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Thread: Drs say No but I know what I have

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    545

    Drs say No but I know what I have

    I have been on this site off and on for a few years now. After reading a lot of different material and speaking to various people I know I suffer from OCD, sometimes I can cope quite well and it ceases for a while and then when I get stressed or something happens in my life it will rear its ugly head once again.

    When i went to the Dr about this, she was about as much use as a chocolate teapot. She was very bad actually and it still makes me quite mad to think about. It took an awful lot for me to go to her, this was about February/March 2010. I told her of my intrusive thoughts and about some of my compulsions, albeit they are mostly mental compulsions and she said to me because I wasn't getting up at 5am in the morning and cleaning the house or that I wasn't washing my hands 100 times then I did not have OCD. Now at the time and for a while after I was in such a mess, mostly because what I was going through but also because I thought if its not OCD then maybe its real?! She totally overlooked all the things I had said and based her prognosis on a stereotype.

    I am sorry to ramble on but the main point to my thread is that Drs do not know everything - especially mine. Plus it may be a sweeping statement but its my opinion that not enough is know about OCD in the UK. I got the impression by some people that its just something America has made up, its not real and it doesn't happen to us. Well it does and it has. I am learning to cope with it more and more but some days or just some hours are a lot harder than others and it takes strength to get through it. So for those who think you are weak and cannot handle it - don't think so because you can and you do handle it everyday! It gets better with time, I have suffered from this for 7 years now. And I am more equipped to deal with it. There is a podcast free on itunes called Living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Its helped me alot! Check it out.

    Take care and Keep Fighting xxx
    __________________
    When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    949

    Re: Drs say No but I know what I have

    your doctor dont know much do she
    god bless
    __________________
    Nil Desperandum

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Posts
    78

    Re: Drs say No but I know what I have

    true, its stereoptyped as washing and counting. Like how depression is thought of as just feeling low. If only we could use the power we have to make ourself feel as happy as we do sad.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Posts
    617

    Re: Drs say No but I know what I have

    most of what i know about ocd,PA,depression,GAD Ive found out on this fantastic site!
    doctors dont know everything,and its sometimes difficult to make them understand
    I also assumed that OCD was washing,counting rituals,but apparantly I have what people call ...'Pure O' a form of OCD
    this is obsessional thoughts ,that intrude,trigger depression and panic attacks.
    A few of my friends would tell me to calm down,relax,stop thinking such ridiculous thoughts!!! if only it was that simple!!!!
    I had a real meltdown a month ago.The day before my daughter was due back off her France trip,I was rolled up in a ball on the sofa,bawling my eyes out because I couldnt stop these awful thoughts.....ie; the coach may crash on the motorway and my poor daughter will burn to death(the M5 pile up has played on my mind constantly) ....or,there will be a terrorist attack on the channel tunnel and i,ll never see my daughter again...or ......her friends will leave her on the Xmas Market and she will be abducted and abused.Now when I read this back to myself,it sounds just crazy and over the top,but that day....they were very real thoughts and fears which I just could not stop.
    My Mum had a seizure in front of me a few months ago,and everything has spiralled since then,panic attacks,depression,anxiety,constant crying.....but if Im honest,any severe stress,bereavement I just cant seem to handle and always feel like Im going to lose someone close or something terrible is going to happen.
    I hope and pray the CBT is going to help as Ive suffered with this since the birth of my 2nd daughter,she is now 9 and im far too over protective over my kids,theyre gonna hate me,at this rate!!!!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Posts
    78

    Re: Drs say No but I know what I have

    Hi Hallam,
    Sorry to hear you haven't had a positive experience, sadly our GP's are rarely in the best position to diagnose these kinds of conditions. In my experience our doctors surgery has about a dozen GP's and functions in such a way i never see the same doctor twice in a row, and you usually have about 10-15 minutes max before they are ushering you out the door in order to rush through their huge list of patients.

    In an anxious state it's not always easy to force out what you need to say and open up and you might misrepresent yourself (quite often when i was trying to get help the doctor would say the complete wrong thing and i would nod politely and agree because at that point i felt so sick i just wanted to get out of there!!) thats not anyones fault but it doesn't help anyone.

    Persistence is the key in your situation, if they send you away and you stay away, they will assume that the problem is gone and you dont have OCD. If you go back, ask for a second opinion or to see another GP and directly ask for talking therapy like CBT or regular psychotherapy and they will better be able to assess your situation.

    Best wishes,
    __________________
    Connor.

    Friendly, non-judgmental listener,
    Also a Huge fan of CBT
    Meditation & Exercise

    A free series of audio downloads introducing mindfulness and meditation are available from HERE

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    545

    Re: Drs say No but I know what I have

    Thanks for all the replies. In reply to your reply Connor, you are right I believe I did rush it the first time but I did go back to the same doctor and she was adamant that I did not have OCD. Anyway I insisted that I see a counsellor and I did and she was much easier to speak with, however as she was only a talk therapist and was not a psychiatrist who dealt with OCD she could not diagnose. Having said this when I spoke to her about it and that I felt this was what it was and showed her some literature I had found she said that it sounded as though I was suffering from one of the many forms of OCD. I was referred onto a lady at a mental health practice and she referred to it as rumination with elements of OCD involved. When I read through OCD UK I ticked off a lot of the symptoms.
    The main point really was that I was stereotyped and she didn't listen to me even when I went back to second time. In order to get my point across I took a list of things and even an article I had found and she ignored it. When I saw the mental health lady she was really good and bought literature that helped me, I did exercises and had homework and it really helped me. I would have totally agreed that it wasn't OCD if I was only having bad thoughts but the fact that I had compulsions such as avoidance, saying things over in my head, trichotillomania, putting all my belonging in my room and anywhere else I could get away with it in straight lines and perpendicular. Anyway there we go.
    Hope everyone is doing well today xxx
    __________________
    When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck

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