Hi new friends! Long story, short! I am 30 years old and have suffered with the OCD Monster since I was about 14. I'm a checker (of EVERYTHING), compulsions are horrible - some phases of my life I can get out of my house easily but other days it takes up to an hour (or more) Would never wish it on my worst enemy. 10 weeks ago I started 50 mg of Zoloft and now up to 75 mg. Not really many benefits yet 
I would love to hear others thoughts/opinions/advice/anything 
If the Zoloft never kicks in, you might try another SSRI. Different ones work for different people.
That said, therapy may be a better option, especially in conjunction with medication. Have you ever done ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention)? I have had various OCD themes over the decades, but checking has always been part of it. My worst obsession recently is not checking the house, but checking the house is sometimes still a challenge, and ERP has helped considerably.
If you're not familiar with ERP, it's pretty simple. You already do the Exposure part every time you try to leave the house and get triggered. The Response Prevention part boils down to "don't do the compulsions." Of course it may seem impossible not to check compulsively now, but a good therapist can help you find creative ways to think differently about your fears and gradually begin resisting the urge to check and check. The more you resist, the more you teach your brain that its obsessions are irrelevant, and the weaker the obsessions become.
In the beginning I think it's critical to sit down and rationally decide what is reasonable behavior and what is OCD. For me, I had to recognize that it was not really necessary to check electrical outlets that were behind furniture and hadn't been touched in years, or to move curtains two feet away from an alarm clock that doesn't even generate heat, or to check the same stove five times in a row. However, I felt it WAS reasonable to peek in each room and make sure windows were locked, lights were off (mainly for energy savings...), and give mindful attention to actual hazards like the stove, oven, and space heaters -- but only checking once.
Armed with that information, it is easier to label a fear as real or fake when anxiety shows up. When I've gone through the house and am walking out the front door, I may get the obsession, "Did I really check the stove enough?" In the past I would have thought, "Wow, maybe not. Why would I be wondering if I had? I better check again to be sure." Now I think, "Oh, there's my OCD showing up, going on about the stove again. Of course I checked it, and I wouldn't have walked away if there was a problem. I'm going to feel anxious, but I'm not checking again, because this is a fake fear and the house is not in any significant danger. And while it's true that I can't be 100% sure that everything is fine, I'm not 100% sure about most things. I'm about to get in a car and go hurtling down the interstate with no guarantee that I'll ever get where I'm going, for crying out loud. However, the risk is small enough that I'm not letting it stop me. I'm not going to let the minimal risk of the stove change my behavior either, because I don't want to be controlled by OCD. The anxiety will fade in a while even if I don't do my compulsion, and I can handle it, because tolerating some anxiety now will make me better in the long run."
Obviously I don't get into such a monologue every time a trigger occurs, but that's the thinking behind the action. Generally you want to establish a protocol for how you want to behave, and then stick to it without having to think too much. (In the throes of an obsession, you can't think too clearly and OCD will cause you to doubt everything.) You should always EXPECT that the OCD will show up and give you anxiety about false fears. You don't have to respond with a compulsion, though, because in your rational moments you've already decided that the content of the fear is not a real threat. The feelings of alarm and doubt are just physical sensations -- symptoms of a mental disorder that have no deeper significance.
With ERP I think the important thing is to be as consistent as possible and to continually challenge yourself. If you're checking something 5 or 10 times now, try to limit yourself to 3. Then get it down to 2 and eventually 1. Try to eliminate any checking of things that a "normal" person would not check (like my never-used electrical outlets). Don't set goals that are so hard you'll fail and get discouraged, but understand that you'll have to feel some anxiety and uncertainty or you'll never make any progress. And you may find that you do not become as anxious as you think you will.
One self-help book that's helped me is "Stop Obsessing!" by Edna Foa and Reid Wilson. It's available cheap on the used market, and it contains lots of guidance for overcoming common compulsions like checking.
The great thing about ERP is that it can be adapted to any OCD theme that pops up. If you suddenly develop a contamination worry, for example, you just take the same approach: decide what's a real concern and what's fake, expose yourself to the triggers, and then resist the urge to respond to fake fears.
Good luck!
Every word you just spoke made an impact on my life. Thank you so much for this. This is so relatable and also so so SO very insightful. I am going to frequently read this as a "coming to surface". Thank you.
I would like to welcome you to the OCD Support Network.
We are here to offer hope and help each other.
We are in this together.
I have severe checking.
I check several things repetitively many times.
It is really exhausting.
We can try to resist checking, and face the feared consequences, by siting with the anxiety.
I am also taking Zoloft 150mg but with no improvement for OCD.
I hope you feel better.
It is equally exhausting as it is frustrating. How long have you been on Zoloft? I am feeling defeated - really thought Zoloft would help.
I had taken Zoloft in the past for a long period of time.
Then my Psychiatrist switched me to Prozac.
Prozac was causing nausea and vomiting, so I had to stop it.
I am on Zoloft again, started few weeks ago, will go up to 250mg.
I am only taking Zoloft to help me being stable, otherwise it is not working on OCD.
I have tried many different medications since years, but nothing has worked.
I am treatment resistant.
I am 30 too by the way, I have dealt with it since my early teensish and a little younger. But I know the misery of having to have to do the compulsions and that some days it is 10 minutes and some days an hour. Also sometimes it unfortunately take a while before you find the right kind of medication give it about a month and a half I read even up to 10-12 weeks, if it doesn't work for you then talk your doctor/ psychiatrist and try and new one.
Update and in need of advice with toilets.
Any advice? Bad idea?
OCD therapy advice
