I have mild ocd traits, especially when stressed. My biggest compulsion so far seems to be to check the lock on the door of my apartment when I leave and get outside.... The trouble is, I live on the 3rd floor and that means I walk up 6 flights of stairs each time I check the lock. If I am stressed, I might check the lock 3-4 times before I am satisfied that the door is actually locked. Fortunately this does not happen a lot, and is more of an amusing quirk than anything.

I'm pretty obsessed with my own condition, and I seem to be preservative about technology.

I have been in one situation where I was VERY stressed for a good reason and got seriously stuck in a loop when I had difficulty with a button on my shirt (no kidding).
It took intrervention from a relative (in the form of a distraction) to break me out of it, It was really very disturbing, to say the least.

Me :D

dude i love your picture thingy

thank you. :p
Me :D

Yeah, I more than understand, Glen. Many times when I'm just to that point where I can't take anymore my OCD takes over. If I'm not "picking" (nail polish, paint, my skin), "pulling" (my hair, a thread), or "checking" (how I look, the time, the locks), I'm organizing and organizing the organizing and then when I can't get it right, that's when the anxiety starts to take over. Sheer panic sweeps across me. It HAS to be right and if someone doesn't stop me a crash is just around the corner.

I still have my day to day OCD quirks but when stress is just too much, this is what I do.

I can help you with lock checking problem:-)

you know the old saying about tying a string around your finger to help you remember things?it works for locking the front door too. I'm not OCD, but I am really absentminded when it comes to doing everyday tasks and I'm never really sure if I did them or not without proof.start doing something right after you do the lock up and only do that thing after you've locked the door. Whenever you choose to do, it has to be something that leaves physical evidence behind that you can take with you.that way you know for certain that you did it as you can see the evidence that you did it without actually having to go up any stairs to find out.

I just make a mental note to tell myself "YES I CHECKD THE D**N LOCK!" :)

Me :D

Yeah, I more than understand, Glen. Many times when I'm just to that point where I can't take anymore my OCD takes over. If I'm not "picking" (nail polish, paint, my skin), "pulling" (my hair, a thread), or "checking" (how I look, the time, the locks), I'm organizing and organizing the organizing and then when I can't get it right, that's when the anxiety starts to take over. Sheer panic sweeps across me. It HAS to be right and if someone doesn't stop me a crash is just around the corner.

I still have my day to day OCD quirks but when stress is just too much, this is what I do.So similar to me. But different too. The extreme OCD you describe is all mine too. But for me, it is my day to day thing, and the lost time is what causes me to go into panic mode. The Risperdal almost eliminates the panic, but nothing seems to work for the OCD. My ADD and OCD just enhance each other, and the meds for each do too.
But it's the loss of large chunks of my life to OCD that's probably the worst. ADD may be socially unacceptable, but at least it's creative. For that matter, when my OCD is channelled, it allows me to do a "perfect" job.
But, aaaaaghaaaaagh.
If you know what I mean.

Oh, and about lock checking...for me it's "do I have the key?"
So now I don't lock the door (so I won't be locked out).
Hmmmm...maybe it's because my mom locked me out one day when I was 2 and she just couldn't handle my then-unknown ADD behavior (or was it OCD?) of running in and out of the house over and over, with the screen door slamming each time.
And then there was the time when I was 4 and the warped girl from across the street enticed me to get into a cupboard in her basement and locked me in so she and my sister could go shopping with her mom without me.
I must have been the most annoying child.
At least I've never have to check to see if I locked anything.

I have to be really stressed. Usually it is because I am overloaded, or because some unknown event managed to catch me by surprise and overwhelmed me. I have only recently learned to recognize my ocd antics, so I have a lot to learn about it.

The risperdal quiets my anxiety, but does nothing for my sensory issues.. In fact, nothing helps my hypersensitivity. I wish I could shut it off , somehow. If I could it would solve so many things.

Welbutrin helps my add a bit. Neurontin helps reduce my pain response to sound, but also does nothing for my hypersensitivity.

This evening I was listening to some music at a restaurant and had to leave. I liked the music, but between the overload it made and the visual overload of so many peiople milling about I started getting kind of close to a righteous meltdown, so I had to withdraw before I had problems. I am in overload right now. This stuff is not fun.

Try as I might, I can't beat this. I'm having a hard time learning to accept this as "me". I keep convincing myself, no this is not HFA, and every time I do, I end up slamming into my sensory "wall" and realize that it is an absolute.

Eventually I will learn my lessions. Right now I feel like a dog that is learning to accept a collar and a leash.

Me :D