Welcome to
the NOCD Community

does anyone know if ocd and chronic stomach issues have a strong correlation? 😭 I havent been diagnosed with any stomach issues but I have also never checked. Plus ive had ocd and like persistent and painful stomach aches since i was like 5 and still do get them. I think i may have ibs.

Hello last year I had gone thru a very rough time In my life where I needed to be put on Zoloft 50mg around march 2024. I was diagnosed with anxiety, depression and OCD. Ive been suffering from OCD since I was like 11 and depression since I was 19, but I never sought help until last year Im 27 because I knew I needed it to help me get thru life. I was on 3 months on Zoloft and I went to a trip to Miami which honestly helped me so much, I honestly attribute that trip to Miami in healing me more than the Zoloft it self. I met my current girlfriend there. After coming back I felt like a new person. I still kept taking the Zoloft 50mg until late April (2025) this year when I decided to tapper down to 25mg by my self without a doc recommendation, I didn’t feel anything during the month of may this year until like may 30th when I woke up in a panic and I felt like I was back at square 1 before I started Zoloft. Mind you ive been thru some life changes, I recently graduated RN school and my gf moved in with me. Ever since the end of may I’ve been very anxious, my OCD is on high gear and my depression too. I went back up to 50mg I’m seeing a new doc, my questions is has anyone gone thru a similar situation? If so what helped you and how long did it take you to stabilize ?

I saw a Tik tok video randomly of a woman petting her cat at the base of its tail and it making a funny noise. I read the comments and random ppl were saying she was turning her cat on…which is not true. Anyway, one day I saw my sweet cat and decided to sit on the floor and just pet her and love on her. As I was petting her, the intrusive thought of that video came in and I still petted her near the base of her tail literally for like 2 seconds and now my ocd has been questioning intentions and I’m having the hardest time of my life. 😭😭😭 I just need someone to relate to. 😭 Any advice?

Something I don’t really understand and it grinds my gears 🤣. I am a 110% certain on something that will never happen in my life time but my ocd won’t accept it? Like my heart feels yeah that’s never happening ever I a million years…. But my ocd is like nope I’m against your values and morals! It’s draining 😴

After my psychiatrist appointments, I can't stop obsessing over whether or not I explained things correctly, or if I exaggerated without noticing? We spoke about the possibility of ADHD today, and after I got home, I kept wondering if I had exaggerated my experiences of struggling to focus, finishing tasks, feeling paralyzed when I want to get things done, etc... This is how I felt when I got diagnosed with anxiety and OCD, though. It's just sort of stressing me out 🫠 Has anyone dealt with similar?

I don’t know if any of you have gone through this but after a very very traumatic medical journey (quick rundown: I was 13 and all the sudden I was going blind turns out I had a brain tumor my freshman year had just started and I had made the reputation of the sick kid who fell down the stairs cause she went blind… the surgery was supposed to be an easy one 3-4 day recover at max and worst case I blown a leak and they had to go back up and patch it again no big deal well that happens to me 4 times all of my surgeons said they had never seen this happen before. I was given lumbar drains and was in excruciating pain all the time once they took out the lumbar drains they stitched me up and told me I could go home buttttt when I got home I developed bacterial meningitis which they said was a 1% chance of me getting I went into a coma and was airlifted back to the hospital and given emergency surgery they called me the 1% in the hospital cause every worse case that has ever or could ever happen happened to me… i had to go through radiation and could not be in the sun for a hole year 3-4 days turned out to be almost 3 1/2 months in the hospital and a year out of the sun for radiation I forgot how to read write and walk right I now have 4 chronic illnesses came back to school sophomore year and had to re learn EVERYTHING than I dislocated and fractured my patella so through all of high school I was known as the sick kid…) and all of the sudden I was scared of everything I used to be this fun adventurous kid and now I’m scared to do anything I just graduated a couple weeks ago but sometimes I think that if I even think of something bad happening that it will happen… like every time I say I have a bad feeling something bad ALWAYS happens not to sound like poor me but I’m genuinely scared to do anything now I always go to worse case anybody in my fam gets sick it’s oh they prob have cancer or a tumor or something like that and it’s very scary to have my brain think like that just wanted to know if any of you guys could relate…?

I have tried a few different kinds of antidepressants over the years, but it's always been hard to find one that works well for OCD and doesn't have horrible side effects. Does anybody have any recommendations of one that worked really well for depression and OCD??

Im new here so im not exactly sure what im supposed to be doing but my therapist recommended that I start using this platform. I have had OCD my whole life as does my mom and her parents, but I never had a formal diagnosis until about 5 years ago. Recently my OCD has been absolutely taking over my life and it is just so mentally exhausting. I know there’s nothing “wrong” with me but I really wish that I just didn’t have OCD. I really just want to be able to exist without all of these obsessions. I’ve seen a few posts from people just talking about experiences so if anyone has any tips on how best to use the platform that would be great! On a funnier note - I’m pretty open about my OCD and I mention it to a coworker and there response was “Do you really have that or is that just something you say”. And my response was oh yeah no I really have it and it really impacts every minute of everyday in my life and they were just like 😶

I don't have an official OCD diagnosis, although I am near enough certain I have it after a long year of distressing intrusive thoughts and compulsions that have strongly affected my life. Unfortunately though, I do not have the opportunity or the finances to get checked or go to therapy for a good few months at least. Due to this, I have taken it upon myself to teach myself techniques to tackle it and to reduce and not engage in compulsions, as I did not want to take the risk of getting even worse before being able to get help (and desperation lol). For the first time in the past year I feel like I'm finally making some progress in getting better since incorporating these techniques into my life as my symptoms have become more manageable (minus the obvious bad days) at the time being. Is self-recovery actually possible? Has anyone managed to recover without a therapist's help?

I've had a horrific subtype that has been affecting my day to day life. I think it's snuck in due to good things occurring in my life. If I can't forgive myself for my past, why should others? I'm happy knowing I'm not alone with these thoughts, but knowing it was OCD all along and I could have suffered so much less if I was diagnosed as a child... Decades worth of compulsive checking, thinking I'm worse than a monster... I just want to breathe normally again. I feel guilt with each breath. It's too much.

Hi all, I would really appreciate some advice on how you told a loved one about having ocd, specifically a significant other. I’ve been with mine for over 5 years, and I just had a recent diagnosis of OCD. To be honest, with the subtype I have, it’s really crippling to deal with, and I have a major worry of my partner not understanding the subtype. I would love to get some advice on how to best approach it and how to provide understanding that I’m still the same person. Thanks!

I have severe sexual and relationship ocd and recently my loops have gotten worse in the past few months since being married. He’s the love of my life and my best friend, but these loops make me feel guilty and disgusted with myself. They range from coworkers to friends and sometimes his relatives. He knows about this and accepts and loves me, but some days I’m so tired of fighting the guilt.

I’ve been getting stuck in my understanding of OCD lately. When I have intrusive thoughts, although I have OCD, I’m not supposed to label them as part of my condition? Instead I just say maybe/maybe not? It feels like it takes the wind out of my sails a bit in recovery? Like having cancer, but when I go to chemo, I’m supposed to say “maybe I have cancer, maybe I don’t.” Would anyone be able to speak to this and increase my insight and understanding? Thank you!

Hello everyone! I’m starting to recognize when my thoughts begin to spiral, when i’m seeking reassurance or checking. But I still have the sense of uneasiness and anxiety. I was wondering what others do that allow them to move forward with their day when they realize this? I don’t know if I’m making sense, but what are ways you pull the focus back to the present and yourself? Like besides saying “maybe or maybe not”, more like what do you do with yourself after you recognize the thoughts? I feel like I’m at a “now what?” and don’t know what to do with my anxious energy. I’m trying to find something physical to help me so if you also have any hobbies or interests that help I would love to hear it.

I feel like a p because my little brother was telling his friend that I had a hand a game called slap battles and I was happy to join the game it’s like why do I feel happy because of that I remember I use to help people get badges for the game and this one kid who I would always help and I would join to play with him and he was telling me he’s from this country and he was 8 or something and I feel like a p because of that thank God he unfriend me because till this day I think about it and if he was still my friend I don’t think I would sleep at night thinking if I said or did something wrong in the game Like he asked one day how old I was and I didn’t want to tell him but I think back at it and I’m just like did I not want to tell him because I wanted to do something or I didn’t tell him because I wanted to fit in? I feel so bad when my brother friends friended me and I don’t friend them back because I know what rejection is like and I’m not trying to be mean but I just won’t sleep at night thinking about if I did something I just get upset It’s so upsetting and it makes me want to cry

I used some hair removal cream today and I got in bath and put soap on my Arm pits and I screamed in pain because it hurt and my boyfriend rushed in and said what’s up and I told him and when he walked out he said oh I thought you hurt yourself and now I’m obsessing about what he meant by that like does he think I’m a psycho or dangerous.. do you think this is ocd latching onto that?

I can’t help but feel so anxious because of guilt. I feel guilty about not sharing everything about my OCD to my partner, but because I understand that confession itself is a compulsion and would not help anyone. I feel so anxious too that if all my fears come true and she finds out, then it would be so devastating for everyone especially her. Does anyone feel the same thing? How could I change my perspective on this?

Sometimes I feel like nobody really gets me. Nobody knows what’s going on in my head. I try to explain in vivid detail, but my ocd immediately reads the other persons face and registers that they don’t get it. It’s a very isolating experience. Anyone else have something like this?

Anyone else feel like they just sit there during sessions? Like I can’t wait for it to be over so I don’t have to do this twice a week anymore. I think I’m putting in effort but sometimes feels like a huge waste of time and I’m not making progress but maybe that’s just my ocd?

Has anyone been through either of these? I had a hysterectomy at 30 and my OCD has gone off the charts since. I need a friend who understands 😩