Luvox

[Traps67]

Hello fellow OCD’ers. I have a question. I’m taking 200mg of Zoloft and 2mg of Abilify daily for my OCD. Has anyone tried Luvox before? Did it work? I’m thinking of maybe switching meds. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[OCDme2]

Yes. I take the max amount of 300mg daily..I used to include augmentation of 25mg seroquel and it has helped me a lot. I no longer need the seroquel.

[bulldog71 in reply to OCDme2]

Hello, thank you for reaching out. I had pretty severe OCD for 14 years. I tried a lot of different medications over the years. My psychiatrist had to abruptly retire due to medical reasons so I had to find another one. My new psychiatrist took me off of everything and put me on 100 mg of Luvox which I had never tried before. Within six months my OCD was in complete remission. The only side effect I have is dry mouth. I pray it continues in the same way for the rest of my life. I would definitely try it. I pray you find what works and you find the peace you deserve.

[OCDme2 in reply to bulldog71]

Bulldog, yes, I'm in almost 100% complete remission. I began taking my full dose at McLeans OCD Institute in 2008, and very quickly I was doing much better, to being in almost complete remission close to that time. To have it go away so quickly, I've vchalked it up to the Luvox..I would not see how within months I was so much better.Luvox cannot hurt you any more than any other med you've tried..it's certainly worth a try. That's hard to feel while in the throes of ICD..we are so frightened anything will be close to deadly..but trying this med is like trying any other. I agree with bulldog.

Good luck.

[bulldog71 in reply to OCDme2]

Everyone always says that everyone is different and responds to different things differently. During the course of 14 years I got really tired of hearing that phrase as my OCD was a daily struggle. I never dreamed anything could bring me complete remission. But, for me, the Luvox seemed to do it. My prayers were answered. Please do not be afraid to try something different if you are not satisfied with your state. You are worth trying and hopefully achieving great relief as well.

[Sallyskins]

As in my reply to your previous post, I take 300 mg of sertraline and 5 mg aripiprazole daily. I haven't tried Luvox.

The questions you have to ask yourself are:

Is my OCD alleviated or partially alleviated by this medication?

Are there side effects, and if so, are the benefits I get from the medication worth putting up with the side effects for?

Have I tried anything else, and if so, how did I get on with it?

If the current medication doesn't suit you - and it doesn't suit all patients - and if other SSRI antidepressants don't work for you, perhaps ask about other medications. I took an old tricyclic antidepressant called clomipramine for many years and it helped with my OCD greatly - the only real drawback was that I felt constantly dopey!

There are also alternative remedies such as inositol, which can be bought over the counter in some drug stores or health food shops. Big doses are needed - around 18 g a day - but side effects are few and rare and it is considered a safe thing to take.

So far inositol hasn't been approved officially as medication for OCD, either by the FDA or NICE, but studies have had positive results.

Here's a link from IODCF on it and other alternatives:

iocdf.org/expert-opinions/o...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/916...

[Loverules in reply to Sallyskins]

My daughter in college tried the smallest dose of Luvox for her OCD, prescribed by her psychiatrist, but she very quickly had suicidal ideations. She has PANS and is sensitive to medications, toxins, infections, etc. We quickly had to take her off, though, and my psychiatrist has been hesitant to try anything else pharmaceutically. She did do a 12 day program in Atlanta called Brainvive (brainvive.com) which was a "re-set to her neurological system", and it was the thing that helped significantly in her recovery from debilitation anxiety and OCD, which allows her to be in college. She still has some symptoms (hence the trial of Luvox) but nothing like before, when she couldn't leave her room and had debilitation anxiety and constant intrusive thoughts.