Unmedicated? please read.

ConfusedAndAfraidGuy wrote:By sugar, do you mean sugar like in candy and lemonade etc or also the natural sugars in fruits?

I mean the candy type. The point is you don't want anything too stimulating. A little is ok but if you get too much it can put your thoughts into an unbearable overdrive.

I need to think about cutting back on the sugar and caffeine...

I’m not going to be the guy who blames drugs for making his OCD come out, but stimulant abuse definitely had a role.

I started drinking energy drinks in 2015. In 2016 I started taking caffeine pills. In 2017 I started using adderall here and there. In the summer 2017, my pure OCD started manifesting. I thought I was going insane, so I cut out all caffeine and swore off adderall. Got a little better, for a month, but it all went downhill. Became obsessed with diabetes, kidney failure, homosexuality, etc.

Did drug use cause my OCD? No, of course not. But just as marijuana accelerates the onset of schizophrenia in teens, I feel strongly my drug abuse accelerated the onset of my OCD.

As for medication, particularly SSRIs, I think they’re very helpful based on what I’ve heard. I regret I didn’t start them last spring when offered. I look forward to starting them this fall. I’m feeling better, as I’m not constantly obsessing about homosexuality, but I had these flare ups once or twice a day, every day, and they make my life hell.

Yesterday, my girlfriend and I went to Miami, and there was this fellow there with a very tight fitting Hawaiian t-shirt. I could see his bulging triceps. They weren’t well defined, but very smooth, yet there. It’s rare you see triceps like that. For context, I worked in the fitness industry for a year. Anyway, I took notice and soon became obsessed with this man’s triceps. I started trying to see if I’m aroused by this. You know how it goes. I don’t mean to take away from the thread.

All I’m saying, I don’t think I would’ve spent all night obsessing over whether or not this guy’s volunptious yet smooth triceps aroused me, were I on an SSRI.

I also want to be clear that you don't have to cut stimulants but regulating them is important.

For instance, when I wasn't on meds I would get cravings for caffeine, sugar and anything that would give me energy. This was my brain telling me that I was needing more dopamine stimulated through my brain (ADHD people don't have easy stimulation of dopamine).

I would go binge consuming on the both and this would cause a massive bout of traumatic OCD thoughts.

I take adderall now for my ADHD but take in no caffeine or sugar. I have no cravings now either. I'm good with my prescription dosage but one day I had a large coke with it and boy howdy was I up all night. Turns out too much dopamine causes anxiety and paranoia. A lil here and there is ok but stimulation with extra dopamine is NOT A GOOD TIME. If you already have normal levels of dopamine stimulants will make it worse.

Another issue with stimulants is they are a roller coaster for your brain. You may wonder how I can take a stimulant drug and be ok. I have a 12 hour drug. I take it at a time to make sure I'll be in bed asleep before it wears off. One day I stupidly decided to take half and went nuts at the 6 hour mark. My brain whiplashed from perfectly calm to an OCD playground. With sugar and caffeine this is a shorter amount of time than 12 hours hence the situation of "caffeine/sugar crash".

One thing you can do if you can't quit is pace yourself. Nibble or sip a little here and there. See how much you can handle by carefully tiptoeing through it. That way if you take in a bit too much it won't bother you near as much as an extra three shots of espresso would. One day I ran out of meds There's a pop machine in my apartment complex, and though I wasn't keen on having sugar I stopped buying tea and coffee when I got on the meds. I wasn't 100% by a long stretch but I was able to get through without too much anxiety by sipping.

I'm not about to tell anyone to quit cold turkey because some people like myself it's near impossible to do things if dopamine isn't stimulated properly. If you're too groggy all the time in the morning, that's your body needing to stimulate dopamine. If you set to doing something but either can't focus or wind up feeling the want or even need (compulsion) to do something else it's because of lack of dopamine stimulation. Like I said, I even binge ate because lack of it causes subconscious hunger needs in hopes of something to stimulate dopamine.

tl;dr Don't assume stimulants are all completely bad but be careful that not to abuse them either. If you need them, use caution.

I've definitely found caffeine makes it worse. Strangely enough, wheat did too. Now that I'm on medication and the OCD is mostly controlled, I stopped caring though. I can eat what I want now. If it makes it worse, it's not enough to matter because the meds filter most of it out.

For the most part same. I seem to have an allergy to soy that sounds like your wheat allergy. I believe anything that our bodies can't quiet handle will cause anxiety simply from not feeling the normal. It's all not gone with the meds if I don't hold back on those things but it certainly takes away 3/4 or so.

Wow, i cant read a thread without getting triggered some how. Im the opposite of you (the person who started this thread) i've done ssri's snri's(horrible side effects) and i am on two antipsychotics one in the morning and one in the evening. i agree my life would probably be hell without them now that im used to it, but its definetly not a cure, the ocd is still there and i get triggered and i obsess hardcore while on the best meds there are available for me ( i did a dna test) so now im trying to go holistic and have an open mind

I'm sorry if I triggered you. </3

Yes, everyone is different for sure. What works for one may not the other unfortunately. *Hugs if you want 'em.