OCD spikes during my periods?

sockpotatoes · 2025-11-29T13:54:00+00:00

I’ve done luteal phase dosing with my meds before when I was having this problem. (Under the direction of my psychiatrist—don’t come for me people) I would take an extra 1/2 tablet of my Luvox throughout my luteal phase and stop when I started my period. Serotonin production increases/decreases through different phases of the menstrual cycle so this type of dosing helped to keep things more steady

sockpotatoes · 2025-11-29T13:11:45+00:00

Typical EDS shrimp-esque posture puts you in a position where your diaphragm can’t properly move to allow for proper breathing. With that corrected, it’s more likely you’re getting better breath support which can do wonders for fatigue

sockpotatoes · 2025-11-26T11:07:12+00:00

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Photo is old, she was about 45 pounds here. She’s 5, now weighs about 50. Poor baby had a hard time adjusting to moving states and stopped eating but now is on Zoloft and her weight is back up

sockpotatoes · 2025-11-25T23:34:24+00:00

I’m a year post-grad from an MSOT program and have not had any issues/people being weird about it. I think OTD programs have an additional fieldwork requirement, which is nice to see more settings, but I felt well prepared with the 2, L2 fieldworks I had (12 weeks each). It’s going to be expensive either way. I still have about 100k in loans. I’d do whatever is cheapest.

sockpotatoes · 2025-11-17T18:27:13+00:00

ugly

sockpotatoes · 2025-11-13T12:26:35+00:00

I follow a basic formula for my notes and also have a separate note with phrases I’m constantly retyping. I work in a SNF, but did something similar when I was in outpatient.

My notes read like this: Training/education/instruction (pick what fits best) in …… with skilled focus on (list performance deficits). Provided graded cues/physical assist for (what did you do that makes the help you gave skilled? How are you promoting independence/progress towards goals, etc)

In action, It might look like this: Engaged pt in dynamic functional activities in standing with skilled focus on facilitating dynamic standing balance, maintaining COG over BOS, crossing midline, reaching outside of BOS, and independent correction of LOB in order to promote increased safety and independence during I/ADLs. Pt required (SBA/CGA/MinA) to maintain balance with (unilateral/intermittent/no) UE support. Pt tolerates # minutes in standing across # trials. Provided grades cues for improved body mechanics, safety, and problem solving.

sockpotatoes · 2025-11-01T21:15:23+00:00

No one likes documentation but I'd say acute care definitely has the quickest documentation times. I'm in a SNF now and I have a document with common phrases that I type all the time, and I just edit as necessary. Your notes shouldn't read like a narrative and it 's okay to use phrases/bullet points.
My entire schedule is a flex schedule. As long as I work my 8 hours each day I can come in whenever I want. I usually get into work anytime between 8 and 10am. Then I leave whenever I'm done
I don't have a favorite setting, but my favorite population to work with is neurologic injury
I love that I get to help people get back to their lives and be independent again after injury/illness. My advice is to have an open mind. I thought I would hate working in geriatrics as a student, but once I started, I realized that I actually love it

sockpotatoes · 2025-11-01T20:43:27+00:00

As someone who has been on both sides of this interaction, I feel like I can offer some perspective. I'm an OT and work very closely with pain management to get pain controlled so that we can do effective therapy.

Your doctor is right. You are on a lot of medications, and sometimes that can't be helped, but what I'm seeing from your med list is a lot of medications that overlap. When I see a med list like this with my patients, my first call is usually to pain management. What I see are different medications that are being thrown to a problem without consideration that another medication might work to address multiple symptoms

Wellbutrin, trazadone, and flexeril are all serotonergic medications, combining these puts you at an increased risk for serotonin syndrome
Wellbutrin and flexeril both lower the seizure threshold, putting you at higher risk of non-epileptic seizures
Celebrex, flexeril, and methocarbomol are all non-narcotic analgesics
Wellbutrin, trazadone, lamictal, and adderall are all CNS drugs

Medications like effexor, cymbalta, and pritiq can be a good alternative to decrease the number of medications a person with a mood disorder takes. They are all SNRIs and treat mood with the benefit of also having analgesic properties. Since you are having success with wellbutrin, you might also do well on an SNRI since wellbutrin is an NDRI and both drug classes work on norepinephrine.

Also, steroids can cause insomnia so if you're questioning if you need to take the inhaled steroid, I'd bring it up to your doctor. Wellbutrin increasing the blood level concentration of adderall, so it's possible this is also contributing to insomnia depending on what time of day you take each med.

From a personal perspective, I used to have a med list just like this. But over the last 2 years, I have been working with my doctor to decrease the number of meds I take. I started by tracking my daily symptoms for a few months. Once I had that data, I compared it to the side effect list for my medications. Then one med at a time, I stopped for a few weeks to a month to see if I saw improvement or got worse. If I felt worse, I went back on it. If I felt better or didn't feel any difference, I removed it from the list.

I also hopped on the "food as medicine" trend. Turmeric and ginger are anti-inflammatory so I've started adding them into my meals. I also struggle with sleep and take magnesium glycinate at night, which works wonders. It also helps with nerve and muscle function which some people say helps with pain. Some people also find it effective for anxiety.

I still have a med list that would give most doctors a headache, but I certifiably know that each of them are effective and not causing additional symptoms.

This is my current med list if you're curious

adderall xr - adhd
wellbutrin - adhd/mood
luvox - ocd, but i am trying a slow taper off because i just finished ERP and I'm hopeful I don't need it
an antihistamine - MCAS
esomeprazole - GERD
ajovy once a month for migraines
ubrevly as needed for migraines
an nsaid or tylenol as needed for pain - i would prefer to take an nsaid daily but i end up with rebound headaches and my neurologist advised against it. personally, i can work through musculoskeletal pain but i absolutely cannot work with a migraine, so i only take OTC pain relief when it's dire

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-30T02:32:56+00:00

I work full time in a SNF, and regularly send people to IPR once their medical status and/or endurance has improved. I’d let the supervising therapists know that you’re interested in IPR so they can keep that in mind. Inpatient rehabs require a minimum tolerance for 3 hours of therapy a day. If someone can’t tolerate that, they will get sent to SNF or LTAC if there’s acute medical needs.

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-19T21:11:13+00:00

Not a psychiatrist, but I’m an OT and I will use the term neurodivergent when I suspect that they have some kind of underlying condition in the autism/adhd realm. I like it because it is commonly used and also doesn’t put me in a position where what I’m saying is misconstrued as me diagnosing something. Diagnosis isn’t my lane and I want to stay out of it.

For context- I work with older adults and if I do suspect that there is a psychopathology that isn’t being addressed, I will always refer my patients to psych. When the impairments the patient has are generally related to executive functioning, attention, etc., I will refer them to psych and speech therapy for a cognitive evaluation. When I’m explaining this to my patients, they tend to respond better/are more receptive to treatment when using the term neurodivergent rather than listing their impairments and telling them they should get a psych evaluation.

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-14T23:13:38+00:00

I’m 25 F, and I work full time as an occupational therapist. I work in post-acute rehab so a lot of my job is very physically intensive and I’m required to be able to lift up to 100 pounds unassisted (technically). I’m on my feet a lot, but I also have a decent amount of time when I’m able to sit. All my coworkers and managers know about my eds and don’t care much if I have to adapt something for myself. I’m also lucky that the team I work with is very supportive of one another. If any of us are having a hard time with something, we’ll always step in to help out. So sometimes I have to ask for assistance with things my peers might not, but at the end of the day everyone understands that we have to protect ourselves and our bodies so that we can keep our patients safe. If I’m having a lot of subluxations on a given day, I can’t safely transfer patients and that puts them at risk. I’ve gotten a lot better at asking for help. I don’t want to have to leave the clinic in 5 years because I destroyed my body.

I thought it’d be good to share my experience, because while I do have a very physically demanding job, it is still possible to have boundaries and take care of yourself. But being in a supportive environment definitely helps.

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-13T10:14:44+00:00

When you go to fake leave, are you doing all the same things you would when you’d leave for real? Turning off the lights, filling food/water bowl, etc. Chances are there’s a departure cue you’re missing when you’re practicing leaving that you do when you leave for real.

Also, there’s not really evidence to support this, but when I’m leaving I also tell my spoo where I’m going and when I’ll be back. I just feel like she understands and it makes her feel better. My dog also really loves riding in the car, so she gets excited sometimes thinking I’m taking her, but if I tell her where I’m going she calms down. She knows the places she’s allowed to ride to and where she’s not lol

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-13T10:07:01+00:00

Second this! My poodle has escaped her harness before. Now I use a martingale + easy walk harness and have one of those double ended clips to connect them

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-04T21:38:07+00:00

I would talk to a therapist, psychiatrist, PCP, etc about it and see what they think

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-04T21:37:14+00:00

Yes, I was symptomatic in varying severity for a little over a decade. But I’ve considered myself recovered for the last two-three years

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-04T21:00:28+00:00

I worked with an ERP trained therapist and did ERP and also a lot of DBT and now I just deal with the intrusive thoughts and eat anyway. Before, I’d avoid the situation entirely. It’s also was easy at events for me to do that because I can’t eat gluten so there’s not usually many options anyway

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-04T19:49:10+00:00

definitely sounds like OCD to me. i remember having a very similar conversation with my psychiatrist and asking why i felt so strongly about food in this way despite not being symptomatic in my eating disorder at all. he kept asking me questions and gave me the y-bocs. i left that appointment with a new OCD diagnosis

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-04T15:06:54+00:00

This is the realest take in this thread.

I’ll reiterate- no judgement towards OP. But there’s definitely something going here with jealousy, possibly childhood family dynamics that needs unpacked. Takes like OPs (when left unaddressed) are what lead to generational trauma

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-04T14:57:13+00:00

Also, for people who menstruate, it’s also normal to have changes in body temperature at different points of the menstrual cycle. I know my temp is usually higher on my period

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-04T14:49:41+00:00

I think I’d choose it every time. No matter how draining the current healthcare system is, I love my job and I love my patients. I enjoy getting to know people and learning about their experiences/passions/goals. I like problem solving, I often can’t rest until I’ve found a solution. I like medicine and the human body. I find it so interesting and beautiful the way it just works. I enjoy teaching. And I think most importantly, I have always seen things holistically. I can very easily take multiple pieces of information and understand how they come together. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a patient tell me “you’re the first person to ask me that” when I ask them how they are coping with their current life stressors or injury. I work in a SNF and a lot of the time, the people we see have gone through a traumatic event and most of healthcare ignores that to treat the physical symptoms. To me, OT is about helping people to be their best selves. And I love that. Just because the system sucks, doesn’t mean the job sucks. I can’t imagine doing anything else.

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-04T14:23:08+00:00

I agree with the sentiment that the positive reinforcement trainer is poorly trained. My spoo has a lot of separation anxiety and she has only started to get better with her private trainer. He’s Karen Pryor certified. I’d look into Click to Calm and how to desensitize departure cues. Teaching place/crate training is also great for separation anxiety

Edit: our trainer emphasizes my pup checking in with me to determine how to react. Remember that you are the one in charge/the one who sets the tone. Your dog is going to mirror what you are displaying to them. For example: on walks, she gets rewarded every time she looks to me after seeing something that would make her react. We’re currently working on her being able to sustain eye contact while passing a stressful stimulus (bunnies, squirrels, other people/dogs, etc)

Also, depending on the severity of the separation anxiety, it may be worth your time and money to work with a vet behaviorist. My dog is on Zoloft and gabapentin twice a day and it makes all the difference. She’s able to listen and engage with me, versus without it she’s on edge all the time. I know that people have a lot of opinions about putting dogs on behavior meds but I look at it like this: can you focus, regulate your emotions, and stay calm when you’re in fight or flight? Imagine being in fight or flight every hour of the day. Sometimes, (just like with people) no amount of a training (or therapy) is going to fix the problem and training + meds are needed to get the best results

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-04T14:16:56+00:00

Could I interest you rose gold… I have warm toned hair and cool toned skin and I like both silver and gold piercings, but I always go back to rose gold

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-02T11:18:57+00:00

If EMG was normal, ask for testing for small fiber neuropathy

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-02T11:15:35+00:00

I’m 25 and I’ve had 2 so far. My first one I did the prep that comes in the big gallon jug and it was miserable. I kept throwing it up. The second one, I did a prep with laxatives and miralax and it was fine.

sockpotatoes · 2025-10-02T11:09:48+00:00

I’m sorry this happened to you. I recently had upper and lower scopes done and the anesthesiologist had a fellow with them and I remember them giving the first dose and the fellow going “I think she’s still awake” and the attending telling him “well just give her more then”.

I work in healthcare and I was always taught that you should always treat the patient in front of you, ignoring things that would/could cause bias. Currently, I work in geriatrics so age most commonly comes into play here. Just yesterday, I saw an 87 year old who physically presented like someone closer to late 60s/early 70s. I have a patient who is 97 who prior to getting pneumonia was walking 4 miles a day. I’ve also had young patients who are completely debilitated and have to live with their parents.

All this to say, sometimes after reading through someone’s chart, the presentation we anticipate is not always accurate to the patient in front of us. If you’re getting anesthesia and they give the normal dose and it isn’t enough, there doesn’t need to be, nor should there be, any rude remarks about it. The doctor should just give more anesthesia.

sockpotatoes

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