[Masstacular]

Hello everyone. I'm new to 3FC and I learned today that I have OCD. I guess I felt like repeating my title. Anyway. My Dr. wants to put me on a SSRI, so I guess I'll let him. I don't have rituals, but I do have things I dwell on which do hinder my day to day activities. I'm looking to lose about 120 pounds. I've been up and down, and I'm hoping with this diagnosis I'll finally be able to maintain an appropriate weight. I'll see everyone around the boards, and if anyone feels the desire to chat, hit me up.

[flatiron]

Originally Posted by Masstacular

Hello everyone. I'm new to 3FC and I learned today that I have OCD. I guess I felt like repeating my title. Anyway. My Dr. wants to put me on a SSRI, so I guess I'll let him.

You say "you guess you'll let him" ???

Any SSRI's is pretty serious meds and you know exactly what you are taking and potential side effects. Sometimes they can be a life saver but sometimes whatever you have (in my case it was anxiety attacks) sometimes can be overcome naturally.

SSRI's (any SSRI pretty much) are addictive physically and mentally and once you are on them it can be hard to get off them so I'm not saying you don't need them because many people do, I'm just saying know exactly what you are getting into.

There are many different kinds of drugs that classify as SSRI's and I'd find out exactly which one your doc was going to prescribe. Many times it can be difficult to find the right SSRI and the right dosage so the docs have to experiement around a little until they find what works.

Ask your doc if the one he is going to prescribe doesn't work which one after that is he going to try or is he just going to increase dosage.

I am SO glad my VA doc sent me to a shrink first before I had to go on SSRI's and the shrink hook me up to Biofeed back and proved to me that I could control my heart rate, pulse and blood pressure with my mind. Then she taught me how to meditate with controlled breathing techniques and how to pratice at it to get better and better at it. I can now meditate now without closing my eyes and while driving down the road safely.

Good luck with your treatment and hope you can figure out how to get over the OCD.

By the way my family and friends think I am OCD because I wash my hands a LOT and am a little germ phobic (I wipe the exercise machines down before I use them at the YMCA! LOL) but I think I'll leave it alone because it'll save me from getting bird flu ever gets out!

GOOD LUCK!

[CousinRockingChair]

Flatiron is so darn right!

These medicines arn't even that effective beyond a placebo effect. It worries me how the nation is becoming overmedicated. Well thats what it feels like - the root causes of peoples anxieties etc doesn't seem to be an issue delved into. All these chemicals! I'm sure we can't all have these chemical imbalances in the brain, and a lot of problems that Drs think we "need" to medicate have been faced by humans for time immortal.

[Masstacular]

Thank you very much for your concern and for your opinions and comments. I do understand that any chemical that goes in your body is serious business. I suppose I came off very non chalant about it. It is my personality to be joking and positive. I forget that emotion and meaning can get lost in text. My Psychologist, not my Family doctor suggested an SSRI for my OCD which is severe in it's aspects. I plan to be very "aware" of my behavior and any negative, as well as positive changes in it. It has not been suggested that I take an SSRI for its "anti-depressant" properties. It was suggested for Serotonin control. It is not a matter of "washing my hands too much or cleaning my house too much". It is a matter of obsessing over trivial and unrealist things for hours to months that severly hamper my day to day life. I do not take any medication nor do I seek it, however if it's an option that may increase my quality of life I am receptive to it. As far as my "medication plan" is concerned. My Dr. is very receptive to my input and I believe that he has only my best interest in mind. That does not mean I will blindly follow. Simply that if it's a "toss up" decision I will defer to his judgement. Thank you and I'll see you around the boards.

[kaplods]

My background is in behavioral and developmental psychology (bachelor's and masters' degree, respectively), and SSRI's are not ineffective, and certainly not less effective than placebo, when they are prescribed for disorders that require them/ This is a common rumor, but it just isn't true. In getting my degrees, I've read more peer-reviewed double-blind research on the subjects than I care to remember (and did even more when I required them for my fibromyalgia treatment).

However, one of the problems with all drugs that effect neurotransmitter production or function, sometimes the results can be unpredictable. That is the drugs may cause opposite reactions in some people, so one antidepressant for example might make one person gain weight, and might make another person lose weight, might make one person sleepy and another person unable to sleep.

SSRI's generally are not so much likely to be truly addictive (requiring more and more to be effective AND tempting for the person to take in ways other than as their doctor's recommended) as causing physical dependence. Physical dependence is NOT the same as addiction, however it does mean is that you should not discontinue the medication suddenly, but rather should taper off under your doctor's recommendations).

OCD, is a diagnosis that responds least to traditional counseling therapies, and most to medications. This isn't always true for more general anxiety disorders.

I resisted SSRI's when a doctor first wanted me to take them for my fibromyalgia, because I knew I wasn't "depressed." My doctor explained that fibromyalgia is a neurotransmitter disorder - a brain chemistry disorder, often involving a sleep disorder, not a psychological one, so a neurotransmitter treatment really was warranted. I did my own research, and came to the same conclusion. Counseling does not decrease fibromyalgia symptoms much more than placebo, but neurotransmitter therapies do.

The two medications that have been the most effective for me (and allowed me, indirectly to discontinue four medications) were neurotransmitter affecting drugs.

Don't let anyone guilt you out of taking a medication you find helpful. If the SSRI works for you, and you're taking it as prescribed, you have nothing to justify.

[Barbie]

i have ocd but its not extreme. i don't like germs and i wash my hands alot.

[butterflygurl]

Hi & welcome Masstacular!
I have a form of ocd as well. I've started taking natural stuff so hopefully it will work out

[LandonsBaby]

Hi! Welcome to the board. I also have OCD. I was finally diagnosed in 2006 but haven't told my family (because I'm embarrassed basically). I understand needing medication for a while. I was on Dispersal for a while after I become a total mess. I couldn't even take a shower by myself. I would start to cry and tell my husband something was going to "get me" in the shower. I didn't sleep. I couldn't do much of anything. I cried all the time because I was terrified of something..whatever it was. I'm doing better now and I don't take any meds. Everyday is still a struggle. I don't sleep well because I'm always paranoid someone is going to come in the house (one of my biggest obsessions). My husband got me an alarm system and that helps some but I'm still on edge all the time. But, eh, I take it one day at a time. I think medication can be helpful for getting us through those times where we really just are not able to function properly. I hope that it works well for you and that your doctors are able to help you find ways to manage the OCD.

[buddly]

Hi there, you can count me in as well.

And welcome Messtacular! Good luck on your journey!

Landonsbaby one thing that oddly helped me sleep was when we got a dog for our girls. I couldn't sleep either as I was afraid of "something" and I was also sure that one night I would wake up to someone standing in the room. After we got the dog I knew he would bark and be an early warning for me. And he seems know when I"m really bad and will follow me to the bathroom when I go and have my shower and lies up against the closed door so I can see his fur peeking under it. (One night my visiting brother in law found out how good Max was as he came around the corner to go to the bathroom and all I heard was Max growling and that low threatening bark, I came out to see bro in law backing up and Max making sure he wasn't coming near that door!) I'm afraid it took paxil to get me to stop checking the door and window locks at night.

Good luck to you all
K

[Ursula745]

I need to lose 75 pounds. I do have the obsessions and compulsions. There is a new med called Luvox CR (only the CR version) that is not supposed to cause weight gain. It is still an SSRI, but controlled release, and is speifcally for OCD. It is the ONLY med that works well for me and no weight gain from it. Talk to your doc about it. A lot of OCDers like this drug better from what I've read.

Good luck!

[CousinRockingChair]

OK, I'll agree to disagree and good luck to OP I do psychology at uni and its all very interesting. Whatever works, I guess. It is scary how many people are on these drugs though, isn't it??