- Username
- Evelyn4416
- Date posted
- 4y ago
Zoloft worked for me. I was hesitant too. I stayed on it for a year and it was very effective even at a low dose at pulling me out of a bad spiral of compulsions and despair I was in at the time. If your doctor recommends it, I'd give it a go. I stayed on mine for a year because that's the maximum length of time they're really designed to be used for before they start to have the potential for dependency through your brain adapting to them. They give you a sense of control and emotional distance from intrusive thoughts which makes it much easier to do ERP. So I'd say it's very important to combine meds with therapy, especially ERP, and make sure you're developing strategies for staying on top of your OCD while you're on the meds, so that you can come off them and be in a better position.
I’m glad it worked for you! Are you still on Zoloft or are you off it now? If you’re off, how has that been compared to when you were on? Sometimes I get worried that a medication might actually be great but then you’re scared to get off because then it’s back to the anxiety before
@Evelyn4416 I'm still off it. I actually didn't do what I suggested and treat my OCD at the time because I didn't know it was OCD so I just did regular therapy. It took around 6 months of being off it before I had another descent into bad OCD symptoms. I've since learned how to cope with it better since I've been off the meds, so it's definitely possible to do it without them. But they really help prevent things from getting to a dire point and they can pull you out of it if you're in a very bad way. It sounds like my suggestion of doing OCD treatment while you're on them could be a good solution for you. Coming off them doesn't need to mean going back to how life was before, it can mean more intrusive thoughts and more general anxiety but if you've learned how to get through those things, coming off meds can be a challenge but can be done successfully. I really prefer to see meds as a useful tool obviously. But it can be tempting to stay on them because of the relief they can bring you, my sister has been on the max dosage of Zoloft plus an epilepsy med for anxiety for a couple of years, she largely avoids therapy and prefers to rely on the meds to keep her stable. I don't approve of her doing that to her brain or avoiding resolving her problems by using meds to get rid of much of the anxiety rather than learning to cope with it. And doing so has meant she keeps needing to raise her meds as her brain gets accustomed to them and the anxiety comes back. But I can't tell her what to do.
I see what you mean! I had been on buspirone in the past (had to get off them due to lightheadedness) but while I was on them I didn’t do anything about therapy or coping skills because I didn’t even know what I had was OCD either, plus I thought “well the anxiety is gone, don’t gotta do anything else now!”. Definitely not the right way to go about it, very similar to your sister’s case I imagine. So since I’ve started therapy I haven’t been on any med, only supplements. I think my progress in general has been ups and downs. When it’s bad it’s scary and those are the times when I really wonder if I need to get on medication. The “good” days are definitely to a lesser extreme and less frequent throughout the day, but even then I think to myself why am I dealing with this anxiety and fear when I’m having a nice time at home with my family, playing my favorite game, eating my favorite lunch etc. Those are some other times where I think it could help because I should’ve be in fear when everything seems good ?
The only person you should listen to concerning Medecine is your prescriber. That being said many people take medecine to help take the edge off of ocd treatment. It can reduce the level of your anxiety. I have taken medication in the past but I’m not doing that this time around. It’s entirely possible to defeat ocd without medication if you stay strong. There is also no problem if taking medication is something you might want to do. There’s always good and bad things but those things should be discussed with a doctor.
She never prescribed me anything but after talking about how much anxiety keeps bothering me in certain areas she said it was something to consider discussing if I felt the need to with my doctor. Since December I been taking supplements my doctor recommended that promote relaxation and for the most part they seem to work with the physical affects of anxiety (like I’m able to have an appetite, sleep throughout the night, etc.). I used to be on buspirone and while it worked very well, I later started experiencing lightheadedness as a side effect and was told by my doctor to stop. I’m just worried that if I do need to take medication again but a different one that it’ll have worse side affects or make things bad, since I have heard horror stories of people having to try different medication to find the one that worked for them and some made their anxiety worse it added things they never had previously
Also what was your reasoning for deciding now to be on medication this time around?
@Evelyn4416 *not
@Evelyn4416 I took prozac and it didn’t fit me well. But I had taken it years ago and it did work. That’s important to understand. Medication is unique for everyone! I wish I learned that because many of the things I experienced this time around were probably because I was deep into those horror stories too. It was even different for me the second time around, so I would do my best to stay away from other people’s horror stories if I were you. Medication will help if it works but that’s not what gets rid of ocd. Lots of hard work does. And it’s possible for all of us to get better.
@lulu23 That’s a great point that it can be different experiences with the same medication at different times even!
What are everyone’s experiences using SSRIs for OCD? I’m not currently medicated and was curious if they actually help.
Hello,I'm so on the fence about starting medications or not. I know its a personal choice but what benefits have you all experianced? I also practice ERP with my therapist so I know that should be helpful with my OCD journey. But what made you decide to start or not start? I've been on Zoloft before but not long enough to feel the effects since I got freaked out about reading about withdrawl symptoms so my OCD messed that up for me.
Has anyone seen an improvement with their OCD with meds? I am about to start lexapro and I’m nervous!
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