
I did an online course to help me with my OCD but basically it didn't do that much, although what I can say is that any habits and/or rituals I have done over all these years have changed enormously, so I still do them, but hide them when doing them, so nobody knows, only because I was teased when my elder brother teased me continuously.
For me playing sport stopped me from doing any habits and/or rituals, but once it finished I was back doing them.
All of this depends on how serious your OCD is, but would like to have your thoughts. Geoff.

Bond007 · ‎16-02-2017

Hi BballJ,

Yes I find getting addicted to something like ice very distressing. Especially media saying it's very addictive and also those graphic images makes me fret completely. Hence I get obsessive intrusive thoughts about it and do mental compulsions I believe. In my OCD brain getting addicted is pretty much end of the world. In the past I was finding getting addicted to smoking cigarette as anxiety provoking too because I had just gone treatment of cancer. I have never smoked cigarette either.

I agree that our mind are complex and everyone is different. That's why I prefer to see expert doctor who I can talk to face to face. I have just seen him today and I trust his treatment plan..

For caffeine I need to mention that I am not addicted to it. But after taking medication and doing work at job, I find idea of atleast able to take some decaf appealing. I need to sometimes read boring documentation as part of my work. This thing makes able to take small amount of caffeine in decaf form helpful.

Bond007 · ‎16-02-2017

Hi Geoff, the only thing I can say about caffeine as I mentioned before is that I am not addicted to caffeine. But I miss it because medication can make you drowsy. Also some decaf tea or coffee can allow me to work instead of sleep. I need to sometimes read manuals and read technical documents as part of work. So able to take some decaf if not full blown coffee does help. And fear of getting addicted to some drugs is my obsession, anxiety as part of OCD. It just makes me fret and panicky when someone mentions addictive drugs or something like ice. My brain will go in checking, evaluating mode for any dangers etc if I take some caffeine.

BballJ · ‎16-02-2017

Hi Bond007,

Thanks for the reply.

That's great that you had a session with your counsellor today and that you believe in the treatment plan that it will work for you. I understand what you are saying about the fear of getting addicted to these things, I guess the good thing is you seem so smart not to even try it, which is a great thing.

I also understand what you are saying regarding the caffeine and the decafe option, sometimes you need that to pick you up whilst reading boring stuff... I personally find eating an apple is way more beneficial and keeps me more alert, I think there is studies to prove that an apple is more effective that caffeine as a way to wake you up in the morning. Just a thought anyway.

My best,

Jay