please can someone explain to me how medication helps ocd? is it that the anxiety that comes with the thoughts reduce so it’s easier to dismiss them or the thoughts as a whole become much less? like what differences do you notice from medication? hopefully will be beginning on thursday
Hi, I've been on almost every medication imaginable the past 25 years for depression, ADHD, anxiety, and OCD. I think everyone experiences different reactions. Some meds help with anxiety, some don't do anything. For me, while taking Prozac I don't have panic attacks. Anxiety is reduced by a lot but not completely. I still get OCD thoughts. I've never found a medication that completely removed the obsessions but the power of the thoughts to commit a compulsion is diminished. It does make it a little easier for me to perform ERP because my anxiety is lessened but it's still there. Therefore, if I want to recover fully from OCD I have to do ERP therapy but in my case medication helps me to stabilize anxiety to reasonable levels. My experience might not be your own and of course medications can have serious side effects so please consider that before starting. But for me I don't have a choice as my anxiety gets too severe that I can't function and I've tried other natural ways that didn't work as well.This doesn't mean they wouldn't for you. So if you can I'd try natural ways to reduce anxiety first. Even with medication it helps me a lot to avoid caffeine, exercise, go on walks or be outside, redirect my anxiety to do something active, reframe your mindset using CBT, practicing ERP therapy, accepting uncertainty, and being mindful.
As if you wrote my own story. Me too. Good luck.
So i have been prescribed with Sertraline and the way it has worked for me is the physical symptoms of anxiety has subsided GREATLY but i am still having intrusive thoughts among other OCD symptoms i will say medication has definitely made my OCD more manageable and has helped greatly! good luck!
I’ve been on medication (Zoloft) for 15+ years. It’s helped my anxiety a ton. I have very little spikes. This most recent spike is when I learned I had OCD. and I had to increase my dose. And it has also lowered my anxiety at least 95%. As for how it works I’m not quite sure. I feel like the less anxiety the less the thoughts.
Can I ask why it spiked your anxiety to know you have OCD?
@StoicGuy Oh it wasn’t bc of knowing I had OCD. the spike happened before I knew what it was due to suicidal OcD.
Lexapro also used to work for me but stopped working after 10 years for some reason so that's why I switched to Prozac. It did the same thing, reduced the anxiety a lot but I still got the OCD thoughts.
ngl. tried zoloft, i was so worried about side effects that it triggered my suicidal ocd and kicked off a now 3 month lapse for me. and it made me so anxious in the first week that i stopped immediately. so i will never be taking medication again. but i’ve heard that for a lot of people it lowers anxiety so they can handle the erp. but erp is really the key. good luck!
i am starting NOCD therapy on monday and was just curious on others’ experiences! what happens in your sessions, generally speaking? how do you feel during and after? i’m excited but also nervous to start. i’ve been in talk therapy for years with minimal improvement with my ocd, so im hopeful to start feeling better.
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
Hiii - hope everyone is having a good day! Has anyone found any type of medication or supplements helpful with thinking sooo deeply about everything and intrusive thoughts? I’m in therapy + doing erp but my brain in this relapse of ocd just thinks sooo deep into my brain and i can’t seem to not to do it pull myself out. Like I’m just paranoid. An example would be if i simply look at my arm I’ll think so deeply about it like what’s under my arm what’s it look like inside etc. but if anyone not in this cycle looks at their arm they’ll be like hmm ok cool my arm and move on w their day. Just looking to see if anyone has had a similar experience of what I’m feeling rn.
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