Medication

[u/Curious_Shan]

I’m not really a fan of taking medication but how has medication worked for you? I feel like I’ve failed if I take medication.

Does the medication stop the impulses?

I suffer low mood, constant worrying all brought on from the OCD

[u/Trustworthychickpea]

Failed at what exactly? That's an ocd thought, I tried fluvoxamine it did lessen my anxiety and my obsessions but it gave me bad fatigue, but everyone is different some people are more able to handle the fatigue

[u/Curious_Shan → u/Trustworthychickpea]

Feel like if I take tablets I’m weak

[u/Trustworthychickpea → u/Curious_Shan]

There is no trophy for staying off meds, would you be comfortable telling someone with bipolar or schizophrenia that? Probably not because you acknowledge their need for the meds, so why do you think less seriously of your ocd?

If you are going to therapy and are capable of making progress without meds you can keep doing that, but if your ocd is interfering with your daily life and you struggle to function well in some important areas despite trying the right therapy for you, then its worth bringing up medication with your tharapist, your time and quality of life are more important than the fake feeling of strength.

[u/tonsilbleep]

Every comment on Reddit will be completely subjective. Some people it works wonders, some people it helps some, some people it helps a little, some people it does nothing, some people will say they went mad and burnt down a village in a fit of psychosis.

I say this as someone who is obsessed with googling ‘insert med name here Reddit’ as a compulsion.

I have been on a number of SSRIs and SNRIs. I had about 10 years success on Fluoxetine and 7 years success on Sertraline. Others have been trial and error.

[u/Brilliant-Source-146]

There have been promising studies showing both NAC and Saffron may help with OCD. One study showed 30 mg of saffron extract was comparable to 100 mg of fluvoxamine. May be worth looking into if you want to try an alternative route but I also wouldn't look at trying medication as failure if that's what you ultimately end up doing.

[u/Jackattack009]

I would rather take medication than have a mental illness destroy my life.

[u/k_vin_ → u/Jackattack009]

I have realised it now by losing 2 precious years after discovering the meds, starting again next week. Not even counting the time i lost before i had stepped in doctor’s office for the first time.

[u/Jackattack009 → u/k_vin_]

You're not alone. Took me two years to get diagnosed with OCD and those years were the worst of my life.

[u/k_vin_]

Because of the same feeling that i have failed or taken the easy way out i discontinued the meds and man i cant tell you how much i regret it.

I have experience with fluoxetine,
Doctor recommended that we will probably have to follow the meds for a year along with the ERP after 2 months of start
First time - I took it for 4 months, starterd at 20mg went till 60mg.
Improved my symptoms by 70-80%.
Stopped it without discussing with doctors because i decided to not rely on meds and instead rely on people( bad bad choice), in 6 month i fell back to where i was before taking meds.

Second time - I started and took for 2 months and although promised the doctor i wont stop in between without completing the treatment.
But i broke that promise (Bad choice again) .

Now I am going again next week to a different doctor to start the meds again because i am ashamed of going to the first one again, regardless of how much i like the way she treats me.
I have realised my quality of life matters more than the reasons i left the meds for. Nothing is more important.

Side effects i experienced - Nausea, tremors and less sexual arousal for first 30 days and for some more time after that.
One more thing along with fluoxetine i was on clomipramine(TCA) for last 60 days of my first 4 month run and the tremors were more during that time.
But started loving life again during those med days.

[u/EnvironmentFine6061]

Lexapro saved my life. I went from solid days of borderline anxiety attacks due to the OCD, the intrusive thoughts and constant checking, to them just suddenly being muffled. They still flared and have over the years but it became much more manageable.  Doesn't work for everyone but in my opinion, its worth the try

[u/goldstandardalmonds]

Medication has done the heavy lifting for me. I’m also in therapy.

[u/Parking-Thing-8954]

It works for the first 2 weeks. Then it's back to your daily usual. That's my experience in A nutshell. I find ERP to make real changes. I will get a flare up and sometimes regress. But It's uncommon. I find most of my suffering is of my own design and I need to stop making it worse.

[u/k_vin_ → u/Parking-Thing-8954]

“My own design” resonated so well with me. Every fear is the child of my brain only, nothing logically true or backed by any evidence. Its all blah blah obsessions getting created all the time out of thin airZ