I'm thinking of switching from my birth control pill to the non-hormonal IUD. I've been on the pill for almost 6 years, but lately I wonder whether the hormones are negatively affecting me. Some of the side effects of hormonal birth control are mood changes, depression, and decreased libido. There is also research that suggests the pill may alter some brain structures. Check it out: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/oral-contraceptive-pill-associated-changes-brain-structure/ I know that switching won't make all my anxiety disappear--I had anxiety before starting the pill. But it's possible the pill might be adding to these mental health issues I already have. For my fellow birth control users, how do you feel about the effects hormonal contraceptives could have on your OCD & mental health?

I have been medicated for OCD since I was 7. Now I am 29 and my husband and I are wanting to have kids soon. I am worried about how being on medication that long will affect my fertility. I am also worried about if I will be able to get off of my medication while pregnant. I think I need to be medicated for my mental health but I am terrified at what the medication could do to my baby. All the Drs I have talked to say it’s fine but honestly I don’t trust them. I have been reading medial articles and studies that say that the medication I am on (Lexapro) can cause harm to my fertility and to an unborn baby. Has anyone else dealt with this?

Hey everyone! Sending love and support for all of you managing your OCD (We’ve got this!!). I’ve had a very rough week— I just tried out Prozac and had an AWFUL physical + mental response to it, so I am going off of it after about 9 days. My spirals have taken an intense physical toll on me and it’s been extremely hard to eat properly/stomach anything. I am curious about the holistic health end of things. Does anyone have experience with taking magnesium supplements and/or multivitamins to help deal with stress and anxiety? How have they made you feel, and have they helped ease your mind a little? Any recommendations? How do you deal with the physical effects of your OCD?

So I take psychology at college and on one of the topics we learned that some research tells us that OCD has been discovered to be due to a chemical imbalance in the brain and that biological reasons behind things can be treated with biological methods (e.g medication). I guess I just wondered that, is there really any point in therapies and things when medication could be so ground breaking and change someone's life completely? 😭😭 I know I don't even know half of the facts but I guess I have always wanted someone to just give me meds and then my life would get back to some semblance of normal, but nobody seems to have recognised ocd in me despite it, imo, being glaringly obvious, and I just want to feel better and get on with life. I'm also on the pill and when I stop taking it per the instructions, my worries, whether genuine or irrational, seem to get so much more intense, which makes me wonder even more about the biological aspect of it all. I'm by no means an expert and I know therapies and ERP have worked so well for some people so honestly I'm just ranting tbh.