posted
It certainly can. I am actually doing research on this right now (PhD student). Keep your eyes out for my research study which I will be posting on here in a few weeks.
There isn't much out there on Lyme and OCD, but I do believe there is a connection.
OCD has been shown to be associated with streptococcus in the past.
Posts: 341 | From NY/FL | Registered: Apr 2010
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Hoosiers51
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 15759
posted
Yes, definitely. I think Dr. F has even written about the connection between Lyme and OCD? (I use his name because he is a researcher).
Also, if you are prone to OCD, any kind of stress on the body or brain, whether it's an infection or something else, can cause that OCD to flair.
When I was in my first year of treatment for Lyme, I had severe OCD. Just the combo of being so infected, and the kill offs from the antibiotics, and maybe the antibiotics themselves, was too much stress for my brain. I had OCD since childhood, but it had been in a very mild form for over a decade, until treating and "messing with" Lyme.
Drugs like Prozac, Zoloft, etc do help. Your best bet would be to see a psychiatrist and see what they recommend. Some people confuse obsessive thinking with OCD. Either one could be treated with Prozac, but the definition of what you are actually suffering from would be different (true Obsessive Compulsive Disorder vs. an anxiety disorder vs. other disorders under the spectrum of OCD but not having the types of compulsions (the C)).
Obsessions are the thoughts that you can't get rid of, and compulsions are what you do to make those thoughts go away. So having to walk through a doorway 5 times or flick a lightswitch 5 times is the compulsion, and the obsession is thinking something bad will happen if you don't. There are broader definitions, but it would just depend what you are doing and thinking.
Hope that helps!!!!
Also, the book, "Brain Lock: Free Yourself from Obsessive Compulsive Behavior" is very helpful. If you don't have OCD, you'll read the book and think, "those people are crazy!" So the book would probably help you figure out if it's OCD or just anxious or obsessive behaviors. But like I said, no matter what the problem is called, if it's bothering you enough that it is affecting your life, get on some meds!!!!! They do help.
Hoosiers51
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 15759
posted
OCD has a definite genetic component because it can "run" in families.....but there is also some evidence linking it to infections, as the other poster said. So it could be a combo of the two, or depend on the person/case.
Posts: 4590 | From Midwest | Registered: Jun 2008
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Hoosiers51
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 15759
posted
Anyways, if you are cleaning a lot, that's a common OCD thing.
Though there's something called Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder which is a more mild form.....people with OCPD think that if everyone did things how they did them (for example, the cleaning), that the world would be better (though they are still obviously obsessive). People with OCD WISH they could stop cleaning and would never tell someone to do things like they do it. Does that make any sense?
In both cases, the person is cleaning too much. But with OCPD, the person is just obsessive as a personality trait, and doesn't feel like they area prisoner to the obsessions. That is how it was described to me once. Both cases can be a problem.
Posts: 4590 | From Midwest | Registered: Jun 2008
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randibear
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11290
posted
well, i'm not sure whether i have an ocd or i'm just strange!!
i cannot stand clutter or messy houses. when i went into my sister's house, my immediate thought was "omg!! i have to clean this up. it's a mess. i can't stand this.."
every time she left cabinets open, papers scattered around, i went behind her closing doors and washing dishes.
i hate to have anything out of place. even my spices are alphabetized!! i vacuum at least 3 times a week, make the bed as soon as i get up. check for dust on the furniture every couple of days, check for laundry daily....
my husband says when he gets up at night, i make the bed. he's always complaining because he leaves glasses around, and when he comes back, i've put them in the dishwasher!!
uh, is that a component of some disorder...
i'm not as bad as what i've seen on tv, i just hate disorder and clutter. drives me nuts!!
i almost get jittery being around it. i have this urge to pick things up and clean, but i can control it.
at least i don't do it in stores or anything----LOL...
-------------------- do not look back when the only course is forward Posts: 12262 | From texas | Registered: Mar 2007
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posted
In Coping With Lyme Disease by Denise Lang she states that it is a common symptom of Lyme. She interviewed many LLMD's for the book.
-------------------- Bart and Babesia seropositive Current tx: Rifampin, Biaxin, Bactrim DS, Artemisinin, Resveratrol (japanese knotweed), Red Root, Boneset Posts: 168 | From PA | Registered: Feb 2010
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randibear
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11290
posted
maybe i could make rounds of all the people who have lyme and clean their houses for them!!!!
it would work off the pounds and make some people happy at the same time.
-------------------- do not look back when the only course is forward Posts: 12262 | From texas | Registered: Mar 2007
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cactus
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7347
posted
I think it can be a symptom of Lyme.
That said, will you pretty please come to my house???
-------------------- �Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?� - A.A. Milne Posts: 1987 | From No. VA | Registered: May 2005
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posted
I think it can be. I have OCD which worsened when I got Lyme.
Posts: 88 | From DC Metro area | Registered: Sep 2009
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tick battler
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 21113
posted
My 6 year old son developed OCD after getting sick with Lyme. His worst thing was repetitive motor tics. It started about a year into abx treatment and continued to worsen over the next year on abx. We switched him to Nutramedix herbs for the past 6 months and his symptoms seem to be decreasing. The tics are much less noticable and his actions are less repetitive.
I have been looking at borna disease virus as a cause of OCD. There is not much info on it but apparently there is testing for it in Germany. You can send samples there. In Dr. Burrescano's latest lecture, he mentions BDV as a coinfection. One theory I have is that the cause of OCD could perhaps be viral (maybe borna virus) and the herbs he is on have antiviral properties so maybe they are helping. Just a guess.
tickbattler
Posts: 1763 | From Malvern, PA | Registered: Jul 2009
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Carol in PA
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 5338
posted
quote:Originally posted by tick battler: His worst thing was repetitive motor tics.
"i cannot stand clutter or messy houses. when i went into my sister's house, my immediate thought was "omg!! i have to clean this up. it's a mess. i can't stand this.."
every time she left cabinets open, papers scattered around, i went behind her closing doors and washing dishes."
--------------------
Sounds pretty normal to ME! My house is not as clean and straight as I'd like.. but I can't stand to see cabinet doors open, junk everywhere, towels or clothes on the floor....NOPE!!!
And I know I don't have OCD ..
---but as for your question, I'll agree with the others... and say "YES."
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
Ha, great topic! I love things 'in their place' too. But don't think I'm really OCD.
I do know though.... from past experience...
That when we're in a situation that we can't control... we then find other ways to control things in our life that we CAN control...ie cleaning...
Thus.. we can't control this stupid disease (and I couldn't control my ex's drinking)... so we do something like CLEAN as we CAN control that.
Just my two cents... I figured out why I cleaned like 3 times a week, wiping down every doorway, picture frames, mopping almost every day.... as my 'control' thing.
I had a counciler tell me that I'd get better as time went on... and I have! Heck with wiping down those picture frames... they might get it every three months if they're lucky!!
-------------------- Lyme, Babs, Fry Bug..... Whatever it is, may a treatment be discovered to make us all whole again! Posts: 941 | From AZ-MT | Registered: Oct 2004
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sutherngrl
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16270
posted
Yes it can. Lyme definetly can affect the brain chemistry in many ways.
Have you always been OCD about cleaning? Or is this something new? Unless it inteferes with your life or drives you crazy, then I wouldn't consider it an actual obsession.
I use to clean obsessively years ago before lyme. I don't think it was OCD; just that I liked things to be clean and neat and in their place. And maybe a little of what hadlyme said.......a control thing. It was something in my life that I actually had "control" over.
Posts: 4035 | From Mississippi | Registered: Jul 2008
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posted
I am convinced that Lyme can cause any symptom! Vicious little beast of a bacteria.
Posts: 256 | From Texas | Registered: Jun 2010
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absolutely, my son has lyme and starting obsessive cleaning also among other things. It was really bad for about 3 weeks. Then he moved onto hand washing, then being in the bathroom for long periods without actually going. We tried different meds but nothing helped. He just seems to do things in stages. He doesn't do it anymore now, now he laughs uncontrollablly, comes and goes. Doc thinks may be a herx.
Posts: 158 | From NJ | Registered: Jul 2010
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posted
Yes. Most definatly. That's my opinion. I have never had any problems in this direction whatsoever, neither have anyone in my whole family, but now that I got a symotom flare, this is one of the symptoms which has come, and come with increasingly strength.
With me the symptom have come the last months, and I can't get rid of it. I think it's lyme, or coinfections of lyme.
If I were to bet, I'd place my chips on coinfections of lyme. And the newly found virus in particular.
Posts: 275 | From Home | Registered: May 2007
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posted
I have severe OCD, and yes, I do believe Lyme can cause it. I don't think it's just about spirochetes though causing my OCD. I believe manmade electromagnetic fields (living near cell phone towers and wifi antennas) are causing the spirochetes to feel agitated. I am on disability because of OCD, too, so I know what I'm talking about.
Posts: 495 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2010
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posted
Im sure it can,lyme can cause anxiety ,depression,ADHD...etc,so why not OCD? all meantal..right
Posts: 158 | From pittsburgh | Registered: Aug 2009
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