OCD Action

lard
Member

After nearly a year on these tablets and over 4 months at 150mgs sertraline and 7.5mgs mitazapine I have had enough. Judging by my experiences over the past 2 months they have done very little for my OCD, anxiety has returned as well as moments of depression. My cpn has moved on and so I haven't got one, I'm due to see phychitrist but god knows when. She is a nasty piece of work, rude and not helpful. Her attitude was go away and take your tablets, this is what I have done so I think I have given them a long enough time to see if they work for me. I have been patient and put up with the side effects but enough is enough. What's the point of remaining on these tablets if I feel the benefits are not great? Sick of all this, it's false hopes that meds will help and all the doctors don't understand or care, almost like i'm a pain for going back to say I don't think this combination is working. I know they are the 'experts' but I'm living with this day in day out and am best judge of what's going on. I know the phychitrist will disagree and tell me to stick with the tablets, sick of being told what to do by people who just don't understand!

Mon Jan 2 2012 13:16:33 #
BT
Member

Of course you know best how medication is affecting you. However, don’t be tempted to suddenly stop taking them. Do so gradually and preferably with your GP’s knowledge. I also had an irascible, useless psychiatrist, there are plenty of them about unfortunately.

Mon Jan 2 2012 13:20:54 #
BT
Member

P.S. It might be worth asking to try something else. We do all react differently and some professionals fail to realise this.

Mon Jan 2 2012 13:22:53 #
lard
Member

I am cutting down slowly, @125mg today and will take for 3 days then to 100mgs.
I want to try fluoxemine, this is probably the only ssri i haven't tried.
Also I think in the past I didn't stay on the tablets long enough to see benefits.
Hate my phychitrist, she's Greek or Italian and is really bossy and know it all!

Mon Jan 2 2012 13:35:49 #
Tess
Member

Martyn, I'm not sure if you mean fluoxetine or fluvoxamine but you are not going to endear yourself to your psychiatrist by reducing your meds without supervision or medical approval and it is especially unwise when your support network is in the process of changing. My advice is to phone tomorrow and ask for an urgent appointment for a medication review and for continuity in psychological support. It is not acceptable for you to be left in limbo and it's not your fault if your treatment isn't working.

Mon Jan 2 2012 16:57:22 #
wannabefree
Member

Hi Martyn... I'm thinking your withdrawal from meds is a bit fast anyway... These meds affect the way we think and feel if we aren't very careful with them... Every time I take my Fluoxetine, I consider the idea that it isn't doing anything, but it must be, cos I'm on a high dose (60mg daily), but I don't want to take the risk of changing them without really reliable advice... Every time I've suggested cutting back on it, the GP and psychiatrist have said that I need to stay on the level I am on... Even with the Olanzapine I take at night, there is no sign of being allowed to cut back on that yet either... As Tess says, you need to have your meds reviewed before you make drastic changes on your own... Let us know how you get on...
Wannabe

Mon Jan 2 2012 22:06:45 #
BT
Member

Wannabe, You mentioned that Fluoxetine must be doing something because you are taking a high dose. I have taken high doses of certain medication that did absolutely nothing for my OCD.

I would never stop a drug suddenly, unless I was experiencing extreme side-effects, but twice I have asked my doctor if it’s OK to slowly come off certain drugs that were proving ineffective and he has agreed. I noticed no difference once off them, despite the doses being high in both cases.

Tue Jan 3 2012 13:32:07 #
wannabefree
Member

Hi BT, so in theory, it could be that my meds aren't actually doing anything... It wouldn't surprise me, cos I know I did once stop taking them a couple of years ago, with no effects, I'm just amazed I'm popping so much meds with no help coming from it... They could even be making me worse, if I'm still getting side effects... I agree, we need to come off them very slowly, but I'm scared of what else to go on...
Wannabe

Tue Jan 3 2012 21:28:01 #
Tess
Member

Hi Wannabe
I think it highly unlikely that your meds are doing nothing, it's just whether they are doing what you want them to do.
My son went onto seroxat and he was very well, so much so that after about 18 months he felt he no longer needed meds and decided to come off, he did it slowly and sensibly and the effect was so gradual that he did not realise he was going downhill - until bang - then it was an almighty effort to get back on and despite going onto a higher dose and adding an antipsychotic he never got back the same therapeutic effect.
In contrast I have been taking seroxat continuously for 19 years and I am now on one third of my original dose with continuing therapeutic effect. I have been advised to stay on meds for life, advice which I will take.
It is difficult to assess the effects of medication on ourselves and to balance small positive changes in mood and OCD symptoms against adverse side effects but I think those who live with us and treat us can view it more objectively and so I think we have to trust them to know what is in our best interests.

Wed Jan 4 2012 10:32:15 #
BT
Member

Tess, You said your son was doing very well when on Seroxat. The difference with me was that I was doing slightly worse than before I took it. With another drug (at a very high dose) my obsessions were as intense and I carefully monitored the situation for over a year. My psychiatrist agreed the medication was doing nothing, apart from causing a few side-effects. It’s unfortunate that we all react differently. But, I realise we can make a marginal improvement on a drug and maybe it is others around us who notice the change more than we do ourselves. I have a friend who was desperate to discontinue her medication, even though she functioned well on it. Against her psychiatrist’s advice she gradually stopped it. She then realised it had been helping her and went back on it. To my knowledge she has done this six times.

I had one friend who pleaded with me to go back on medication, purely because he felt his was keeping him afloat. In actual fact, all around him could see he was heading for a breakdown and even his psychiatrist felt the drug was ineffective. Some people have a fear of taking medication, like my friend who has discontinued hers six times, others have a fear of not taking it, even when it’s doing nothing for them. I suppose they cling to the belief that it has to be doing something. I think that’s a shame, because another drug might actually be beneficial.

My friend who was very pro medication, agreed to add a dopamine antagonist to his SSRI. He reacted very badly to this and began to hallucinate. He also said he experienced extreme anger. My friend who frequently stopped her medication has had a dopamine antagonist added to her SSRI and is doing very well on this combination. She remarked that she has always had a quick temper, but since the addition of the dopamine antagonist she feels more placid. The complete opposite of my other friend’s reaction.

I’m certainly not anti medication, for I have asked to try several. I have seen the difference it can make to people’s lives. Unfortunately, as with therapy, it isn’t the answer for all.

Wed Jan 4 2012 13:00:59 #
BT
Member

P.S. When I was taking a dopamine antagonist, my periods stopped for over a year. I thought this was an early menopause, but it turned out to be a side-effect of the drug.

Wed Jan 4 2012 13:11:22 #
wannabefree
Member

Hi Tess, Hi BT, I'm inclined to agree that my meds might not be doing what I want them to do. If I have a bit of booze, the effect is immediate, but with meds, everything happens in a sort of slow motion... If I stopped taking them suddenly, I might suddenly find in six months complete disaster. And it is this time lapse thing that can decieve us. I'll certainly stay on meds for the foreseeable future, even when doing the CBT. Hopefully it will work okay.
It's ever so difficult not using loads of ellipsis's in my writing! It's just tht I've been doing some reading today, and my grammar has been terrible!
Hows it going martyn?
Wannabe

Wed Jan 4 2012 20:26:28 #