How many of you have OCD with your lyme? I've had ocd since I was 16. I'm now 24. my main ocd symptoms center around obsessively thinking that something happened or that i did something when I didnt. i also have fear of public restrooms. i will use like half the roll of toilet paper before i use any to wipe with so that no ones fingers have touched it before. i examine the entire toilet before i go to the bathroom AND I HOVER OVER IT. I dont sit on it.
I also have a huge fear of AIDS with my OCD. i freak out at the site of other peoples blood and imaging myself getting infected with it. when I FIRST got lyme symptoms i panicked thinking it was AIDS (even tho ive NEVER been sexually active). ive never been sexually active due in part I think to my OCD about diseases and AIDS. If I'm talking to a guy alone. ill panic afterwards that maybe somehow the guy infected me with an STD or got me pregnant somehow. even if we're just on the couch totally clothed and not touching just talking as friends. and ill panic about it afterwards. TOTALLY IRRATIONAL!
anyways. what are your ocd symptoms? how long have you had them>?
[ 03-25-2011, 09:25 PM: Message edited by: lymegal23 ]
Posted by lymegal23 (Member # 28573) on :
up
Posted by bigstan (Member # 11699) on :
I have never used a public restroom never will.
One ocd thing I have always done even before Lyme is when opening or leaving through a doorway I never touch the doorknob. I always use a tissue or cloth to grab onto the doorknob.
A lot of people freak out at the site of others blood I do. I haven't really thought about contracting aids by looking at it though.
I understand you though and what you are saying. Have you looked for help or therapy or is that pretty much useless?
Posted by lajamur (Member # 24593) on :
My OCD-ish stuff has improved tremendously since I started taking progesterone and slowly healed my adrenals.
I used to have a lot of trouble with repetitive/intrusive negative thoughts. I still have a tendency toward that kind of thing but it is SO much better than it used to be. I'm hoping it will improve more now that I'm starting Lyme treatment.
Posted by lymegal23 (Member # 28573) on :
^lajamur. were your OCD symptoms connected to lyme? or do you think theyre two seperate problems.??? also what were the intrusive thoughts you would have???
Posted by lajamur (Member # 24593) on :
I very much believe they are connected to Lyme. It has been a problem for me since childhood and I have been infected/undiagnosed/misdiagnosed since childhood.
The mental symptoms have improved right alongside the physical/neuro symptoms.. so in my mind there is absolutely a connection there.
As far as the nature of the thoughts themselves, I'm not going to go into detail but I will say that it was as if my brain would default to worst case scenario/catastrophic thinking at all times, as if that were normal. I would then get stuck in repetitive "worry loops" that would be agonizingly difficult to break out of despite the fact that I understood rationally that it was "all in my head."
Basically my mind felt like a prison.
I still haven't received adequate lyme treatment but addressing the hormonal and adrenal problems, as well as eliminating gluten from my diet has helped TREMENDOUSLY, both on a physical and an emotional level.
I'm now trying to attack the infection with abx so I can hopefully make some headway with my eye/vision problems and persistent night sweats (10 yrs).
Posted by elizzza811 (Member # 24713) on :
I'm having complex partial seizures though which I believe (from the symptoms) originate in my temporal lobe...
Association of temporal lobe epilepsy and obsessive-compulsive disorder in a patient successfully treated with right temporal lobectomy: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15907757
OCD is uncommon (some would say rare) in people with epilepsy, but there does seem to be a connection. OCD is seen most often in those with complex partial seizures originating in the temporal or frontal lobe, or seizures originating in the anterior cingulate gyrus, near the corpus callosum... http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/mood_obsessivecompulsivedisorder Posted by lyme in Putnam (Member # 11561) on :
It's almost crippling for me with the constant thoughts. Recently started taking luvox. Hope something kicks in soon. Lyme or no Lyme, it's debilitating with thoughts that don't let up.
Posted by lymegal23 (Member # 28573) on :
My OCD DEFINATLY peaked when I started getting really sick with lyme. like it reached a whole new level. it was rediculous. and scary
Posted by kidsgotlyme (Member # 23691) on :
My daughter had severe OCD after her tick bite. Of course, they didn't properly diagnose her with LD.
She would think that she was going to kill us with a knife, she went through a time of going to the bathroom 40 times a day because she thought she needed to wipe. She would have to change her panties constantly. This was between the ages of 4 and 5.
She is now getting treatment-ten years after being bitten!
Posted by lymegal23 (Member # 28573) on :
^ aw she was such a young girl when she suffered from OCD. thats sad
how old is she know?
Posted by kidsgotlyme (Member # 23691) on :
lymegal, she is now 15 and has been in treatment for one year.
It was a very traumatic time for us. I get so sad when I see children with similar issues because I also think they need to be tested for LD.
Posted by peter j (Member # 11825) on :
I havn't had any until I did ARVs recently (a test course against xmrv/mlv). Then OCD symptoms flared up from nowhere. I've had them for about a half year, but the last week they have faded away. Not sure why though. Maybe because I began with artemesia, maybe because of the LDN, and it could be other drugs as well. I began on a lot of things at the same time. And now they've wanished. Fingers crossed I wont relapse when I quit those drugs.
Posted by BackinStOlaf (Member # 23725) on :
OMG before I was diagnosed, I panicked that I had AIDS too. It was awful. I know how you feel. - I don't know what to do about it either.
Posted by sutherngrl (Member # 16270) on :
I developed obsessive thoughts as my lyme progressed. I would get one thought in my head and couldn't make it go away. Mostly I would obsess over my illness.
I also had mood swings with this. My moods would change several times a day or sometimes just several times a week. Risperdal has really helped with both of these issues.
Posted by lyme in Putnam (Member # 11561) on :
Luvox cr is kicking in. Meds aren't always the way to go, but don't suffer either. I genetically have OCD, so Lyme/Bart make it impossible
![[Frown]](frown.gif)