- Username
- hcs
- Date posted
- 4y ago
Hi there I have tried many medications such as zoloft, luvox, paxil, clomipramine (anafranil), and prozac. The prozac seemed to help for a while a little bit. The others not so much. Hope this helps some.
Thank you for your response. Do you mind if I ask if youve been in therapy along with the medication?
Hi there! I tried many different medications before going through therapy. To be honest I had very bad experiences with all of them.. I know I’m very sensitive to medications so this felt normal for me. Everyone’s body chemistry is different though - so the least you can do is try. I now take something called Hydroxyzine - this is not a daily medication, it is as needed. Essentially it’s an antihistamine that helps calm your mind overall. It works really well for me. It also helps you sleep at night.
Thank you for responding. That’s so true everyone reacts differently to medications. If I decided to try one I will keep this in mind. I’m glad that the one you’re taking now is working for you!
@hcs Thank you! I hope you find one that best fits you!
as a general rule typically meds will help about 25 to 50 percent. for years I relied solely on meds and had therapy for other non OCD stuff but kept relapsing with OCD crashes and would change the med. what I didn't realize was that I needed ERP. im in it now and hoping it works
Yes. I’ve heard that medication combined with ERP can be very helpful compared to just taking medication for ocd without ERP. I hope it works for you too! Thank you for responding
No that is perfectly fine. I've been diagnosed with OCD for about 23 years now. And most of this time I have been in therapy and taken meds together. But have never had a therapist that specialized in OCD.
@hcs. if I could do a do over (this goes all the way back to 1996) I would do ERP before meds to see if I could overcome it. already after 6 sessions of ERP im finally seeing progress. I don't know of ERP was around then and I was in the Air Force so my options were limited. I say this because of med side effects. I've had to learn to live with them but would have preferred to avoid them because it impacts the quality of my life.
Hi. I’m writing this post because I don’t know if I should be medicated again. Lexapro worked well for me, but I gained like 30 pounds. I quit because of that and honestly I thought I was able to manage my OCD well better. I was wrong, it got worse again. I wish I can do this without medication…that’s why I expose myself everyday, doesn’t matter how drained and exhausted I get. Are you guys medicated or trying to go without medicine. How is it going for you guys? Many hugs for all of you. We got this.
I try and read/post on this message board at least every now and then as a way to feel connected to people in the OCD community, and to offer whatever kind of advice my experience has taught me, because I don’t think any human should have to struggle with OCD. I wanted to share that since starting clomipramine, my symptoms have become a lot less severe. I was hesitant to try this medication even though my dr has suggested it because it’s an older antidepressant, so it comes with more side effects. For me, that’s been issues urinating and when I first started a really odd feeling when I yawned (like, the heck?). And then a specific spinal reflex that is not appropriate to mention was physically impossible for about a month, but I’ve regained some ability there…. But the side effects for me are 100% worth it given how much it’s helped me. I can walk away from obsessive thoughts / behaviors without going nuts or having to perform some other ritual just to walk away lol. I can put thoughts out of my mind more easily, let them go, and move on. It’s like a switch. I still struggle, but I still don’t think the medicine is fully effective just yet, and I just have a lot more hope for the potential of a normal life now. Or like, a functional one at the least. So if you’re currently out of luck and haven’t tried this medicine yet, I recommend giving it a shot. I take 75mg right now and think I may need to increase some, but even now it’s helping so much. Don’t let dosage increases scare you, the side effects will taper back down… I hope this helps someone.
I used to get very irritable and have severe ocd, while I have only been on Prozac 3 weeks at only 10mg then recently 20mg. I have noticed that although my intrusive thoughts are still there, it’s more manageable like 30% more manageable and I’m hoping with time and if needed an increase of my dosage it could go to 50-90% more manageable. Anyone experience with ssri please share your experience dosage, name, how long it ok to kick in and how is your ocd now on the meds? Thank you
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