I’ve been avoiding taking medication for ocd because I’m afraid I’ll be stuck on them for years. I’ve heard of so many people saying they have been taking medication for years… what do you think?
I'd rather be dependent on medication than relying on my worst symptoms to hit me the next morning all over again. Taking a pill vs existential dread isn't even a hard choice for me.
@yup_its_ocd I’ve never really thought of it this way! Thank you for the insight!! What are the side effects?
@floatingspirit I take Luvox and as far as I can tell nothing. I just get slightly more buzzed when I have alcohol.
Taking medication didn’t necessarily help my ocd but it did tremendously lower my anxiety which then made overcoming ocd easier
@morganyoung Same
@morganyoung *also I had really bad symptoms the first month but pushing through them was worth it
@morganyoung You not noticed side effects?
@floatingspirit I don’t have any side effects anymore. The first three weeks id go days without eating, I had major anxiety attacks basically blacking out, and I had a really weird clogged/ringing in my ears
Im on meds and honestly I love them. It took me a really long time to start taking them bc I was obsessing over the symptoms but if you think it’ll help, talk with ur therapist and give it a shot ❤️
@Anonymous Have you noticed any major side effects?
@floatingspirit Honestly im on Prozac and i was super worried about side effects before taking it. Im on 40 mg and thinking about raising the dose to 60 which is the highest they’ll give for ocd. I have seen no major side effects and when I accidentally miss a pill I have minor side effects
Those are my thoughts too.
@Loukel I don’t want to suddenly be ina situation where I don’t have them and then I crash out of nowhere.. if that makes sense?
@floatingspirit Exactly, I was prescribed today and I have extreme anxiety taking them because of the side effects. Then I worry I'll be on them for life because I wouldn't want to crash.
There’s nothing wrong with being on medication! The example I always think of is, if you had diabetes, you would take insulin, right? For me, i have mental illnesses, so I take medication to help myself be able to function. I will probably be on antidepressants for the rest of my life, and that’s okay with me because it helps me to be able to live my life. I know medication is so scary, but it really can give you your life back!!!
I tried a few and im on one rn, none of them made a sliver of difference and i think I will most likely get off of all of them for various reasons that might be too controversial to share here. Also I dont think I can have anything mess with my brain chemistry. Ive had horrible side effects from them aswell. Theres a shit TON of ups and downs with meds, youd have to be *extremely* patient cuz you might be doing trial and error for months whilst dealing with all the side effect drama that comes with it. Now that all sounds very anti meds, but my honest advice would be to do the typical healthy stuff like exercise, proper sleep patterns, eating well, socializing first, as cliche as that sounds they make a worlds difference. If none of that helps or you arent even able to function to do that like me and absolutely have no other choice only then consider medication. You can try them for a few months and slowly taper off if they dont work. Lastly, do your research, dont pay too much attention to the horror stories of meds, infact dont even read them, they will cause unnecessary fear but be very vigilant of what meds your dr prescribes and ask questions.
Hello, currently on medication and I was very afraid of starting it and of course all the side effects. Also I google too much into it. I started on a very low dose and have stayed there for a few months but I was just recently diagnosed with OCD so I am having a second opinion on medication as I am advocate for myself. If medication is something I take long term I have came to the conclusion I am okay with it. I was scared and terrified and read so much about all the possibilities of side effects. I don’t feel that my medication takes everything away it still allows me to process things. My weight gain has been under 5 pounds but I am very strict on my fitness routine and my eating habits. I also do Intermitted fasting. Google said I would gain 60 pounds ! I push myself every morning to get up even thought I have my days I want to stay in bed it’s me pushing myself not medication. TMI google said and people told me I would loose my sex drive.. not happening at all. My sleep has not been affected and can say I sleep. Honestly, I made the decision based on what I wanted and how I wanted to feel and made a decision for myself. Hope this helps
How can I accept that I may need medication for the rest of my life? Some background: I have several family members with OCD, my paternal grandmother and one of my cousins on my dad's side. I had anxiety issues from really early on as a kid, particularly around health related stuff. I would clean little cuts frequently, small things like that. Other than that, I never felt majorly affected. That changed when I was 19, a few months after I gave birth to my son. I started having obsessions rooted in hypochondria, like that I might have some disease, or that myself and/or those I love would get some horrible illness and die. I was diagnosed and started taking Prozac at 21 years old. I'm now 27. Medication works incredibly well for me. I have no side effects, I function totally normal when medicated. But I've gone off medication like 5 or 6 times just to see if I'm finally okay, and without fail, I relapse (which is happening to me right now, and yes, I've restarted my meds.) My OCD thoughts don't want to accept this though, and I'm being thrown all kinds of thoughts like what if someday the world falls apart and I don't have access to medicine? Or what if I take it for years and years, just to someday find out that it gave me brain cancer or insertdiseasehere? Does anyone have any tips for accepting medication as a necessary part of my life?
I have really bad anxiety over my health. My biggest fear is throwing up. I have contamination OCD, too. Germs terrify me. But I’m also very terrified of medications. I barely want to take Advil for a headache, even though feeling bad makes my OCD and anxiety worse. This is especially hard because I got prescribed anxiety medication in 2021 and never took it because I am too terrified of the side effects and how it would make me feel. I’m tired of having severe OCD and anxiety as well as tics and knowing I will probably never be medicated for it. My family doesn’t make it any better, my parents made me cry because they said I am over dramatic and scared of everything.
I’ve been debating medication for 3 years. I was wondering about other peoples experiences bc I don’t know many people with OCD. Or what types of medications have helped or if they even have? Can someone please give me some insight. The thoughts are extremely annoying and feel very REAL and uncomfortable. It makes me think everyday something I think can become true or I want it to be true. Any insight please?
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
