Recovery from anxiety & OCD thoughts

Mental health
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I have been struggling with a bout of anxiety which seemed to be escalating my OCD thoughts. My medication of 20mg fluoxetine daily was increased to 40mg back in the middle of June and since then I have seen a slow recovery in the way I have been feeling.

I just wanted to share my experience in the hope that someone can relate to it and maybe share their own experience as well, as it can be a long lonely road and it has taken a long time to start to feel like I am slowly recovering and getting back to my normal self.

Unfortunately the waiting lists for talking therapies are quite long so sites like these have been invaluable for me to give me some reassurance that I’m not on my own and other people are struggling with similar symptoms.

In my case I think I have been struggling with OCD for a while now, but my symptoms got worse when I started a new job after being in my previous job for 11 years.

The new job created a lot of anxiety for me and this seemed to make my OCD more prevalent, but as it was a new job I stuck it out and battled through hoping the symptoms would subside and things would get easier.

After about 3 months in the role I took a short holiday but didn’t feel I had much of a break, and when it came back to going back to work I sort of panicked and felt I needed to stop, as I didn’t want to continue struggling in the way I had been doing.

My medication was increased, but unfortunately the lack of access to professional talking therapies made me feel quite confused and alone, so I relied on sites like this for reassurance and support.

It’s been a long road and I’ve felt scared I was losing my mind at times as waves of anxiety hit me and I had the fear of losing control.

Gradually though I believe the medication has helped stabilise me, and I feel that I am more in control of things now and getting back to being myself.

The thoughts that used to trigger the waves of anxiety still come, but it’s a bit odd now as the anxiety doesn’t seem to be there anymore and I find myself looking for it to see if it will come back.

It does make me feel a bit confused as I’m kind of constantly on the look out for thoughts that may get stuck, as they have done in the past.

I’m hoping this is just part of the recovery process and I’m guessing it will take a while for my brain to realise that the thoughts that used to get stuck aren’t a reason to be anxious anymore.

I hope someone can relate to this as I feel I’m close to recovering but do still struggle with the constant observing of thoughts and checking to see if the anxiety pangs come back or not.

Thanks for reading!

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i had talking therapy, but declined to continue, as i was asked to go in person for a face to face appointment, i cant cope with distance,i have been turning to family member to open up to,but because my chronic anxiety causes me to talk excessively, i knew i had to find another avenue, for support, patient community is really good to be among others who suffer as well.

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I agree, I have found this forum very helpful and reassuring. It’s nice to see that other people are going through the same thing and that we’re not on our own and there is light at the end of the tunnel!

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i am not sure recovery from anxiety is possible,my type of anxiety causes nausea, feeling on edge, lack of thinking ability, poor concentration, fast heatbeat.

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Are you on any medication for your anxiety? I have found fluoxetine to be very helpful in reducing my anxiety but it does take a long time and it is very gradual. I am on a waiting list for talking therapy but in the meantime have been looking online for support. This site has been helpful for that. I hope you can find some talking therapies over the phone or online as I think it will help you talking through your feelings.

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i have been put on matazapin as well as propranolol,floxetine didn’t work for me.

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i was on talking therapy but they wanted me to travel to my appointments,which i cant face doing, i got discharged from talking therapy,i felt they weren’t understanding me. have to do things in my time with no pressure at all.

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I can understand not wanting to travel for the talking therapies appointment. It’s a big commitment to make and if you struggle with travelling then it’s more difficult for you. Have you asked to see if they can can do the therapy over the phone or online? Maybe you just need to attend your first appointment face to face and then they may give you other options? There’s a lot of info online but I think I would benefit from speaking with someone, but it is frustrating with the waiting list.

Sorry to hear fluoxetine didn’t work out for you. It can take a long while before you start to see the benefits of it. Hope the medication you’re on is beginning to help?

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i had been having phone calls for therapy, but they decided to ask me to fo face to face to fight against my chronic anxiety,i know I’m not ready because my sibling took me out i became so emotional cause i managed that but was only out for an hour and i wasn’t around anyone else, step at a time is necessary. as for my medication, yes they are working for me,thankyou for asking. the manager of talking therapy said they were no longer doing phone calls and when i did acept a video call (i didn’t know i would need to give permission for a video call as my phone asked) so that call didn’t go ahead.

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I’m glad the medication is working for you. It certainly is one step at a time and sometimes two steps forward and one step back, but you’ll get there in the end! Well done for managing to go out with your siblings. It’s small steps like that that will help you recover. Feel the fear but face it anyway!

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rather difficult to face it anyway,because the matazapin doesn’t help with the neasua side of my anxiety.

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Ask for zoom meetings maybe? I have same issues, might have to decline if they offer me the same :frowning:

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i asked did they do by zoom, no only by video call.

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i didn’t get a chance for the floxetine to start working as i began to get pain in my lower right from taking it,i had read the leaflet which said i should call an ambulance if serious issues happened which it did,cut a long story short this is why i ended up taking matazapine n propranolol.

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