One of my OCD symptoms that annoys the heck out of me has to do with my face and ears. Sometimes I feel like I have to sniff or raise my eyebrows or blink a lot. Sometimes I have to pop my ears a lot.
Have any of you experienced that? Does your medication affect it? How do you stop it? I'm sure I"m not the only one who struggles with this.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
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Hi! Let me say I am glad you started blogging again!
I have been periodically popping in to your site to see if it is up and running. No use posting a comment on an old blog, right?
GREAT! You're here. About the facial thing.
It sounds like you have a facial tic, maybe?
www.itsmewithocd.blogspot.com
I know just what you mean, not a problem for me but can be annoying if you start thinking (or let's face it obsessing!) about things like that. Best thing is to NOT succumb to the urge to raise your eyebrows or whatever it is that you "feel" you should be doing to get rid of that awful nagging feeling of dissatisfaction. Otherwise it will just become another little OCD habit that will proof difficult to break. Of course then you may try suppressing these intrusive thoughts by thinking of something else- bad idea.
I've made my peace and accept the odd (or bombardment at times!) of disturbing intrusive thoughts/vulgar visual imagery that floods the OCD mind from time to time. Seems like the more you fight, the less likely you are to win!
H
It sounds like you might have Tourette Syndrome, a disorder where the brain produces irrestible, involuntary urges to move certain muscles.
I have had Tourettes Syndrome since I was a toddler. If you don't already see a neurologist, your should set up an appointment with one to get evaluated. There are a number of medications out there that lessen the symptoms of TS. It's rare for the tics to disappear on meds, but they can help a lot.
stumbled across an interesting link which more or less relates to your post, an interesting theory anyway
http://www.ctds.info/treatment.html
I have OCD and Tourette's. I have facial tics like you describe, I pop my ears alot by opening my mouth. Husband says I look like a walrus, lol. It's not unusual for tics to accompany OCD, though while I'm told to fight against compulsions I'm also told I should just be okay with the tics. Apparently one can suppress tics for a little bit but eventually they have to come out.
Where are you located?
I'm a therapist in nyc. Do you have a therapist? I suspect that working towards slowing down the symptoms in addition to seeing how they developed, in addition to medication - Well, all together, without even knowing you, I am sure you can get through this. Yes, support groups will help. Journaling will help. Feel free to write me, perhaps I can give you some assistance via e mail if you'd like.
Best -
Douglas Zimmerman
http://www.DouglasZimmerman.Net
ahhh yes! the blinking and sniffing are soooo annoying! i started when the blinking then went on to the sniffing and now i have this little new ear wiggling thing! haha sounds funny no? i refuse to take medication - i'm doing way better and only under great stress do i actually do these things now. but i def. think it's normal - remember OCD is all about doing this little things repetetively - not that it's a good thing but it's normal if you have to blink a certain amount of times and etc. (or at least normal for OCD lol)
I have had obsessive compulsion all my life. It never sticks to one thing either. Last month I was driving myself insane adding and finding patterns in the money I spent. This month I could care less about money/numbers, but can not stop popping my ears. I have to get 4 good pops in a row, and even then, can't stop. It's so bad I'm getting headaches from it. My wife is ready to leave me too, because all this. I can't even work anymore. All I can do is lay in bed wishing I was dead, or normal.
I don't hear a lot mentioned here about people seeking CBT and Medication at the same time, as well as support groups such as OCA. And I recommend this highly.
Best,
Douglas Zimmerman
I have these odd facial compulsions too. They're really annoying. Have you ever heard of or tried EFT (emotional freedom technique). It's really helped me a lot!
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