OCD or Anxiety?

[gizmoxx]

I have anxiety, and have done on and off for about 3 years, maybe more but only diagnosed 3 years ago. Well, i was ok for aver a year but then it hit me like a ton of bricks (again). I am taking propanalol and cipralex, which i was on before and it really helped. This time it is helping but it taking a long time for me to feel like "me" again. I had postnatal depression after my third child was born 4 years ago, then it developed into anxiety, since i was 16 ive had palpitations which i always thought were a sign of heart problems, but i ve had tests and know it is just ectopic heartbeats. But i still get palpitations and i think it is more anxiety now (i have other symptoms). But now when i have a palpitation or feel anxious or panicky, my thoughts go back to when i was ill before and i can picture all the times i have felt like that before, my mind never stops, from waking up to going to sleep, im always worrying, sometimes more then others. I was just wondering if maybe it was more a case of OCD because the thoughts are so obsessive and constant. What does everyone else think? I am waiting to start CBT and it cant come soon enough for me
Thanks for reading
Sherrie

[mostlygood]

I have been diagnosed as having OCD and depression.  For a long time I didn't even know that I had it but just felt bad most of the time.  Once I realized that there was such a thing I convinced myself that the OCD caused the depression and if I could simply stop obsessing about "non-real" things that I would be cured.  After a four year remission (including medication) from depressive symptoms I have relapsed.  I have now discoverd that the OCD does not cause depression but rather the depression causes the OCD.  I believe that the depresssion is mostly caused by stress and anxiety.  When I am depressed, I can not think, it is very difficult to get up in the morning and basically everything in the world seems pointless.  When in a depressive funk, the OCD comes back and am really sensitive to everything.  I am now armed with the fact that not only is OCD not real but it is a bi-product of anxiety and will pass.  Unfortunately, it can take a while to pass....but it will pass.

[gizmoxx]

i sent a text to a close friend last night, it was about how im feeling, unfortuanatly i sent it to my hubby instead! he was upset that i cant tell him how i feel but i can tell my male friend. i understand where hes coming from but my friend also suffers from anxiety and hes been a lot worse then me, so he knows what im going through. my husband has been really supportive over the years, what with PND and the anxiety etc, but he can never understand properly, it is just hard to talk about and make someone understand. People seem to think you can just snap yourself out of it, if only it was that easy id of done it a long time ago!

[scaredjo]

a good idea hun i tried it,but no one can write how were actually feelin unless you do it., let him sit in on a CBT  session but you gotta be honest, i actually sat my hubby down last week and really told him everything, how it started, how i feel etc and he has helped me loads cause now he understands proper i used to hide the truth before but now its all out xx

[gizmoxx]

thanks for the support, no one really understands this other then other sufferers. i think i might buy my husband a book about anxiety and how it can effect us, then maybe on the bad days he'll understand me when i say i dont feel great

[scaredjo]

ditto i want the same, i had CBT since febuary its coming to an end now, it does help you understand what anxiety can do to you and how you need to break the anxiety circle. it has helped me a lot although im not cured i can deal with the symptoms better i dont feel the need to run to the doctor every 10 minutes. i still nee re assurance sometimes but no were near as much as i used too.
let us know how it goes, good luck x

[gizmoxx]

I just want to wake up one day and be the old me! but i know that will never happen. i am willing to put 110% into whatever it is i need to do to get better. mykids and hubby deserve better then this. has any of you had CBT?

[scaredjo]

i do think anxiety is a form of OCD especially when you start to obsess about a certain illness or part of the body. you start to have obsessive thoughts and it totally rules your life. its like you cant get it out of your head no matter what you do. hopefully the CBT will help you out put your heart and soul into it and im sure it will help you, its all about believing the docs and tests and realising anxiety can make you feel this way. good luck x

[jdtm]

OCD is one of the anxiety disorders so OCD and anxiety are one and the same.  So glad you will soon be starting CBT - it can be a life saver.  I wish you the best ....