- 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
- 21w
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!
- Date posted
- 18w
I am having an appointment with my psychiatrist this afternoon and I am obsessing about what to do with my medication. I think it’s also very ocd like obsessing. I am currently on 30mg mirtazapine. Ive been on this for years (because of insomnia, anxiety and depression) (15mg) and after we tried to switch to another (amitryptiline) because of nerve pain, I went down the road of insomnia and later on ocd again. So I am back on mirtazapine, and weaning off of the amitryptiline. This is/was a very traumatic experience. Because the switch caused a mental breakdown. Now my psychiatrist has mentioned to up the mirtazapine to 45mg. And my obsessive self has done a lot of research and a lot is saying that the higher the dose, the more you can experience anxiety. And for ocd it’s obviously not the first choice. I am obsessing all morning about it. I am too scared to go up. But I am also too scared to try another and to wean myself of off mirtazapine. I feel stuck at this point. Taking two meds is also not something I want. I could really use some words of encouragement right now I think. 🥹
- Date posted
- 13w
Hello last year I had gone thru a very rough time In my life where I needed to be put on Zoloft 50mg around march 2024. I was diagnosed with anxiety, depression and OCD. Ive been suffering from OCD since I was like 11 and depression since I was 19, but I never sought help until last year Im 27 because I knew I needed it to help me get thru life. I was on 3 months on Zoloft and I went to a trip to Miami which honestly helped me so much, I honestly attribute that trip to Miami in healing me more than the Zoloft it self. I met my current girlfriend there. After coming back I felt like a new person. I still kept taking the Zoloft 50mg until late April (2025) this year when I decided to tapper down to 25mg by my self without a doc recommendation, I didn’t feel anything during the month of may this year until like may 30th when I woke up in a panic and I felt like I was back at square 1 before I started Zoloft. Mind you ive been thru some life changes, I recently graduated RN school and my gf moved in with me. Ever since the end of may I’ve been very anxious, my OCD is on high gear and my depression too. I went back up to 50mg I’m seeing a new doc, my questions is has anyone gone thru a similar situation? If so what helped you and how long did it take you to stabilize ?
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