- Date posted
- 6y
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 6y
Meds are not going to stop your compulsions. They'll reduce your anxiety and maybe your obsessions, but the compulsions are a behavioral issue. ERP is necessary for OCD recovery (going to an OCD therapist). Medication will not be a fix-all.
- Date posted
- 6y
I stopped 100mg Zoloft cold turkey. I wouldn’t recommend it. Bad side effects, emotional roller coaster, odd dreams..felt great one second, down the next, increase in sex drive, loss of weight. I feel much better now after stopping all medications. CBT was a huge help.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 6y
@Matt1418 I completely agree! Some may find medication helpful in that it makes them more able to be successful with ERP, but I definitely dont think it should ever be looked at as a replacement for ERP. I think a lot of people make this mistake/misconception. People should also consider the fact that medications can bring on negative side effects and/or make symptoms worse. I personally had severe OCD, and have almost fully "recovered" without medication. I'm glad I'm not stuck on a medication unnecessarily.
- Date posted
- 6y
Well the meds are going to really affect your anxiety levels not prevent your compulsions. If you’ve been on it for 3 months, I would probably give it a try to 100mg and see how you feel.
- Date posted
- 6y
I take 100 mg/day of Zoloft. I started taking it 5ish years ago and my doctor has slowly increased my doses. I started with 25, then 50, then 75, and now 100. My doctor told me to wait and see how 100 mg is working after at least 2 months before consulting her about upping my dose again. Personally I would ask about increasing your dose sooner rather than later. 3 months is the perfect time to be able to tell if it’s working or if you need an increase. Since 50 mg is a pretty low dose I think you could benefit from an increase. Let me know if any of that helped :))
- Date posted
- 6y
@alissaa ERP and working with an OCD therapist is key. Taking meds help cut down on anxiety but it won’t make you stop compulsions.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 25w
Prior to starting meds I had intrusive thoughts but not to this degreee! I’ve also just started my period? My doctor basically said to suck it up or up the dose which I’m not overly keen on! Of course my over thinking brain keeps saying but if you come off what if they get worse again?
- Date posted
- 24w
This is kind of a weird question, but I recently increased my SSRI dosage and have experienced tremendous relief. It has quieted my intrusive thoughts so much and my compulsions are no longer as all-consuming. However, I don’t want to be on this high of a dosage forever and know that medication alone shouldn’t be my only fix. I’m seeing a new psychiatrist on Wednesday and am wondering if the recent decrease in frequency of my symptoms will be a bar to my getting ocd treatment? In other words, if in this present moment I’m doing better, but up until a few days ago my compulsions were taking up pretty much every moment of my waking day, will I still be classified as having ocd? I start getting worried when I feel better that I don’t actually have ocd and just use it as a defense mechanism to avoid consequences of my actions/I’m secretly a terrible person
- Date posted
- 18w
Hi everyone, I’m new to the community. I was diagnosed with OCD just a couple of months ago and have been doing some reading and other research to try and understand the disorder. With this, I have been actively seeing a great therapist who has been helpful to build tools to deal with my intrusive thoughts ( contamination OCD is my worst theme). Do help learn to deal with the compulsions, I start on Sertraline or “Zoloft” I believe since November 2024. Currently I’m on 50mg and have been doing this for just over a month. My question for those who are also taking Sertraline and it has been successful, how do you know it has really provided a benefit and how long did it take to get there? I sometimes feel the medication works, and sometimes I feel it doesn’t (maybe that’s my OCD trying to mess with things). Thanks!
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond