Intrusive thoughts/ word stuck

[Worrier35]

Hi! I'm a newbie to this forum. I have been a member for a while but have never posted anything. I find comfort in coming here and knowing that my symptoms are relatable to so many of you. That I'm not alone.

So here is my story, my life my struggle, however you view it.

Last June 2017 I had a really bad panic attack, which seems to have lasted for days and months off and on. I went to my gp, I had a full panel of blood work done. Everything was fine. I told him that about 12 years ago I had the same symptoms and my previous Dr. Prescribed me xanax for 14 days, and it worked really well with calming me down. Didnt have any intrusive thought that would cause me anxiety or get stuck. Actually I was able to manage my anxiety for 12 years with no medication or therapy. At that time I had a scary thought. I could dismiss it almost immediately. So this Dr, just said you have anxiety. He did not label it as Gad or Ocd, or panic or any other specific form of anxiety. Never the less, the medication helped alot. I have never taken any medication for anxiety previous to this.

Moving forward, I went back to my now new gp and he also said you have anxiety. In September however I started having an intrusive word that constantly repeats in my head. I mean around 50 times a day or more. It's still there today. It has come and gone but mostly stays. Is this just a tired mind? It's really draining some days and causes alot of anxiety. I still go out and walk almost every morning with my dog and still visit and socialize with friends an family. Ive been doing some self help and reading alot about how to reduce the frequency of this horrible thought. But its not working very well. I do not take any medication for my anxiety. My dr asked me if ive heard of SSRI'S which I haven't. So ofcourse i googled what these medications were and discovered they are used for many things.

So my question is should I go back to my gp and ask him to actually diagnose me and get the ball rolling with some medication and/or maybe therapy? I've never had therapy either. Im not looking for reissurence, I'm looking for some input in what I should do. Im scared to actually go to the Dr and tell him what I have been struggling with for the last 6 months. This has never happened to me before, this stuck thought issue. Can stuck thoughts or words be caused by GAD? Ive read alot of posts on here where members say amxiety is anxiety. I dont want to label anything, but it seems that if maybe I had a diagnoses I would feel a little bit relieved. That way I could move on into treatment.

I've read alot about Ocd and seems to fit my symptoms exactly. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Jeff1943]

Call me old fashioned but I wouldn't get tied up on labels too much. As your panic attack and doctor's diagnosis indicate you have an anxiety disorder. And that expresses itself in an intrusive word constantly repeating in your head.

To me this word constantly coming into your mind is what's called a strange thought but we are allowed to have strange thoughts. Although it's irritating it's not a threat to your life or sanity - it's just the way your mind and nervous system have decided to express your anxiety. It's just another symptom of anxiety our over sensitive nerves send us.

Symptoms come and go as our capricious nervous system rings the changes about how it can torment us.

My view is that all the symptoms of anxiety, including your panic and intrusive word syndrome, are relatively unimportant: you will not effect your recovery by labelling them, relabelling them or obsessing about them.

The real problem to address is the cause of all the symptoms: your anxiety which is due to your over-sensitive nerves.

Nerves become sensitised because they have been constantly subjected to fear hormones which we generate.

If you can learn to stop producing these hormones, learn to stop reacting with fear to the 'fake' symptoms themselves every five minutes, then in time they will recover - and so will you.

[Worrier35 in reply to Jeff1943]

Hi Jeff1943, thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. I appreciate all of your insightful input and knowledge on anxiety. I will continue to calm my nerves as best as i can, take it easy on myself as I know it won't go away in a day.

[Jeff1943 in reply to Worrier35]

Hi Worrier35, The self help method for recovery from anxiety disorder that I often advocate here is the Acceptance method as first described in her first book 50 years ago by Doctor Claire Weekes titled 'Self help for your nerves' in th U.K. and 'Hope and help for your nerves' in the U.S.

Briefly, her teachings are based on accepting all the symptoms of anxiety calmly and without fear for the time being. Thus we stop flooding our nervous systems with fear hormone and recovery follows.

Can a 50 year old book help with understanding, reassurance and recovery after all these years?

The combined number of reader reviews for Weekes' books on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk is 1,750 and 90% rate her method either Very Good or Excellent.

Apart from this invaluable book Doctor Weekes can be seen and heard describing her method on Youtube.

[Worrier35 in reply to Jeff1943]

Thank you Jeff1943. I will surely look into Dr. Weekes. Really appreciate you sharing this with me. I will take all the help I can get and work hard to get back to a calm place again. I'm sure it won't be easy, but I will do whatever I can.

[Dana38]

It’s very comforting to know that there are other people out there with the same issues. I don’t have a word but rather an image. Drives me nuts. I know it means nothing but sometimes it really gets To me. I’m on meds but they don’t really work to stop the image. But they help me stop stressing over it which has reduced it effect on me.

[Worrier35 in reply to Dana38]

Hi DanaC, thank you for taking the time to read my post and share your story as well. I have noticed though that when I'm not as stressed it lessons. Lately when it has been popping up, which is alot, I will tell myself "it's not me, its anxiety". It does help. The acceptance part is what I cant seem to get a hold of.

[Gwill23]

I have problems with intrusive thoughts as well. My therapist likes to call these thoughts “an over protective friend” if that makes sense. Intrusive thoughts are VERY normal. I have been diagnosed with anxiety and OCD. I have obsessive intrusive thoughts. So once I start having one, I can’t stop thinking about it, sometimes for weeks or months. My therapist wants to put me on an SSRI so that I can reach ‘homeostasis’ and be able to effectively use/learn coping skills. The SSRI isn’t going to comepletly get rid of these thoughts or your anxiety but it’s going to help you get to a point where you can effectively use the coping skills you learn. I haven’t gone on medication yet because I have been feeling a lot better lately (my anxiety/OCD is usually triggered by large amounts of stress). So I can’t really give you my opinion on that. But from what I’ve heard they can help. I do suggest reaching out to your doctor or finding a psychiatrist. Therapy has helped me a lot more than going to the doctor. Please don’t be scared to tell your doctor or therapist/psychiatrist about the way you are feeling/what you’re thinking. Some of us just have more active brains. You’re not alone at all. Feel free to message me if you need anything!

[Worrier35 in reply to Gwill23]

Hi Gwill23. Thank you for responding to my post. Sorry you are going through this as well, and that you have seemed help and are feeling better. I can go a few times a day without the thought if I am busy and tell myself its anxiety. My problem is the obsession, I can control the compulsion of googling but typically it's hard to control the repetitiveness of the word in my head. Honestly I'm not looking for it to completely go away as I know it won't, but at least would like it to not be as so constant. I'm looking into self help at the moment, and I probably should speak with my Dr. My loving husband supports me alot, thank God for him. He said he would go with me to the appointment.

[flaxxy703 in reply to Gwill23]

if we don't feed an obsessive thought it will die of inanition and when an intruding thought enters into the brain we don't have to entertain it.

[Worrier35 in reply to flaxxy703]

Hi flazzy703. Thank you for responding. That makes alot sense but it's hard to do! I'm working on it!

[flaxxy703]

worry does much harm and offers little aid. worry begets worry

[Worrier35]

It sure does!!