Does anybody here have OCD?

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I know there was already a thread started todayabout it, but it seemed to be going off the ADD direction so I was just wondering if anyone here has OCD in nursing school?

I do, and it's becoming really hard for me. I have to check the MAR at least 11 times every time I give a med and I always have to have someone else check it for me, or I'll go home and obsess about whether I gave the right med until the next day at clinical. Even at the patient's bedside, after I've already checked the drugs against the MAR, I'll check them two and three times. Sometimes I ever keep the wrappers in my pocket so I can use them to double check later if I start second guessing myself. This takes up a lot of my time in clinicals. I'm thinking about starting therapy, because I know I can't do this once I'm an actual nurse. I've always delt with this problem, but now it's getting out of control at the hospital.

Just wondering if anyone else here has it and what your coping methods are.

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I don't have OCD, but my daughter does (full blow case, thing "Monk"). She is into extreme order (hers) and cleanliness. Those of us who love her have to deal with it. Stress can make if worse. Unfortunately, we found out how bad it can get with stress when we lost Loula Rain (our 6 week old grand-daughter) to SIDS. My daughter was nearly incapacitated. Long story short, with therapy and medication (Prozac has worked really well for my daughter) things are becoming manageable again. I would definately seek out a physician. Allowing the obsessions and compulsions to become more ingrained over time can make treatment more difficult. I often wish we had acted sooner when my daughters symptoms first began to appear in adolesence, but we didn't know better then.

M

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I don't have OCD, but my son had symptoms for a while (he was 10). He could not stop worrying about being poisoned - all day long. He did therapy for a bit and went on Prozac. It did get better and he no longer takes medication, but does see a counselor periodically.

From what I know about it, OCD is one of the easier problems to work with, but it can make your life absolutely miserable untreated. If you think it is interfering with your clinicals, (and I can certainly see why it would!), it wouldn't hurt to talk to someone about it.

Good luck!

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i have a healthy case of OCD ..I try not to contaminate anything I touch if I clean a phone I use a paper towel to hold it if someone else uses it, I think everything has ebola LOL. I think I would be a great OR nurse, if I were you I would use it as my strength. Nothing wrong with checking a MAR 3x's before giving meds, thats what everyone SHOULD be doing.

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i have a healthy case of OCD ..I try not to contaminate anything I touch if I clean a phone I use a paper towel to hold it if someone else uses it, I think everything has ebola LOL. I think I would be a great OR nurse, if I were you I would use it as my strength. Nothing wrong with checking a MAR 3x's before giving meds, thats what everyone SHOULD be doing.

good point!

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i have a healthy case of OCD ..I try not to contaminate anything I touch if I clean a phone I use a paper towel to hold it if someone else uses it, I think everything has ebola LOL. I think I would be a great OR nurse, if I were you I would use it as my strength. Nothing wrong with checking a MAR 3x's before giving meds, thats what everyone SHOULD be doing.

I do understand where you're coming from, but it gets annoying when all I can think about is whether or not I gave the right med and keep questioning myself, even after I've checked the MAR 11+ times. I definitely can't do that forever.

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I have OCD with intrusive thoughts. Everytime I drive up a mountain I get it in my mind that I could drive off the cliff! Really bad thing, considering I live in Colorado. Anyway, OCD is a good and bad thing. Try to limit yourself to 3's. Look 3 times at the meds and that's it! Sometimes I have to tell myself something out loud and it seems to calm me down. Such as, everytime I leave my house I have to touch every knob on the stove and say out loud, "Stove is off". Strange, I know, to say, "Medication ok" in front of a patient but even if you tap your leg or do something physical, the disorder seems to calm down. Hope this helps!

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I was diagnosed with moderate to severe OCD approximately 7 years back. I was placed on Celexa (an SSRI) and Wellbutrin for 3 years. I was under the care of two therapists: one therapeutic psychiatrist that prescribed and monitored my medication and a behavioral therapist. I credit the medication and the therapy for allowing me to gain control of my OCD.

I word of caution about getting on medication though. It can be an emotionally and physical rollercoaster!!! The first few months on the medication all I wanted to do was sleep! I would come home from work and go immediately to bed and not wake up until the next morning. I would sleep entire weekends away - barely getting up to eat and bathe. Mood swings were all over the place and my temper would flare up on the drop of a dime over the most minute things. I had absolutely no desire to have any sexual interactions with my husband (Wellbutin was successfully introduced counter this). My doctors did not fully disclose all the possible reactions I could have to the medication. When I questioned them about this towards the tail end of my treatment they said it was a precautionary measure against psychosomatic reactions e.g. they would tell about possible reactions and I would them manifest them. And when it was time to wean myself of the medication I encountered severe withdrawal symptoms such as migraine headaches, severe nausea, nights sweats, etc. It took me a fully year to become free of the medication. My doctors said my withdrawal symptoms were atypical and they were puzzled as to why I was experiencing them. I turned to the internet and came across multiple message boards with threads from individuals like me suffering from sever withdrawal symptoms that our doctors would not or could not address. The 3 years on the medication was so traumatic that I vowed that if my symptoms returned I was just going to find a way to deal with them. Thankful the treatment was very successful and my OCD symptoms are 10% of what they used to be.

I am not trying to scare you away from medication/treatment, obviously because it worked for me. I just want you to be very aware that there is more to the treatment than simply taking a little pill in the morning. I can't even being to imagine how I would deal with my reactions to the medication while in nursing school. Everyone is different so reaction to medication can very drastically from one person to another. I just wished that when I made the decision to get on medication I had more information to brace myself for the long and bumpy road ahead.

Good luck to you and I hope this helps!

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Specializes in CICU.
Try to limit yourself to 3's. Look 3 times at the meds and that's it!

:yeahthat:

This is similar to what I do - I "limit my checking". I just had to force myself and it did get easier with practice. I also visualize the object I am worried about (the blowdryer laying unplugged on the counter, for example).

Also, practice taking a deep breath and then walking away to something else. I generally forget the first issue (did I unplug the _____?) within several minutes as long as I purposefully focus on something else.

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Specializes in no specialty! (have to graduate first!).

Do you ever watch Scrubs? There is a couple of epidoses where Michael J. Fox plays a doctor who has severe OCD. He was able to turn his disorder into a major advantage. For one, he was obsessive about doing things over and over again. So he would read a book over and over again. Eventually he became a very knowledgable doctor because he kept going over things constantly.

Maybe that's something you could do. Now I don't have OCD and I don't know anyone who does. But would it be possible for you "transition" your OCD to reading? Maybe teach yourself to obsess about reading instead of things such as checking meds too often? Turn your OCD into an advantage?

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I have OCD with intrusive thoughts. Everytime I drive up a mountain I get it in my mind that I could drive off the cliff! Really bad thing, considering I live in Colorado. Anyway, OCD is a good and bad thing. Try to limit yourself to 3's. Look 3 times at the meds and that's it! Sometimes I have to tell myself something out loud and it seems to calm me down. Such as, everytime I leave my house I have to touch every knob on the stove and say out loud, "Stove is off". Strange, I know, to say, "Medication ok" in front of a patient but even if you tap your leg or do something physical, the disorder seems to calm down. Hope this helps!

I have the same problem with intrusive thoughts! These things pop into my head and sometimes I can't believe I'm thinking about it and I have to realize it's the OCD. That's a good idea about saying things out loud. I can't get it in my mind that something is right (ie the iron is unplugged) unless I stare at it for a minute. If not, I'm constantly questioning myself. Sometimes it just makes me feel better to know that other people go through this too, because no matter how many times someone says they understand, they still stare at me like I'm crazy when I have to check every lock on every door 3 times a night.

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Specializes in ER, TRAUMA, MED-SURG.
I don't have OCD, but my daughter does (full blow case, thing "Monk"). She is into extreme order (hers) and cleanliness. Those of us who love her have to deal with it. Stress can make if worse. Unfortunately, we found out how bad it can get with stress when we lost Loula Rain (our 6 week old grand-daughter) to SIDS. My daughter was nearly incapacitated. Long story short, with therapy and medication (Prozac has worked really well for my daughter) things are becoming manageable again. I would definately seek out a physician. Allowing the obsessions and compulsions to become more ingrained over time can make treatment more difficult. I often wish we had acted sooner when my daughters symptoms first began to appear in adolesence, but we didn't know better then.

M

Smartferretet - Hello - I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your grandchild. I know that was a horrible thing for your family to go through. I have similar OCD sx as your daughter, but not as severe as Monk. My dh is also an RN and understands. However, my 2 stepsons had no idea until my hubbie educated them some. My sx were worse when I was an LPN working FT while finishing RN school. I was so worried that I would set the house on fire, I started placing the iron and my curling iron in my car before leaving for work. I turned around several times halfway to work to make sure I had locked the house. It did improve once I graduated.

Anne, RNC :paw::paw::paw::saint:

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