Does anyone have experience or know anything about having OCD and ADD? I have been on Zoloft for about 5 months and after the first 2-3 months I felt great and I was a completely different person. I felt like my life was finally good, my mind wasn't controlling me so much. I would binge eat so much, 5000 calories in one shot, my stomach hurt so bad and I would continue to eat and then cry after. I couldn't stop, then I would work it off. I am very obsessive about a perfect house and being organized and I could never sleep, I had so much to do. But then, 5 hours later, everything would be a mess again. I would find something else to do because I can't sit still for 2 minutes. I have weird habits, I move my forhead, you know like when you bring your eyebrows down. Don't you wish you could see me? I feel like I have to do it. I always have to have a habit, either move my ears, nail bite, I would switch off, then I was embarrest to be around people, afraid they might see me do it. Few things more but those are the main points. So the zoloft helped a lot until I started school again. Then it was all over. I have always known it takes me twice the amount of time to do something. I study so much and get caught up in making charts or writing that I never learn anything. I make myself have no life because I need all the time to study. I pull all nighters all the time because I get to the point where I realize I got nothing done, then the stress, anxiety, come into play because I only have 3hours to study, then after not having a life and studying all the time, more than anyone in my class, seriously, and I still fail. So now, my psychologist thinks I have OCD and ADD. I am on Welbutrin now, second week 300mg and I am doing those habits so much, to where I can't focus. Does anyone know why I keep doing this, I can't stop, even now. I just got over finals now, so it could be stress, I got anxiety so bad that I've felt sick during a practicum, and didn't finish. I think I have more ADHD. Finals are over now but I keep doing these crazy things. Any advice, I'd really appreciate it.Thanks
Punky:faint:

Punky;

Please do a fellow ADDer a favor and break your posts into several short (less than 5 lines) paragraphs instead of one giant one. It is a lot easier for a scatterbrain like me to read. :)

OCD is all about anxiety. It is an anxiety disorder, and a high state of anxiety can exacerbate it.

I have OCD tendencies (read my posts in the OCD subforum) and when I becoome very highly stressed I get way scattered and that is when the OCD kicks in. I check things... over and over again. Usually it is not too bad for me and I can cope with it okay when I recognize that my behvior is ocd driven. If my anxiety level is low, I won't have a problem with OCD, and I only have my ADD to deal with.

The key to ocd is the right medication and mitigating the compulsions so that it does not get out of hand.

ME :D

I am diagnosed with both ADD and OCD. My OCD, without the correct SSRI is quite debilitating actually. So the key here indeed is the right medication (serotonin related) to control the intrusive thoughts and/or compulsions. My intrusive thoughts are worse than my compulsions as a rule of thumb, way worse. In fact, my Adderall actually helps too and seems to allow me to concentrate on what's in front of me instead of all the irrational obsessions whirling around in this head of mine. Maybe that helps.

~MJL :)

(P.S. ask your doctor to put you on Luvox/Fluvoxamine; it's an older SSRI but is marketed soley for OCD - has worked wonders on me with a mere 50mg. You may need more but it's worth a try)

The forehead thing you describe could be an ADD trait. You'll find that unexplained urges, or even just fear of them, are common among ADDers.

The difference between the compulsion you decribe and OCD is what happens if you don't give in. If you force yourself NOT to perform the compulsion, does anxiety take over? Is it severe? Does it continue until you finally give in and do it?

Welcome to the forums & I hope the meds work out!

barbyma,
I never really thought about the anxiety part while I am doing it but now that you say that and I try not to do it, it does build up and this may sound weird but I am thinking so much to not try and do it, its like I have to find something else to compensate, I focus on the pulses in my head or pressure going either to the back of my head or forhead (It is probably all in my head), or I end up moving my ears. I can't just sit and not do it or not think about it. I can stop the movements for some time but the thought of doing it doesn't leave my brain. Thats when things, like this email takes me so much time to finish.
What do you think?
thanks for responding

Punky :faint:

barbyma,
I can stop the movements for some time but the thought of doing it doesn't leave my brain.
I think it's a possibility worth looking into. Since ADHD comes with a fair amount of tension itself, it's sometimes hard for a doc to tell the difference between tension and anxiety. What you described first sounds like compulsion and what you describe above sounds like obsession, but w/o obvious anxiety it's hard to tell. OCD is, as stated by other posters, an anxiety disorder.

If OCD is present, you could be fine for a while only to have it pop up later. I've been very successfully treated for bipolar disorder for over a decade, but it's only been in the last couple of years (especially since developing early premenopausal symptoms) that ADD has become unmanageable and I've had to face it.

Good luck figuring it out. You'll be glad you did in the end. Listen to your doc & make sure you're giving him/her everything you can think of to work with. If you hold anything back, you could get a misdiagnosis & that won't help you! (that last comment is mostly for the benefit of others reading this post who might be wondering if they have some disorder)