ocd returning
Question:
>From: willi…@india.com >I am very paranoid about >going off the Prozac as it has helped in the past, and even now I am >much better than before I started stking it. On the other hand, if >something else might work better..
bill, dont try to reduce meds without getting together with your pdoc. if you need something different they can gradually take you off one while adding another. i got into huge trouble with agoraphobia when i suddenly stopped ananfranil a few yrs ago. i couldnt work for 6 months! lisa
Response:
williamd wrote:
> I am not sure whether it is more connected with halving my prozac- It probably is. That and quite possibly that ’some CBT’ was not enough CBT. > which makes me worry i have somehow rendered this drug ineffective for > me- i’ve gone back to full dosage for iver a week and still the ocd is > pretty bad. SSRIs need to build up over a few weeks. If you’re already on them and are increasing the dosage, you still have to let them build up. > It seems so long as I was weaning onto prozac and > xanax and just zoning out all the time I had little desire for ocd or > anything else. I had the same experience. > Has anyone else had a similar problem and learned how to turn up the > good parts without rousing the dreaded ocd monster? Thanks for any > info/suggestions. I think being patient, reducing meds s l o w l y and being very proactive in terms of using what you learn in CBT is key. By slowly, I mean months and years even. Four years ago I was on 40 mg of seroxat (a high, mind-numbing dosage) and I needed that. It brought my obsessions under control and let me learn about OCD and how to manage it through CBT – challenging my fucked up thinking, facing my fears, learning to embrace rather than avoid anxiety, etc… Once I had learned a lot of coping stategies and had them quite well practised, I was up for the challenge of reducing my meds but I didn’t just half my dose I went from 40 to 35 mg and stayed there for a few months and practiced applying what I learned in CBT. Then from 35 to 30 mgs for another few months, then 30 to 25 mgs for another few months, 25 to 20 mgs for about 9 months (had a lot of stress at that time that was challenging enough), then from 20 to 15 mgs for a few months… You get the picture. Now, I’m on about about whatever it is you get when you take a 20 mg tablet and chop it up into 8 bits and take one bit every other day. In other words, barely anything. It’s been a slow process but effective for me. Though I still have some fears, they are not all consuming. I am quite normal now but I did have to work hard at it and I still work at maintaining my normality (which is far, far easier than getting there). — ARQ Add a dot on each side of the ‘r’ in my name and a ‘c’ in front of lara to email me.
Response:
Hi Erik, and thanks for the encouragement. I am very paranoid about going off the Prozac as it has helped in the past, and even now I am much better than before I started stking it. On the other hand, if something else might work better… I suppose I’ll wait awhile and see if things return to normal. If not I may ask my doc about another med. bill
Response:
I am also in the process of weaning from meds. I suffer from occasional bouts of anxiety, but it seems to come and go. It can last for a few days and then disappear for a week. It is not an every day thing but when it happens, I panic and think "this is how it is going to be forever". I have been off antidepressants since March and I’m down to (2) 400 mg tegretol a day which is sub-therapeutic I’m sure. My psychiatrist does not want me to stop totally yet, so I am on hold for a few months to see how I do. I have been doing very well for the past few years but I was always on medication. I haven’t been in (medicine-free) recovery long enough to give you much advice except to *anticipate* feeling anxious in the beginning. Realize that this is normal and just knowing this will help a little. I also think one of my problems is that I am not allowing the OCD to stop me from my normal activities. I doing everything as usual and this is also making me anxious. So I’ve had some pretty bad days that still come and go but I’m trying to keep doing what I normally do and praying I get used to it and this will subside. NK "williamd" <willi…@india.com> wrote in message
news:1g2ig9q.9a5llk6os9zoN%williamd@india.com… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I was feeling great relief after a few months of Prozac and some CBT > from a local counselor. At the same time I had been improving in my > anxiety in general, esp concerning marriage/family issues. A couple > weeks ago I started lowering my dosage of prozac by half just to see if > I still needed 40mg daily. Also around that time I had a big epiphany in > that suddenly I wasn’t scared about the marriage/family issues any more. > For the last couple weeks I have felt better from GAD than in years and > old interests, hobbies, and passion for life is returning. > The problem with all this is my ocd symptoms seem to be returning as > well. I am not sure whether it is more connected with halving my prozac- > which makes me worry i have somehow rendered this drug ineffective for > me- i’ve gone back to full dosage for iver a week and still the ocd is > pretty bad. On this other hand, i think it may have more to do with my > refound zest for life. It seems so long as I was weaning onto prozac and > xanax and just zoning out all the time I had little desire for ocd or > anything else. Now that i am getting better anxiety-wise, the ocd is > also functioning at a higher level. > Has anyone else had a similar problem and learned how to turn up the > good parts without rousing the dreaded ocd monster? Thanks for any > info/suggestions. > bill
Response:
I was feeling great relief after a few months of Prozac and some CBT from a local counselor. At the same time I had been improving in my anxiety in general, esp concerning marriage/family issues. A couple weeks ago I started lowering my dosage of prozac by half just to see if I still needed 40mg daily. Also around that time I had a big epiphany in that suddenly I wasn’t scared about the marriage/family issues any more. For the last couple weeks I have felt better from GAD than in years and old interests, hobbies, and passion for life is returning. The problem with all this is my ocd symptoms seem to be returning as well. I am not sure whether it is more connected with halving my prozac- which makes me worry i have somehow rendered this drug ineffective for me- i’ve gone back to full dosage for iver a week and still the ocd is pretty bad. On this other hand, i think it may have more to do with my refound zest for life. It seems so long as I was weaning onto prozac and xanax and just zoning out all the time I had little desire for ocd or anything else. Now that i am getting better anxiety-wise, the ocd is also functioning at a higher level. Has anyone else had a similar problem and learned how to turn up the good parts without rousing the dreaded ocd monster? Thanks for any info/suggestions. bill
Response:
Hi Bill, Don’t dispair. This is a normal thing except that now you know what to do about it. Yes, I know that which you talk about about. The beast and the cruel fact that a zest for life and OCD seem to go hand ‘n hand. I had the opposite effect with SSRI’s. That is when I start to pull out of my depression that the OCD would attack with a vengence, and drive me back down. I finally found some relief with an anti-psychotic (Seroquel) and I was finally able to wean onto an SSRI (Lexapro). For me at least, it seemed to decouple the ‘zest for life’ and ‘OCD’. That 10 years of counseling came into good use, and things have been snapping into place over the last, err, year. Erik – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -williamd wrote: > I was feeling great relief after a few months of Prozac and some CBT > from a local counselor. At the same time I had been improving in my > anxiety in general, esp concerning marriage/family issues. A couple > weeks ago I started lowering my dosage of prozac by half just to see if > I still needed 40mg daily. Also around that time I had a big epiphany in > that suddenly I wasn’t scared about the marriage/family issues any more. > For the last couple weeks I have felt better from GAD than in years and > old interests, hobbies, and passion for life is returning. > The problem with all this is my ocd symptoms seem to be returning as > well. I am not sure whether it is more connected with halving my prozac- > which makes me worry i have somehow rendered this drug ineffective for > me- i’ve gone back to full dosage for iver a week and still the ocd is > pretty bad. On this other hand, i think it may have more to do with my > refound zest for life. It seems so long as I was weaning onto prozac and > xanax and just zoning out all the time I had little desire for ocd or > anything else. Now that i am getting better anxiety-wise, the ocd is > also functioning at a higher level. > Has anyone else had a similar problem and learned how to turn up the > good parts without rousing the dreaded ocd monster? Thanks for any > info/suggestions. > bill
