Neuropathy in feet and limited toe movement?

Good afternoon @lorirenee1, that is a great post. I learned that you have conquered OCD. My granddaughter was 22 yesterday. She suffers from perfectionism and unrealistic fears.

She has been an in-patient at Rogers and has been unable to handle college or working. And yes she struggles every day. Her CBT therapist left to return to graduate work and Hannah has no one right now. Any ideas @lorirenee1?

Her OCD started in 8th grade. Her father committed suicide just before she went to high school. She is beautiful and bright and everyone is giving up on her. Thank you for letting me know you have walked the same path and found an exit.

May you have happiness and the causes of happiness.
Chris

Lori, when you mentioned the cleaning, that was Linda's mother to a "T". I remember visiting her parents back in the early 80's and to make a few bucks (we were poor as church mice then) she would put us to work. One of the jobs she'd have us do was washing all the walls in her house. Terrible job for me as I like to see results when I do something and her walls always seemed spotless. We'd be moving all the furniture in every room. Ugh! She was a dynamo, never saw anyone that little and overweight move around a house that fast, running rings around us. Linda picked up some of her OCD genes and here we are. I love my wife and would never want to trade her in now, and it has been an interesting and rewarding life in many many ways. But if I had seen what was coming back in 1978 when we first met I'd probably have run the other way as I have the anti-OCD type of personality, like maybe too relaxed about stuff.

Hi, @artscaping Chris! I do have a few thoughts/action plans on OCD that your grand daughter might find helpful. One that I found helpful was to write down the OCD thought over and over and over (a hundred times, even!), until it gets super boring. Somehow, it kind of then seems laughable and stupid. She can also repeat the ocd thought, over and over, into a tape recorder. When heard, the OCD thought often seems ridiculous and stupid. If she can, and this is not easy, RECOGNIZE the OCD thought, and just let it roll through the head. Do not focus. Get on with the next thing. Say, "OCD. NOT ME!!!!" Give no fuel to an OCD thought, as it is meaningless. It is just the frontal lobe, repeating things too much. Recognize what thoughts are not real, as best as she can. I recognize the themes of my OCD thoughts. Terrible, but they seem to revolve around the possibility of not caring for things I know I love the most. If I put credence into these thoughts, I would be miserable. Just let them go through the head and out again. They do go away. Give them no power. They are tricksters of worst fears for me. Not pleasant at all. But I just let them go, as a puff of smoke into the air. I have not suffered for years with this illness, but I do know it lurks in the shadows. I just know how to deal with it now. I was also on a fabulous, old time OCD medication for years. For the life of me, I cannot remember the name of it. If you want, I can call my pharmacy, and they probably have a record of it. It was a miracle drug for me, and was one of the earliest drugs made just for OCD. Let me know if you would like me to research this for you. Good luck with your grand daughter. It is a bear of an illness. Love to you, Lori

@jesfactsmon Hi Hank, Your post about your mother in law made my toes curl, and that is hard for me, as usually, they can be quite immovable! Your mom in law was just like my mom. My mom made us miserable with her cleaning rituals. She would vacuum the ceiling sometimes! She would have us take everything out of our drawers at least once a month, wash the drawer, and put everything back. Same for closet floors. She walked around with rags stuffed in her shirt for cleaning. She had no friends, no capacity to relax, at all. She used to dust hotel rooms if we went on vacation. She would only do mom/daughter "play" type things if there was a goal; if I needed a dress, we would go shopping. Never just go out to do a fun "girl thing." She is a sore spot in my soul. I loved her, but she made me miserable quite often. OCD is serious business! I was blessed with a kind hearted, normal dad. Without him, God knows what I would be today. By the way, Hank, pain is better today. Go figure!!!! Love to you, Lori

@artscaping Hi again, the drug may be clomipramine. Not sure, but this comes to mind. Let me know if you want more research. Lori

@artscaping Hi Chris, Just looked up Clomipramine, and that is definitely the right drug. It is the generic drug for Anafranil. It literally helped my brain jump from thought to thought, and not get "stuck" in obsessive, repetitive thoughts. A miracle drug for me.... Lori

@lorirenee1 @artscaping

I took clomipramine a few years ago, but had to stop because I was in the hospital and they didn't have it in IV form. Stopping it suddenly made me combative, and my brain was in a different world. It took six people to restrain me, and then intubate me. I still remember the awful nightmares. After I was extubated I was still in a different reality. They put me in the room right across from the nurses' station. Long story. They now have IV clomipramine.

Jim

@phoenix0509 @johnbishop @jesfactsmon @jakedduck1 @lorirenee1 @rwinney (did I miss anyone?)

I do have days off. Usually it's because one of us has a doctor appointment and most of our doctors are an hour away, so we do some shopping. This week, I had an appointment with the neurologist on Monday, on Tuesday my wife had an EKG and blood draw, prep for surgery. This morning she's having surgery on her hand. Tomorrow I have a zoom session with my therapist - at least I can do that at home.

Yesterday I did some watering and mole hunting, and because it was so hot, that was my limit. I had to quit and work in the house, straighting up after our daughter's 9 day visit. It's predicted to get up to 95 today. I have 3 hours to kill while my wife is in surgery.

One day of rest each week, called Sabbath by the ancient Jews, was expected for the health and well-being of everyone. Our society doesn't encourage it

Just finished my pancake breakfast so I should vacate the table for other people.

Jim

@jimhd Did you take it in pill form at home? God in heaven, you never stop an anti depressant drug cold turkey. Horrific! You have endured way too much, Jim!!!! Lori

Okay, Jim, so I get that you have 3 hours to "kill" (hope your wife has a successful surgery by the way) but I missed the part about precisely where you get a day off? Man, I am RETIRED. I take days off in bunches! Granted, I do DO things. But they are things I want to do and like to do mostly, and that includes caregiving, working for the Red Cross one day a week, and doing household chores, etc. But if I had the pain you deal with on a daily basis, I think I'd take a true break-day, or many break-days if possible. Play a little FreeCell or something. Jim, I find some of the things you mention about your life, both past and present, a bit awe inspiring. But sometimes you've got to stop and actually SMELL the roses, not just plant them and weed around them and put a bag of mulch on them, etc. etc. etc.

(I am just ribbing you). Have a great day. Or at least a less busy one. 😉