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SongsInMyHead said:
im thinking about going on medication for OCD and im wondering who else has, what they've taken, and what was it like. i have a minor medication phobia, and im trying to get as many opinions as possible before deciding

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Hello!

What are your fears about taking a medication for OCD? Perhaps I could help better address them if you explained what about medications makes you uneasy.

In the meantime, I'll address some common fears and misunderstandings about taking meds for mental illnesses.

First, they do not change your personality or who you are - they won't make you a "different" person. Many times people think that a medication designed to fool with your brain chemistry will change everything about them - untrue.

Second - they do not damage your brain - in fact, studies have shown medications used to treat OCD actually help to build new connections in the brain - thus stabilizing activity and bringing "things" into balance.

OCD is - in very general terms - an anxiety disorder and many of the meds use to treat depression and anxiety are also used for OCD - meds like Prozac, Paxil, Luvox, Celexa, and Lexapro - among others.

OCD causes certain receptors in your brain to become too sensitive to certain neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. It also causes other receptors in other areas of the brain to become less sensitive to these same neurotransmitters. So meds like Prozac and Luvox work by balancing out these receptors so that none are too sensitive and others are more sensitive. They do this by blocking reuptake of serotonin - mostly. When your neurons communicate - one neuron will release serotonin which will attach to another neuron in receptors marked for serotonin. Usually, when a pair of neurons is done "communicating" the neuron that released its serotonin sucks up any remaining serotonin that didn't get used. Medications like Prozac and Luvox BLOCK this from happening - so that the extra serotonin can continue communicating with the other neuron. If the receiving neuron doesn't have the "right" number of receptors for serotonin, then this extra serotonin tells it to create more receptors. If the receiving neuron already has too many receptors for serotonin, then the extra serotonin causes it to shut down some of the receptors. This happens all over the brain and in doing so, you get a more "normal" balance.

SSRIs (Prozac, Luvox, etc) also seem to have an effect on cortisol levels. Cortisol is a "stress" hormone that's released in response to stress, of course. However, in those who have depression and OCD - it's usually the case where the brain releases too much cortisol and/or releases it at times when you're not even experiencing stress! So SSRIs help to balance the area of the brain that releases this stress hormone - thus easing physical and psychological symptoms of anxiety and depression.

What is it like to be on one of these medications? Well, hard to say exactly because everyone responds differently. While one person may experience many side effects to Prozac, another person may not experience any.

Usually if you experience side effects from meds like these - they gradually go away. Some common side effects include fatigue, feeling restless, feeling dizzy, etc. If you experience a lot of these side effects, you'll want to notify your doctor ASAP. Most likely he/she will reduce the dosage and then gradually over many weeks increase it to a therapeutic level.

Anyway, I hope I've helped a little. I'm happy to answer any other question you may have. Please feel free to post here - or send me a PM.

Hang in there!

Jerry