Is anyone’s anxiety and OCD worse while on their period? I was doing good this week but today I called out of work and am laying in bed feeling like shit with Pure/Harm/Suicidal OCD thoughts. Not to mention body aches, headache, and nausea.
God, absolutely. Like a week before I start to feel like I am going crazy, all my problems became worst and I feel hopeless 😭I feel less alone knowing I am not the only one struggling with this hahaha
@Anonymous Yeah, it’s just awful. I start going with the constant “what ifs” and constant negative thinking loops. It’s exhausting. I’ve been off meds for so long but I’m thinking it’s time I give it another try.
@Tee10 You said this perfectly! I wish they knew more about how women's cycles affect us mental health, but there haven't been any studies done on the female body as much as there has on the male body. Maybe we could get some sort of answers and more relief 😅
@Anonymous How do you move past it?
@Iamnotmythoughts I still struggle with it. For me it helps me know that it is not going to be forever, I also take medication and I have anxiolytics for emergency or realy bad moments
Funny you post about this because I just posted the same question two days ago… girl, I feel your pain!!! I’m in day 4 of my cycle.. feeling a bit better now that I’m getting towards the end, but it was horrible a day or two before, and the first few days of. Suicidal and existential OCD, derealization, depression, catastrophizing, hyper awareness…just hell. I’m sorry you’re feeling this way. I’m so ready for it to be over.
@Tee10 Does that happen every time you get your period? Or only when you’re in a longer OCD episode?
@Iamnotmythoughts I never used to have this issue. It’s only when my OCD is bad..like during high levels of stress. I guess the hormones with my period exacerbate it even more.
Absolutely! I have PMDD and my OCD definitely worsens during it. I will say, medication has helped with both. Although the symptoms are not totally gone, they're more manageable and less intense. Using response prevention and practicing self-care also helps during that time.
@Suzeme What medication and dose are you on?
@Iamnotmythoughts I'm on Viibryd (vilazodone) 40mg. That was the medication recommended to work for me when I took a GeneSight test. It saved my life. But, a different med might work better for you. Everyone is different - that's why the GeneSight test is a good way to explore what best works for you.
@Suzeme I’ve been considering genesight testing. How long did it take for you to get results in total, and how much did it cost? Did your insurance help cover it?
@Iamnotmythoughts Another option you can look into if genesight isn’t covered, is the 23 & Me health test. It also told me what medication would likely work best for me.
@Iamnotmythoughts My insurance did not cover it. When that's the case, GeneSight charges you based on your household size & income, and never more than $300. Luckily, I paid $0 😃 I received the test within 2-3 business days. They provide you with a FexEx overnight slip. Results were back within 2-3 days. So, everything happened within 7 days. I hope this info is helpful 💖
I'm roughly 2 months pregnant and I'm struggling so bad with OCD (specifically surrounding psychosis/postpartum psychosis, postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, etc). I'm so discouraged because I was sub-clinical for over a year and this pregnancy and the hormones are undoing all of my progress. And it actually seems so much harder than BEFORE when I was at a low point. It feels like the hormones are ruining my brain and making me lose my mind. I keep looking over my shoulder, getting intrusive images of scary hallucinations that I might start to get, i fear hurting myself or my baby, etc. Psychosis in pregnancy is 1 in 1000. That's not that rare. I feel like I just upped my chances of my biggest fear happening and I have so much regret and fear around that. I'm also a Christian and I'm relying on God so much more now than ever, but I'm afraid of that too because people in psychosis often have religious delusions and I can't tell if I'm slipping into that or if God is really just using this trial to pull me closer to him. I just feel so defeated. I feel like ERP just isn't going to work for me because the hormones are a whole different animal that "normal" people with OCD don't have. Like they're making me immune to ERP or that ERP isn't for people like me and I'm hopeless.
How are your experiences during an ocd spike while going through a menstruation? It doesn't matter if you are afab, your experience is valid too! I noticed my thoughts get worsened and the spike intensified, but now that I'm taking sertraline I don't feel an panic attack as before but the throughs and feelings are definitely there so is an unpleasant situation
I was wondering why my ocd was so much worse and I think it’s the luteal phase. I got diagnosed with PMDD recently. For a couple cycles, the pre and during was brutal but I was put on supplements that I thought helped. Now, I think the luteal phase just started but my religious ocd is coming back at full force. It’s scary. It feels so urgent. Like I must figure out the answers to every problem because it is life and death. It’s hard to recognize it is OCD. I feel like if I don’t figure everything out, I’m sinning and disappointing God. Does anyone have advice for surviving the luteal phase?
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