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On 06/05/2019 at 15:47, Handy said:

The body is not made for being in a state of anxiety for long periods. So given time, the anxiety decreases. 

 

 

22 hours ago, PolarBear said:

ROFL. Where do you come up with this crud? I was anxious for 40 years. Sure it ebbs and flows but I rarely if ever reached a point of not being anxious.

I'm with PolarBear on this one. I'm anxious far more than I'm not :(

 

7 hours ago, KaKop said:

Nevertheless, in my case Sertralin helps. But you can't omit a therapy (ERP, ACT, CBT). I consider SSRIs as door openers in case of severe OCD impact on daily living.

Oliver

Thanks Oliver.

I'm hoping for CBT, but taking meds in the meantime.

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As someone who had a full on meltdown about going back on meds last year, I hear you. I have a friend who takes an SSRI for depression, and she said two things that helped me come to terms with taking them again. Firstly that it was better to take the meds to reduce suicidal thinking and be more likely to live into old age, and then a glasses metaphor. Yes, you could probably make do without glasses, but why would you put up with suffering when they're available? That sort of shut the health anxiety up.

Hope the Sertraline helps you -- it makes things more manageable for me, and I'm fortunate enough to have few side effects beside wakefulness for the first month or so of starting it. It doesn't stop the OCD, but it soothes the sharp edge of anxiety and depression. Definitely push for CBT. Check out the OCD-UK guides for questions to ask your therapist, to make sure they have experience treating OCD.

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5 minutes ago, Raffles said:

As someone who had a full on meltdown about going back on meds last year, I hear you. I have a friend who takes an SSRI for depression, and she said two things that helped me come to terms with taking them again. Firstly that it was better to take the meds to reduce suicidal thinking and be more likely to live into old age, and then a glasses metaphor. Yes, you could probably make do without glasses, but why would you put up with suffering when they're available? That sort of shut the health anxiety up.

That's really helpful Raffles - thank you.

I started taking my meds yesterday - not loving the side effects so far but I'll try to stick with it.

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4 hours ago, Raffles said:

As someone who had a full on meltdown about going back on meds last year, I hear you. I have a friend who takes an SSRI for depression, and she said two things that helped me come to terms with taking them again. Firstly that it was better to take the meds to reduce suicidal thinking and be more likely to live into old age.

SSRIs are known to increase suicidal thinking in a large percentage of people. An ironic side effect. Look it up. Here is one quote ‘a systematic review of placebo-controlled trials in adult healthy volunteers, we showed that antidepressants double the occurrence of events that the FDA has defined as possible precursors to suicide and violence.’ 

Use with care & monitoring. 

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Any side effects of an SSRI are mostly of short duration. And a lot of people don't seem that affected by them, judging by responses on the forums.

When I was prescribed them for the first time I was asked specifically whether I had experienced suicidal tendencies, as these could well be, at least initially, more intense. 

A sensible safeguard, and anyone experiencing that increase should immediately get medical assistance. 

But, coming back to specifics, I have found that those who agonise over taking them, with fears of unpleasant side effects, may be hyper-sensitive and conjur up side effects. 

So I reckon the best way is to simply determine to give them a chance, act normally but watchfully. 

In my case diarrhoea was a problem, so I was asked to refer to help from my GP, who was able to prescribe something for that. 

Edited by taurean
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On 30/04/2019 at 03:33, Angst said:

My take on medication is that it numbs emotional pain. And therefore can help us over a period of time.

This has definitely not been my experience with SSRIs.  I still was definitely able to experience emotional pain.  For me the drugs worked like mental lubricant, the thoughts that used to get stuck ("what if....") didn't get stuck as much and when they did were easier to get unstuck.  Basically it helped my brain operate like it did before the OCD kicked in.  I would say that emotional numbness would be an unwanted side effect, which in a way might make dealing with OCD easier for some people in some situations, but I don't think its the primary mechanism for SSRIs.

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On 30/04/2019 at 03:55, OCDhavenobrain said:

I have to be more cynical and say that they do this because it is cheaper. And many doctors (of sole strange reason) seems to lack experience with patients with OCD.

While any large group is going to have variance among its individual members, by and large I think the reason doctors do things is because they are genuinely trying to help the patient as best as they know how.  Unfortunately for both the doctor and the patient, doctors who practice general medicine have to cover a wide range of situations and so are unlikely to be an expert in most of them.  That means that the patient has to be their own advocate and push for specialist referrals and such.

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7 hours ago, Handy said:

SSRIs are known to increase suicidal thinking in a large percentage of people. An ironic side effect.

Use with care & monitoring. 

My DR did mention this, I was aware of it anyway from my time on them before. Thanks Handy.

 

7 hours ago, taurean said:

Any side effects of an SSRI are mostly of short duration. And a lot of people I have found that those who agonise over taking them, with fears of unpleasant side effects, may be hyper-sensitive and conjur up side effects. 

So I reckon the best way is to simply determine to give them a chance, act normally but watchfully. 

Thanks, Taurean. I'll give them a go and be careful.

 

6 hours ago, dksea said:

While any large group is going to have variance among its individual members, by and large I think the reason doctors do things is because they are genuinely trying to help the patient as best as they know how.  Unfortunately for both the doctor and the patient, doctors who practice general medicine have to cover a wide range of situations and so are unlikely to be an expert in most of them.  That means that the patient has to be their own advocate and push for specialist referrals and such.

I mostly agree, dksea. I do find the gps at my surgery are more inclined to throw tablets at a problem though. Maybe it's time or financial constraints, rather than ignorance.

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10 hours ago, Handy said:

SSRIs are known to increase suicidal thinking in a large percentage of people. An ironic side effect. Look it up. Here is one quote ‘a systematic review of placebo-controlled trials in adult healthy volunteers, we showed that antidepressants double the occurrence of events that the FDA has defined as possible precursors to suicide and violence.’ 

Use with care & monitoring. 

I didn't phrase that particularly well -- I'm aware of the increased risk of suicidal thoughts in the early stages of taking SSRIs. It's why, as you observe, they should be used with care and monitoring by Doctors. 

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On 06/05/2019 at 00:57, Handy said:

people talk about exercising & it always works to combat ocd.  I think of anxiety as energy & exercising uses that energy up. Voila!

I hear this a lot and for me it is total rubbish. I exercise a lot and always have done, and it does a lot for me, but it ALWAYS makes me more anxious than I am when I don't exercise. To me the idea that something which raises your heart rate could relax you is crazy. To me it is a stimulant it gives me energy and a boost - all of which, like with caffeine, also make me anxious. Everyone is different and you need to stop spouting these things as indisputable fact. People are not chemicals in a test tube they are complex. 

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Guest OCDhavenobrain

In general exercise is great for mental health. When it comes to heartbeat getting eleveated it is temporarily. BUT I myself habe had exercise induced anxiety attacks. Exercise is stress to the body so if you already am stressed it can be a little toouch but in general I would advice everybodyvto exercise

Edited by OCDhavenobrain
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Yeah don't get me wrong I love exercise for a number of reasons but it usually doesn't calm me and I have to be careful about it if ocd is bad. 

I'm also not saying this is the same for everyone I know lots of people think the opposite to me. My point was that handy makes lots of simplistic statements that are not necessarily true for everyone. 

Edited by gingerbreadgirl
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