# OCD and IBS



## 14013 (Nov 12, 2005)

i was watching a programme and i just realised, i have/had mild OCD, hardly anything now but when i was in my early teens it was quite bad, but not to the point that anyone else really noticed, and ive never told anyone this before because it feels really embarressing like im crazy and everyone will think im a nut case - but hey like you dont alreadynow i only do things like sometimes i can be walking down the street and i realise in my head im counting, i dont know if im counting my steps or what, its weird, i dont even realise im doing it and when i do i stop, but it actually feels like a realise because its like i can feel anxiety within me and that somehow makes the time pass quicker and the anxiety goes. apart from that which doesnt happen often, is the clenliness thing, i had a 'thing' about raw food, i cant use anything that has touched raw meat again, i have to use it for that, and everytime i touch something raw im washing my hands for ages, like i did a barbeque the other day so things went on and when they were done the raw things went on after, and i am overly concerned about, that touched that and i used that for this, i was my hands every two minutes and its really rather obsessive, and unsettling, okay so atleast i will always have a tidy house but it must do my mums head in because im always asking her has she washed her hands, because she might say take some pork chops out and put them in the over, but them she will just wipe her hands on a tea towel ( i mean for god sake i might use that to dry dishes with) and then she will go open the fridge and im just thinking, oh god please dont touch anything else. i hate being like this but its an irrational fear of getting ill, like with anything near its sell by dat, well id say more, on its day of use or after, some people just use it, i wont, i would rather make it if people want to eat it so i know what it has been near and then make myself a sandwhich for dinner. and this isnt even the really bad stuff i used to have when i was younger.(below is when i was younger)im cringing to tell people this but i feel i should let it out. i think it started when i was taking the piss out of my brother because i noticed he would sometimes say 'stop' after he said things, but for some reason unbeknown to me i started saying 'full stop' quietly to myself after i said sentences, its mental, i know, and it went on for a little while and developed into stuff like cracks in teh pavement, but i wasnt so bothered about that. i didnt like odd numbers and im sure i had something about touching something a certain number of times but im not so sure. but the full stop thing wa sthe worst, but it all came from the fear that something bad would happen if i didnt do it, like it was some kind of punishment, i think i wa stotally messed up from developing IBS at 11 and how that effected me mentally with school and around other people, i thought that i wopuld have bad days if i didnt do certain things, i remember something about in the winter when my attc room window was misted over i would open the blinds and i had to write my name on the window and it had to be a big S with little letters after. i dont know why it wa slike a habit.i dont know why im telling people this is just makes me look a nutter but this was then and now its hardly anything, i just went away by itself when i snapped myself out of it, i just have the food thing and the odd head counting. oh, i think i used to smetimes say things twice silently when i was younger too - lol i am mad.but the thing is until i saw this tv programme i never even knew thats what it was, infact it didnt bother me because it wasnt something that happened anymore but now ive watche dthat it kind of bothers meanyway, i will shush now....now hehehe...heyyyy atleast i can make fun of my quirkinessnow im convinced my emotional distress over my IBxs and dealing with it throughout school and the sheer embarressment and the psychological damage it has done has made me like this...


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## Guest (Jun 8, 2007)

Darling - I haven't had time to read all of this - but I think you've been very brave in coming clean about OCD - I know - been there - I suffer periodically from mild OCD - usually compulsive hand and foot washing - haven't had it now for years but its no picnic at all - there are here, fantastic OCD support groups so I really think you need to look into this - cos its summat that seems to responsd well to alternative therapies - particularly Cognitive Behaviour Therapy - I know places for CBT are as rare as rocking horse ###### in some parts - but have a google or summat - see what you can find.Please remember - you really AREN'T alone on this - forgive me - I've got 9 16 year old lads descending on the house in a matter of minutes but will try and get chance to read your posting after t'weekend.Sue xxxxx


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## Screamer (Aug 16, 2005)

When I still ate meat I was just as obsessive about washing my hands etc after it. I still am when I cook it for Mr Screams and when I see him cutting stuff up then using the same knife for something else it freaks me out. I keep a spray bottle of vinegar on my windowsill and after I've used hot water and detergent and a scrubbing brush to wash down the chopping board I'll then give it a good spray with the vinegar to disinfect it and let it dry. Sometimes I'll do a couple of coats of it







I also sometimes catch myself counting when I walk.Everyone has some mild ocd symptoms in their life, I have to have all my labels facing forward, I alphabetize my recipe books and spice rack, I colour code my undies, I have to be the one to fold the washing cause no one else does it right and sometimes I go overboard on the handwashing because I'm germaphobic.However unless it's interfering with your life (which it may have been doing as a child, but you weren't aware of it then) then the doctors don't worry too much. If you catch yourself doing more and more until you know it's interfering then take yourself to a doctor to talk about it. And nope, you're not crazy! (unless we all are!)


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## 14013 (Nov 12, 2005)

aw thanks you two, im okay now anyway, the things that are present arent really big deals, i hope it isnt something that reappears, but im not sure it will as i feel i have a better understanding of myself now, the only thing is i worry it will be a sign if other things when i get older, i dont wanna end up having problems with my weird brain when im 80! then i will just be labeled a crazy old lady







ooo vinegar coating good idea! chopping boards feeak me out, i never feel like im getting it clean enough if it has cut marks in already


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## Guest (Jun 9, 2007)

Soph - I know this sounds a bizarre thing to say - but if you are a little "delicate" in the old mental health department (and I certainly am) - my god it helps to have a bracing sense of humour about the situation - sounds like you have - well done - much more bearable if you can laugh at yourself from time to time. Is that you on your avatar - you are absolutely beautiful.Hang in there kiddo - you'll be OK>Sue xxxx


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## 14013 (Nov 12, 2005)

lol, yes sue, some people would certainly say im a little delicate in the old mental health department







yeahhh gotta laugh at yourself, thankfully i havent got major issues, i just come off as i little bit quirky!yep, thats me, thank you for the compliment


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## Tiss (Aug 22, 2000)

sophie, You sound so much like me and I am 51! Ooohhh, cutting boards, raw meat, cross contamination--all that bothers me and more! I can't stand to touch flour or chalk---yah. Actually OCD tends to run in families and most of my 6 sibling have at least mild OCD. My daughter was diagnosed at age 10 likewise my nephew. My daughter and nephew tend to have worse cases







I take lexparo as does my daughter and it helps a lot. But I take lexapro for anxiety and depression and my daughter takes it for OCD. OCD is considered to be in the 'anxiety disorder' famiily. If if doesn't really bother you then it probably doesn't cause extreme impairment. Most of our family a laughs about our compulsions and little rituals. I've been a 'counter' from the time i can start remembering---only even numbers for me please!


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