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Is OCD connected to ME/CFS?

Posted , 6 users are following.

GeorgiaS
GeorgiaS

I have mild OCD and I've heard of other people with ME having it, so is it one of the ME symptoms? Do you have it?

1 like, 16 replies

16 Replies

  • david59662
    david59662 GeorgiaS

    Posted

    I'd say i have the trait and it is a contribuiting factor in developing CFS. Maybe THE reason many people end up with CFS as with OCD stress is always present. Obviously the body reaches a point of breaking down. I know my CFS makes me feel broken, but not unfiaxable.
    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS david59662

      Posted

      I didn't notice it until I had ME and you might be right about it being stress related because it feels kind of calming when I'm in an OCD loop. I have to keep re-reading things I've written, or going over parts of conversations, things I've said, over and over. What's yours?
    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS david59662

      Posted

      I think I might get it more when I'm more tired David; I'm getting it now and I'm very tired!
  • dawn97
    dawn97 GeorgiaS

    Posted

    Hi there , now you've said this it's really making me think , I'm not really sure I've OCD but I've always been perticular of how things should look around the house , my mother inlaw always says Rome wasn't built in a day because I wasn't there !!!!! 

    I wonder if maybe there is a link because now I spend my day worrying because I can't do things as I'd like !!!! I'm interested to hear other peoples experiences 

    take care dawn x

    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS dawn97

      Posted

      Are you a perfectionist with your home? And were you always like that? Or is it worse since ME? I suppose OCD is hard to pinpoint. I must have had it for several years before it even dawned on me.
    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS dawn97

      Posted

      The thing we most care about would perhaps be the focus of OCD tendencies if we have OCD? I care about writing and my OCD is focused on that, you care about your home so perhaps it makes sense that's what yours would be about? Just wondering, don't know anything about it for sure, and you might not have it so I hope I haven't worried you. 

      But then, what about people who turn light switches on and off what  are they the most concerned about  in their lives? Or perhaps whatever loop we're in doesn't matter, just that we're in one because we're in it we can leave all other concerns out?

  • andrew22534
    andrew22534 GeorgiaS

    Posted

    hmmmmm always had a "need to get it done" approach to any job or bit of work and work flat out to get it done, does that count? i do now have OCD traits but i would say they were more than traits... but it is interesting... dowe become OCD because it maske for a safe routine or is it becasue we are OCD and our routines get vandalised that we become ill?
    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS andrew22534

      Posted

      I don't know Andrew, with me it's as though the record gets stuck in the groove so I have the same thought over and over again, or read and re-read what I've written over and over again because I'm making sure it's right.

      I try to make my mind think of something else to get out of the loop (once I realise I'm in it) but I feel safe in it and it's hard to wrench myself out of it.

  • dawn97
    dawn97 GeorgiaS

    Posted

    Hi Georgia , I've always had to have things done my way , the same at work I would often do it myself rather than it not being right !!!!!

    my mum was a person who lived in clutter ( she used to say organised clutter I had to differ !! Bless her !!) so I think from an early age I had to have things tidy , I drive my kids mad , my husband visited an old friend lately & came home & said the house was so messy !!! So it's rubbing off on him ! I really believe that what I used to be able to do in a day ( before illness ) most people wouldn't do in a week !

    these illnesses fibro & cfs only strike down hard workers ( lazy people wouldn't miss or worry about housework !?!?)  I think when we are too ill to move our brains are still working 100 miles an hour & we worry constantly !!!

    hope your having a good day ? ( I've just dusted & hovered I'm now knackered but there's no dirt !!!!! Haha ! Take care dawn xxx

    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS dawn97

      Posted

      I resonate so much with that! I've read over and over again about people who get ME pushing and pushing ourselves in one way or another.

      Before I got it I was studying for a Degree (still am) and I studied 7 days a week, from 8am in the mornings to 10pm at night. I was enjoying it but I fogot to have fun with friends, go out walking etc. I was so focused on it it's all I wanted to do.

  • ChrissyC
    ChrissyC GeorgiaS

    Posted

    My feeling is that I know my achievements each day will be limited and so it's important to me that things I've done stay done else my precious energy has been wasted. And so ocd traits certainly appear. Things have to be ordered around me because I haven't got the energy to get up and put them to order. It's a coping mechanism, understandable I feel but definitely ocd!
    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS ChrissyC

      Posted

      That's really interesting Chrissy, a coping mechanisam. My brain gets stuck on repeating sentences over and over. I've never heard of my particular OCD but when I'm doing it I feel calmer.
    • ChrissyC
      ChrissyC GeorgiaS

      Posted

      Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! 😀 More seriously I really do think it's about feeling in control of SOMEthing because one sure as heck isnt in control of much in life when one has me/cfs so it becomes ocd, that bit of something one can attempt to have control over. And you are in control over those sentences and that's fine. It makes you calmer so that great!
    • GeorgiaS
      GeorgiaS ChrissyC

      Posted

      Lol Yes it's not doing us any harm is it. That's really encouraging Chrissy because I sometimes worry about it and wonder if it's abnormal.

      The sentences repeating feel a bit like a lullaby, rhythmic and soothing. And I suppose that when we improve from ME our OCDs will probably get less often. razz

    • ChrissyC
      ChrissyC GeorgiaS

      Posted

      Aye there's more important things to worry about. Take care X
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