Heya folks,

 

This entry is aimed at other sufferers of OCD who've come across the blog.

 

Has struck me that the past few months haven't been exactly filled with optimism re: my OCD and that it may be giving a more negative impression to other sufferers then it should.

 

Let me correct that. Yes, it's been a rough time of late and my progress has stalled while they try and find the right regular med for me...and that's led to some nasty side-fx and some depressing & frustrating moments for me. Promised this place would be as honest as I could make it, and so I have to share all that for my own sanity as well as anything else.

 

BUT before other sufferers get down about that, I'd ask you to look at the wider picture. It's been coming near to 9 years since I developed full-blown OCD. I took nearly 7 until i started looking for help, 8 until I got to see the specialists...so really, I'm only just over a year on from getting decent treatment. Folks, it takes a long time to get sorted...the longer you suffer in silence, the longer it takes to sort out. Plus, bear in mind that my case isn't all that standard - primary 'pure-o' OCD is not a common strain of it and stats show that normally the first line of meds (SSRIs) will prove effective. The fact that both first and second line haven't helped me is the exception to the rule, I think.

 

The thing is, I've got myself to the point where I've understood more or less what I suffer from and recovered to the point where I can talk about it, write about it, control it to an extent (depending on how bad the imbalance is on any given day) and start to put myself together on my own. It is possible, folks - the psychologist herself said there was no point referring me for psychological treatment because I'd self-taught the knowledge CBT would give anyway.

 

Trust me when i say you can all do the same - and the odds are that when you get to that point, you'll have found meds that work for you and then be able to find the daily stability to lead as near to a normal life as you can with this disorder. For those of you that are going through a similar thing to me (or may do so in future), I hope me talking about how it's all working helps somehow. But, for those of you who've hit the rock-bottom point and are at the start of climbing back up, please don't think the rehab will definitely be as hard for you as it has been for me. Stick with it.

 

That's that, guys - just feel it important to point out that my low points of late have been because the process hasn't proved as effective on me as it normally is for other sufferers, and so don't assume that it'll be as ineffective for you - odds are, it won't be!