Normal for one SSRI to fail and another to work?

Lexapro just failed for me (anxiety attacks shortly after taking a dose, insomnia, muscle tightness, and most recently derealization). Is it normal to try another SSRI or typical to try another class of drugs? Would it make sense for me to just try therapy without medication? My symptoms were at worst clinically mild up until recently, and my more severe onset has a pretty clear cause, so part of me wonders if it’s better to focus on therapy considering how rough these SSRIs have been on me. I realize this is absolutely in medical advice territory but just curious of other peoples’ experiences. I’m going in to talk to my doctor on Monday and would just like to have an idea of what options I have without going down a research rabbit hole which will almost definitely not be good for my OCD.

mgone

Date posted: 2y

Since this is a med question, I won’t say which specific meds since everyone is different and you have to work with your prescriber. My first SSRI was awful. Raging panic, shame, etc. My wife could see the fear on my face. I bailed out after 3 weeks, never got to therapeutic level. Switched to a different SSRI, on half the smallest dose and it has been working well. Able to access rational mind faster. Spikes don’t last as long. Had a bad spell about 3 months in, but prescriber and therapist think I got complacent and thought I “had it” and wasn’t ready for/ expecting the relapse. I’ve stayed on the half-dose and still doing well. Keep in mind I’m only about 4 months inside still very early days.

Wes01

Date posted: 2y

@mgone I 100% appreciate not focusing on the specific drugs. At this point I’m realizing that I might just need to decrease dosage. Thank you for sharing your story and appreciate the cautionary tale about complacency.

OCDMM

Date posted: 2y

I’ve taken Lexapro, Prozac, and Paxil and had very different experiences on all 3. They all were hard to get on but then got better but some had worse side effects than others. The time to start feeling relief for all for me was about 6 weeks in. Just don’t give up hope if one doesn’t work. There are so many options with meds. I was prescribed a benzo to help get through the transitions, but I always try to use those sparingly and not daily.

Wes01

Date posted: 2y

@OCDMM I was also prescribed one and have been trying to use it as sparingly as possible to avoid dependence as well as not waste my time in therapy considering benzos tend to get in the way of ERP.

OCDMM

Date posted: 2y

@Wes01 I think knowing I have them helps more than taking them sometimes. More often than not I don’t end up taking one but I like knowing they’re there if I need them

OCDMM

Date posted: 2y

@Wes01 They definitely work to make me feel better in the moment but I do feel like it makes me feel worse later, like a hangover kind of

Wes01

Date posted: 2y

@OCDMM Yea, they definitely help a lot just knowing I can take them, but today it actually just hit the point of *needing* it. I had been off them for 3 days before that. I think there definitely is a dosage issue at a minimum for my current setup.

lemon tears

Date posted: 25w

Looking for insight on OCD/depression medications

(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?

eb123456789

Date posted: 21w

Medication Symptom Management

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

Megcurry

Date posted: 20w

Starting new anxiety meds

Hi everyone, I’m 23 and have been on Zoloft since I was 16. For the past couple months I’ve been having panic attacks more and I’m sick of feeling like a zombie everyday. My boyfriend said I’m very sad and unhappy then when I first met him 2 years ago…. He thinks it’s the medicine. Throughout the years I have upped and lowered my medication, but now, I feel as though it’s not helping. Either it was too much where I didn’t feel emotions at all like very scary stuff or it wasn’t enough to help me. I was given 5mg of Lexapro to try…. I’m scared to take it. All I know is how Zoloft is. I don’t want to go crazy on it, be allergic to it, etc. I feel like I’m going to trip myself out when I take it and not actually feel the difference. I could really use some positive feedback I really just want to be a normal human😭

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Normal for one SSRI to fail and another to work?

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