- Date posted
- 3y
- Date posted
- 3y
Hello there. I’m so sorry that you are struggling so much! I used to be house bound by my anxiety. It was completely miserable! I’ve been on a lot of psychiatric medications. They can be very hard to stop and start. Antidepressants are kind of notorious for causing issues that you are describing after taking only a few doses. When I was on Lexapro it made me feel very funny. I’m on Remeron on now though. Hope that you feel better soon!
- Date posted
- 3y
I can't take antidepressants because they do the same I get incredibly sick. I've been taking 2 MG of Xanax for over 6 years. My last antidepressant that I tried (prozac) gave me a seizure. You need to change doctors. When used responsibly Xanax is wonderful and life saving. My doctors have no issues with Me having it because they saw how sick the other medications made me. My father also took Xanax responsibly for 30 years. If you look under the FDA drug reviews there's millions of people who can't take SSRIs and take Xanax or klonopin instead. I think you need to definitely advocate for yourself and talk to another doctor. Everyone's brain chemistry is different. If I was on an SSRI I couldn't even function. I hope you get a doctor who understands you and helps you. Best of luck
- Date posted
- 3y
I believe what happened to me is called serotonin syndrome they say it's rare but its not as rare as they say I'm in a fb group where so many have had the same experience and can only take benzos.its sounds like the SSRIs are not helping you 💔
- Date posted
- 3y
I am just so sorry. Virtual hug.
- Date posted
- 3y
I’m so greatful for everyone’s comments i like hearing other ppl actual experiences and stuff they’ve learned I hate ppl always telling me I need medications I no I need medication but they don’t understand it’s so hard to find a medication that works and dealing wit the side affects I’m trying to look up as much as possible bout medications and I’m just obsessing over reading and reading and then I realize I’ve spent hours reading and I have to make myself stop and I think prescribeing antidepressant for an anxiety disorder is wierd I no they help wit ocd and can give relief I also have depression alot of it’s from dealing wit my ocd but you’d think they’d prescribe more anxiety medications to I have anxiety attacks and panick attacks anytime I get sick I automatically think I’m dieing and make myself sicker I stress and worry so much bout everything I get scared to leave th house and go anywere I’ll literally be home wit no food and still not go to the store It’s slowly gotten worse I’ve always had anxiety and social anxiety but it’s just slowly gotten worse I stopped wearing bras at nite cause I felt like I couldn’t inhale and I have raceing thoughts it takes me forever to go to bed and I wake up every hour to pee and can be up sometimes between 2 to 4 hours at points in bed so I get no rest and in bed for longer then I stopped wearing my bra during the day cause I felt like I couldnt inhale and I’d worry if I got an anxiety attack I wouldn’t be able to breath I could go on and I just feel like if xanex is there then wat reason do they not prescribe it it’s suppose to be for instant help I feel like I need that just as much as I feel like I need an antidepressant for my ocd to I’m just always scared always panicking I’ve literally gotten gerd and vertigo which I didn’t even no could be caused by stress I’m getting physically sick from worrying so much this is no way to live.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 25w
(25f) Before I was diagnosed with OCD I tried Lexapro (wasn’t bad but wasn’t great) and Citalopram (partially think it was a part of what caused me to develop severe anxiety that ignited my once not so active OCD.) After diagnosis tried Effexor and didn’t see an improvement. Was on Adderall for a good amount of my life and mentally did good on it, stopped about 2 years ago because the physical side effects started to become more noticeable. Maybe I go back on Adderall? Maybe SSRI’s and I aren’t a great fit? Anyone taking other medications that helped?
- Sexual Orientation OCD
- Perfectionism OCD
- OCD newbies
- Young adults with OCD
- Religion & Spirituality OCD
- Magical Thinking OCD
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 25w
I feel like I'm up against an insurmountable mountain. I'm not new to OCD; I know I've had symptoms since at least the age of 8 (probably earlier to be honest, I just know things really took off when I was 8). I dealt with things with no outside help until I was 17, at which point I began seeing a therapist and began to take celexa. I stuck with that therapist for a couple more years before going about my life, though I continued to take the the celexa. Fast forward to 2018, age 29 - I once again began to see a therapist and had my meds adjusted once more, this time switching to Luvox. I also wound up switching therapists after a year or so, though not by choice - my therapist had a personal crisis come up that necessitated the switch. I still see the same therapist I switched to in 2019. Early 2020 brought with it a couple more med changes, going off the Luvox and onto Cymbalta and Intuniv due to concerns about previously undiagnosed ADHD. This was how things were for five years. I'm not going to say things were perfect- there were undoubtedly bumps in the road - but things felt doable, and I mostly found enjoyment in life. This came to a screeching halt recently. Again, as I said, there were bumps in the road. At first, I thought this was all that this was. When I spoke to my psychiatrist in early February, I started Ativan as I just wanted something to take the edge off a little bit. I also went off of Intuniv as we thought that might be contributing to things. It was Saturday, February 8th when things really started to go off the rails. My boyfriend and I were going on a short trip across the state. An intrusive thought popped up - What if I sleepwalked at the hotel and hurt or even killed my boyfriend? This fear stuck with me through the entire trip. I heaved a sigh of relief as we drove back. I'd soon be safe back at home and I'd put it all behind me. If only. On the ride home, my worries shifted to concerns that I would sleepwalk and do something to my parents, who I live with. I fretted for the majority of the trip back, already making up plans to research the subject and how unlikely it would be that something like that would happen, and I'd tell my parents for good measure. They, of course, assured me that I'd never sleepwalked in the past so it was unlikely I'd do so now. I should also note that this is not a new fear of mine, but one I experienced as early as elementary school, though it had essentially disappeared up until this point, decades later. If only it stopped there. I stopped taking the Ativan Sunday evening in the middle of the trip, my thought being that the Ativan might have contributed to this. My boyfriend, in fact, had a reaction years ago where Klonopin actually sent him into a panic, so it seemed possible that I might be experiencing some sort of paradoxical reaction. I also remained off of the Intuniv. Monday was the day I began experiencing loss of appetite. Monday was also the day when things really began to take off and my life began to truly feel like a waking nightmare. Another horrific image from my past reared it's ugly head - an image of my grabbing a knife from the kitchen and stabbing my mom. An image that has continued to haunt me since - and now its 2 weeks later. There's still a bit more to the story - The day after this began, I went to a local urgent care. I was now not only experiencing these horrible thoughts, but I could barely eat lunch, and my stomach was hurting. I also told my parents the latest turn in how things were going. From the urgent care, I was given a prescription for Omeprazole and Hydroxyzine. The following day, I went to my ordinary doctor's office, where the doctor suspected my increase in anxiety and the associated intrusive thoughts had to do with going off of the Intuniv I'd been taking for five years without tapering, and advised me to immediately resume the Intuniv. He also endorsed continuing the Hydroxyzine, which I was taking at night before bed at this point. I'd hoped that going back on the Intuniv would 'even things out' and I'd be back to normal in no time. The thoughts continued, unfortunately. I had an appointment with my therapist as well as my psychiatrist, who upped my dosage of Intuniv to 3mg instead of 2mg and advised on other medication options should this not help. Though I would like to see both of them more, it's difficult with my work schedule and their busy schedules to find time. As of right now, I'm seeing my therapist once every two weeks. My next appointment with her is this Wednesday. I've also made follow up appointments with my regular doctor's office. Last Wednesday (2/19), I had an appointment with an NP who advised I take the Hydroxyzine three times a day rather than just at bed time, so I've been doing that. I thought it might be helping the first time I took it in the afternoon, though this doesn't seem to be the case with subsequent dosages, unfortunately. I also see her again on Wednesday. I apologize for the long post, but I wanted to share how I got to this point. Things aren't great. I'm trying to enjoy life where I can - I recently played board games with my parents yesterday and went to a restaurant with my boyfriend the day before and felt almost normal, but even in those instances it felt like there was something lurking just beneath the surface. I'm going through life, but it feels like I'm barely surviving. I'm going to work but only because I think I'd be worse at home with absolutely no distractions. I wish there was a switch I could flip and things would be back to normal, where I didn't feel this way. In fact, more often that not, I want to be laying in bed asleep, because you can't think when you're asleep, and it feels like the only refuge at this point. It's hard because home was always my safe place, and my mom one of my safe people - and now this. Anyway, if you made it through this long post, thanks for reading. <3
- Date posted
- 22w
I went to talk to a psychiatrist based off my Nocd therapists recommendation. I had a very hard week beforehand where I had anxiety so bad I couldn't leave my bed. It seems like once I get my period my anxiety and everything dissipated some so I talked to the psychiatrist. Anyways, I was immediately put off by her because she told me she didn't have any information on me included in the referral for one reason or another. So I had to basically "fill her in" on my life story. I have anxiety disorder, panic disorder, OCD and PTSD. I told her these things and how hard the last week had been. She started asking questions like I had bipolar disorder, which I don't have. She then wanted me to take buspar and Zoloft TOGETHER daily. I know for a fact you never start two medications daily at once. You don't know which one is causing symptoms if you do. So I immediately didn't like that. I asked her about Zoloft specifically daily because it is an SSRI what I should do if it gave me thoughts of harm for myself. She told me "just go to the hospital".... Now, I don't wanna say that was the worst possible thing she could have said to me, but it was. Because now my OCD is spiraling that just my general harm OCD thoughts are enough to mean I need to go to the hospital. It had been 2 days and I cannot stop obsessing that maybe I'm depressed or suicidal because of this. I know I don't want anything to happen to me. I love my family and my friends. I am scared of death. But the thought is sticky and it's been so, so frustrating. My anxiety has been so frustrating. I feel so lost and like nothing I'm trying to fix my issues is working very well. NOCD therapy has been one of the only things to help in the long term, but I still get terrified of certain obsessions like suicide. I don't really know what to do, if anyone has any advice or any personal experience that may help, anything would be nice right now. I've felt so lost trying to figure it all out.
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