ocd and coming off antidepressants

[S526]

hi I've just joined this forum and hoping to seek some help and reassurance from anyone experiencing similar.

I was diagnosed with ocd (mainly intrusive thoughts) at age 15 I'm now 30, I was put on fluoxetine straight away and only managed to come off it 1 year ago and was doing really well until i had a year of major traumtic events which have made me recently relapse.

I tried going back on medication under doctors supervision but side effects were unbearable and intrusive thoughts worsened. I'm constantly in a state of panic. Waiting for cbt and trying coping strategies in the meantime but wondering if anyoneis going through similar situation?

[nkotbjoeymc]

I have those but I got diagnosed With OCD in my twenty’s and just a few year’s ago, I got diagnosed with The Intrusive Thought’s.

Not fun to have.

[S526 in reply to nkotbjoeymc]

yeah they are very difficult to live with. I've lived with them for 15 years, I feel your pain and would not wish it upon my worst enemy. I know the cbt strategies I need to do to help me but sometimes it's just really difficult and tiring to do them. Mine are thoughts are heightened atm because of a lot of stress but start cbt therapy soon hopefully this can help me. doctor keeps offering different antidepressants and 2 have not agreed with me and made me really feel worse so im scared to try anything else, feel stuck really.

thanks for your reply.

[nkotbjoeymc in reply to S526]

My Insurance Is No Longer Paying For The Prozac In Brand Name And The Generic Make’s Me Very Sick.

I’m Waiting To See If The Prior Authorization Will Go Through But In The Mean Time, I Been Off Of It For About A Week And I Don’t Feel Any Different But The Prozac Stay’s In The System For A Long Time So That Can Be It.

[fromzerotopanic]

I’m trying to decide if I want to get off fluoxetine myself. I take 40 mgs/day and it just doesn’t seem to be doing the trick. Don’t know if it’s not a high enough dose or just not helping. Bit I worry that it might be helping more than I know and if I get off it, I’ll really notice how much it actually helped. I tried sertraline several years ago and the weight piled on quickly, so don’t think i want to try anything new. I’ve been watch g videos pit out be DARE Anxiety and it’s helping somewhat , so not sure what I’ll do. So I understand your dilemma!

[S526 in reply to fromzerotopanic]

thank you for your reply. I was exactly like you. I was on 60mg at age of 15 then it took me until I was 29 (im 30 now) to start weaning myself to 40mg then 20mg then thought I don't even feel like it is helping just like you're feeling. So I weaned off it all together under doctors supervision (not that they were much support really as it's just personal choice what i wanted to do) they are so quick to put us on these things but there's no support to get off it and it's very hard. I tried fluoxetine again the other day from doctor and I'm wondering if all these years that is what has been making my intrusive thoughts worse because the first 2 days i had really bad intrusive images.

My friends are all on different antidepressants and swear by them but I've tried a few now and had adverse side effects so I'm scared to try anymore 😔 also scared that I won't find a solution to feeling better as I feel dreadful at the moment.

I honestly didn't feel any different when I come off it at first but a year down the line I am struggling but I think it's because I've had a very stressful year so determined to fight on without relying on antidepressants and going for cbt to see if that can help alone first.

it's nice to know I'm not alone since I found this site.



[TrueBlue23]

Hi, Firstly, well done on managing to come off the fluoxetine. I've been on fluoxetine on and off for a very long time, and have not yet been able to come off them fully, so you've done well to do that! I'm on 20mg a day ,but seem to struggle if I try and come off them.

I've only ever been diagnosed with mild depression, and have not been officially diagnosed with OCD, but after reading lots of books and online articles I'm sure I struggle with it.

It was a revelation to me to find an article or forum online where I could read about people who were experiencing the same intrusive thoughts as me, and to know that it wasn't just me and I wasn't going mental!

I went online and began looking into OCD and it was so reassuring to be able to put a name to something that I had been struggling on my own with for so long. It helped explain a lot of the mental struggles I had had, but now I was able to put a name to it.

I bought quite a few books from Amazon on this subject - OCD and intrusive thoughts. 'The Imp of the mind' was one of them I think. They weren't expensive and they were a great reassurance to me, and are handy as I can dip into them whenever I am going through a bad patch.

i'm glad you've reached out on here, and really hope you're able to find strength and reassurance from others on here to help with your journey through this mental struggle.

One thing that has struck me about this illness is that the people who suffer with it tend to be nice people and they are particularly prone to suffer with intrusive thoughts purely because they are such nice people and have a conscience. So although it's a struggle, take heart from this, and know that you're one of the good ones!

I wish you all the best, and thanks for sharing your story! 👍

[S526]

thank you so much for your reply. That made me so emotional when i read about us being nice people, its so true we are good people (we are the best of the bunch id say). We just forget it when we forget ourselves at diffuclt times.I put myself down so much because of my intrusive thoughts especially at the moment they've got a hold on me because I'm at my lowest.

I will certainly invest in that book and I really appreciate you opening up to me you have been a big help to me today as I start my morning off with a struggle, your message has helped to give me that extra strength to keep pushing on.

I hope one day you find comfort to come off fluoxetine too. we are stronger than we will ever know.

[TrueBlue23]

Really pleased it's helped! Stay strong and keep going. We're all stronger than we think! 💪 😉

[aparente001]

Different medications have different side effect profiles, so you might want to consider trying a different medication. Sorry to hear you're having more trouble currently. Regards.

[S526 in reply to aparente001]

Hi thanks for your reply. I started sertraline yesterday I felt better than I did on the fluoxetine. 2nd day today still anxious and intrusive thoughts heightened but I think I'm imagining a lot of it through panic. trying mindfulness and reminding myself they are just thoughts/images that dont define me as a person. It's such a battle though 😔