confused

[FirstResponder23]

I’m a bit confused. I have been on fluoxetine for my ocd for a few years now. When k do take it, I have been good. Maybe a small relapse here and there, and I think those were mainly a combination of stressors, and not being on the medicine completely.

Recently k have been going through some really rough OCD. I can’t seem to shake the thoughts, and some days I feel like I’m making improvements, but then others I feel like I’m starting over.

I’m not looking for reassurance, but I’m just a bit confused as to what’s going on with my dosages. I’ve been on 40mg for a few years and it has worked. And recently when I was not taking it consistently, I stateted taking it regularly as my ocd creeped up. However, I’m about 7 weeks of being on that dose consistently and I’m finding myself as I put it to my therapist “stuck”

I’ve noticed in the past when that 4 or 5 week mark picks up of being on the medicine again I usually have a lot less of the thoughts bothering me, but right now I’m not finding much relief. Or if I do, it’s usually because of my lorazapam that I take as needed (recently it’s been daily to just get going in the AM)

I’m hoping when I go to see my primary care who is willing to prescribe my current dose that she might consider increasing my dosage to 60mg and hoping that will give me the relief I need. It’s difficult because a lot of my compulsions are mental. So I don’t always catch them or I usually fall into thinking too much and then it gets to be a lot before I can try to use my “maybe, maybe not” phrases. And I’m just exhausted at that point.

Any words of encouragement?

[SCC1]

Hi. I am currently taking Luvox. I am on 100mg total, 50mg AM and 50mg PM. My dose was raised just over a week ago. It had been 50mg AM and 25mg PM.

I find that the new dose of 50mg PM, is helping me more at night, however, I still don't feel as good as I would like to. When I have my next drs appt, I am going to see if my dose can be raised again.

People on this forum have said that 200-300mg is the dose that they had started to feel better on.

I am also having a lot of trouble w/ my thoughts and have "good" times, even though they last only moments. My OCD involves a lot of mental things, too.

If you hadn't been on your meds completely for a period of time, it's possible that once you started taking the 40mg again, it was as if you were starting from nothing. So the med might need an extra boost to get it working again.

I know how frustrating dealing w/ THIS DAMN OCD is--we all do. I hope you start to feel better soon.

[FirstResponder23 in reply to SCC1]

thank you so much for your story. I’m hoping that either I can just knock this OCD down with my skills that I’ve learned in therapy, or that a slight adjustment in the medication will give me that extra boost that I need to have that feeling of “peace and quiet”

Sounds like you are headed in the right direction as well!

[IStillHaveHope]

Hello. I'm sorry you're medicine isn't working well. It is important to take it regularly to keep it at the appropriate level to work. I've been on SSRI's for over a decade now and a few years ago had to try another med since mine no longer seemed to be working well. It did take some time, but eventually I was able to find something that worked for me. I take lexapro (had a real bad experience on Luvox) and the doctor recently prescribed welbutrin to go along with it. That seemed to help me but everyone is different.

I know how hard it is to deal with OCD and how hard it is when your medicine isn't working well. The good news is that there are a lot of different medicines out there that can help but it may take some experimenting to find the right one. I also know how discouraging it can be when you don't get the results you're looking for. Don't give up hope though. I truly wish you the peace you deserve friend.

[FirstResponder23 in reply to IStillHaveHope]

thank you so much for your kind words and your experience. I am seeing my primary care doctor soon and talking with my therapist our hopes are that a slight increase in my medication will be what’s needed to get my over the hump that I’ve been trying to achieve.

[Sallyskins]

Normally high doses of SSRIs are needed to deal adequately with OCD. I'm on sertraline and take 300 mg a day.

It might be worth having a word with your prescriber about aripiprazole - it's actually an anti-psychotic, but you don't have to have psychosis to benefit from it. In low doses, it can boost the effects of an SSRI and help you to deal better with the OCD.

I take 5 mg of it daily, and I feel much better on it. I did hesitate before going on it - I had a bad experience with another anti-psychotic called sulpiride, in the form of weight gain, and didn't want a repeat of that!

Quite recently there was a problem with supply of aripiprazole and I wasn't able to get it - I really began to feel much worse. It came as a relief when supplies were resumed and I was back on it. I feel more like my old self again.

So ask about aripiprazole - just don't let them prescribe you sulpiride!

[FirstResponder23 in reply to Sallyskins]

thank you for your advice. My therapist had mentioned the same thing that I really am on a low dose of the fluoxetine and that a slight increase might be what is needed. She also mentioned that maybe before I was able to tolerate the lower dosage and be okay, but now I do need that higher, therapeutic dose for ocd.