Inositol

Have anyone tried inositol for OCD? I read about it and I'm wondering did it work with anyone, does it have any side effects and how long have you been on it?

[IStillHaveHope]

I actually started taking it about 6 weeks ago on the advice of my psychiatrist. I take 500mg in the morning and 500mg before bed (a long with magnesium). I have noticed that I don't tend to ruminate as much, but have also adjusted some other prescription medication along with that so I can't say it was just the inositol.

Taking the magnesium and inositol does seem to help my sleep though.

[TomFed]

Hey OCDTurtle,

I've been taking inositol (~2 grams daily) for almost half a year now, and the effects on me are very mild (or even placebo). But well OCD has lingered in the subclinical levels for quite a while now in my case. As inositol is a natural sugar, I am pretty sure you can try it by yourself in sane doses and see if it works for you. Again I'm not a medical worker, so if you can discuss this with your therapist or doc, sure get a professional opinion first.

Another natural supplement that I found superhelpful to calm down the flow of intrusive thoughts (obsessions) is N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC). It's natural aminoacids and the side effects like bloating and constipation went away after the first week of using it. I take a NAC shake (2-3 g) every morning after breakfast. This one definitely made a difference.

I don't take any psychiatric meds. ERP, meditation, healthy habits and sports became essential basics for my healing. It took quite a while to get on the right track. I guess everybody's journey is slightly different.

[TomFed]

I've suffered from OCD since the very young age, now I'm 35. Last year, when I first reached out to the ERP therapist, my YBOCS was a 26 on 5/8/23; then it was a 12 on 5/19/23., and then it went to sub-clinical levels after another month of ERP therapy. It has stayed pretty much dormant up to this day, and it mostly doesn't affect my daily life anymore.

As for antidepressants, I've never been on them.

[Hidden in reply to TomFed]

I'm glad for you but therapy in my country mostly rely fully on antidepressants and talk therapy it has been years since my first session

[TomFed in reply to Hidden]

As much as we know from scientific studies, all of the evidence collected since 70s says that talk therapy is ineffective for OCD at best, or even can make OCD much worse in some cases. I repeat again, there is not even ONE study that says talk therapy is effective for OCD. Zeo, none, nada. That's why we have ERP and CBT based methods to deal with this disorder.