Aa
anyone else experience this?
Im exhausted with ocd. its been about 17 years and it only gets worse. i have tried cbt and exposure and prevention. i have tried several meds and talked to several therapists. the only person that can help me is myself and that is hard. it started with germs in particular poop but now its straight hiv phobia. i see red i think blood if i have a cut i think blood is gonna get in it. i have thoughts and they feel real then i feel dirty after. for example im deathly afraid of sanitation boxes in public bathrooms. i have thoughts that i open them and touch a used pad or tampon and then i feel like i got hiv from it. can anyone relate???? i cant even use a public restroom without feeling like i got dirty after. im a freak. i dont have anyone to talk to because i annoy everyone with my thoughts. i just want to be normal again. why do i have to feel this way
Well, it does kind of have to be done on your own but the key is that the psychologist teaches you the techniques to do such as controlled breathing, replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, etc.
As far as the medication, it does tend to make anxiety worse in the beginning. But you have to perservere through that and at about the 4 to 6 week mark, you should feel better. Trust me, that build up period is awful. I was out chopping bamboo becuase I had the "jitters" so bad. But everybody said to stick it out and I did and low and behold it was like a light bulb went off and I was so much better. Of course I took klonopin when times were really bad.
So how long did you stay on the meds? Did you take them for that long? Also you can build up slowly. There is a guy over on Anxiety who tapers up and yes he has some jitters but he is doing better this time around because he knows what to expect.
I use CBT all the time and it helps me a lot. I use self-coaching skills. I breathe. I don't give in. I DARE my thoughts to get to me.
Here are some good books. The OCD Workbook: Your Guide to Breaking Free of OCD and also Self-Coaching by Joseph Luciani.
Take care.
As far as the medication, it does tend to make anxiety worse in the beginning. But you have to perservere through that and at about the 4 to 6 week mark, you should feel better. Trust me, that build up period is awful. I was out chopping bamboo becuase I had the "jitters" so bad. But everybody said to stick it out and I did and low and behold it was like a light bulb went off and I was so much better. Of course I took klonopin when times were really bad.
So how long did you stay on the meds? Did you take them for that long? Also you can build up slowly. There is a guy over on Anxiety who tapers up and yes he has some jitters but he is doing better this time around because he knows what to expect.
I use CBT all the time and it helps me a lot. I use self-coaching skills. I breathe. I don't give in. I DARE my thoughts to get to me.
Here are some good books. The OCD Workbook: Your Guide to Breaking Free of OCD and also Self-Coaching by Joseph Luciani.
Take care.
I have tried so many but can't remember all. Fluoxetine which is generic makes my anxiety worse I have tried Zoloft cymbalta ambilify, celexa xanax the list continues. I take xanax from time to time but that's only a short term solution. I did therapy CBT and exposure for a year, waste of time. I also have seen other therapists for longer than a year. Talking to someone is nice because you can tell them all the crazy ridiculous thoughts but honestly they don't really help me with the ocd iI really think imI'm gonna have to do it on my own.
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Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.
