need help for severe ocd

[Bastille Day]

Long story short, I have ocd which has become severe, every aspect of my life from my socks to grocery shopping is affected. Specialists won't return my emails, have a phychiatrist who prescribes me medication which helps a bit but as far as in depth help, I have found nothing.

All I want in life is to be rid of these demons, I ask of nothing else.

[Christina]

Hi there,
First welcome to the forums. I'm so sorry to hear you are suffering from ocd. It is very hard to deal with. I have had. bouts of ocd on and off throughout my life and my last bout was purely obsessional. Its too painful to write about. I overcame it with therapy and medication. Which medication do you take? Anafranil is the gold standard medication for ocd and although most doctors don't want to prescribe it in favour of the new ones, it is still prescribed.
Hang in there and don't give up! I know its hard but have hope and faith that you will get better.
Christina

[Bastille Day]

Hi there,
First welcome to the forums. I'm so sorry to hear you are suffering from ocd. It is very hard to deal with. I have had. bouts of ocd on and off throughout my life and my last bout was purely obsessional. Its too painful to write about. I overcame it with therapy and medication. Which medication do you take? Anafranil is the gold standard medication for ocd and although most doctors don't want to prescribe it in favour of the new ones, it is still prescribed.
Hang in there and don't give up! I know its hard but have hope and faith that you will get better.
Christina

I am taking seroquel and clonazepam. Neither really help with the ocd, the clonazepam helps a bit when I become over-whelmed. I will research Anafranil and maybe suggest it to my doctor but I can not take anything ssri related.

[Christina]

I take Effexor but many years ago I too Anafranil. Don't worry, its not an SSRI, its a tricyclic antidepressant.
Jusy know you are not alone. Keep persisting to see a therapist. You can work through exposure therapy, etc.

[AJ]

Welcome to the forums Bastille Day. I don't suffer from OCD but I sure feel for you. I have a good friend whose life is very much impacted by it.

[paul m]

Hello Bastille Day and welcome. I agree with you that seroquel wouldn't have much effect on OCD . Well it might if you took very large doses, but then you wouldn't tend to have much of a life either. Seorquel in very large doses has a tendency in some people to remove all feelings and that's not a nice way to live.

OCD is sometimes treated by Cognetive behavioural therapy. Perhaps you could ask your doc about that.

In regards to tricyclic antidepressants. Christina is correct, they are not SSRI's, but they still affect the serotonin so the doc may still say no, depending on why you cannot take an SSRI.

Sorry that I wasn't more help, but keep asking more questions, both here and other places and you will eventually find an answer. Take Care. paul m

[Bastille Day]

Thanks for all the encouragement. I tried cognetive behavioural therapy with the best, unfortunately it didn't work. I'm sure there is an answer out there but I just can't make a connection to the right person. I noticed lots of people and groups use the word "ocd" to their own benefit and could care the less about individuals who actually need the help. Some of these groups and health care professionals accept government handouts but apparently to busy to return an email.

If I have to find a solution myself, then so be it. I do have a couple things which I may pursue, it's just a matter of getting the energy to put these ideas into action. This involves a radical change in life, starting over with nothing, possibly in another country. I was hoping to hear a success story about this method somewhere online or in a book but so far nothing.

[Bastille Day]

Hi everyone, I found a treatment center, if anyone has experience in receiving treatment out of province, I could use all the help and ideas I can get. My psychiatrist is friendly to the idea but I have to do my own paperwork and research. If anyone here thinks this will not be effective, I would like to hear those comments as well.

http://mclean.harvard.edu/patient/adult/ocd.php