[Azwraith]

Hi guys.
I have a very high anxiety disorders, wich brought me to Pure O-OCD as well.
I have had some Panic Attacks in the past, and I can say it is pure hell.

Just latelly I decided to search for professional help. I went to the therapist, and it helped a bit. She prescribed me some meds (Rivotril and Anafranil), and I started taking them. They helped, and I feel slightly better. But the problem is that my libido has drastically fallen! I mean, really drastically! I never thought that would be a real problem, but it is.

Guys, it is horrible to spend weeks without even wanting to touch yourself. I feel disgustted just by thinking of sex. And that is really weird for someone who used to touch himself at least once everyday.
And I miss the days when I was sexually active, or at least could touch myself. Not to mention that with these meds there are numerous other side effects, like loss of memmory, loss of balance, I can't drink alcohol, etc.
So, basically, I want to stop taking those meds to get back to normal, but I am afraid of the panic attacks. What if they come back?

Also, the psychologist is not helping me very much. We just sit, and she asks me what happenned with me during the week. She wants me to talk, to put thinks out of my chest. I mean, she is ok, but I don't want someone to talk to. I have my friends for that. If she wants to help me on the Anxiety disorder, intrusive thoughts and OCD, she has to be much more active than just wanting to hear from me what happenned. I feel like just talking to a friend, and not a doctor. And I don't need to talk, I need therapy! I need healing! So I stopped going to the psychologist. If I had depression, then it would be ok to sit and talk and get things off my chest, but that is not the case!

Can anyone give me any advice? Anything you can say will help me.
Thanks in advance!

[gayleggg]

Unfortunately, medications effect our libido more often than not. They might could try you on something different and hope for better results. Men are struck worse than women but women also suffer the effects of medication. Depending on the severity of your illness and how much the drugs affect play into making a scion of whether it is worth the side effects. Mine choice was medication, it's the lessor of the two evils.

Hi Azwraith,

Have you tried cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) ? CBT has greatly reduced my anxiety. CBT is applied to situations that bring you anxiety; it changes negative thinking into positive thinking.

[Mygrandjourney]

Try going to the ocfoundation.org website and see if you can find a OCD specific therapist in your area. If they can treat OCD, they should be able to treat other types of anxiety as well. It's important to let the prescriber know the side effects and request alternatives. I think SSE was common with Anafranil.

[Altered Moment]

I have not heard of those meds before.

You might try finding a therapists who knows CBT (cognitive behavior therapy) and DBT (dialectical behavior therapy). At least then you would learn some tools to battle it rather than sitting and talking.

[Altered Moment]

I see Rivotril is the same as Klonopin (Clonazepam) a benzodiazapine. That is what I take. Highly effective for anxiety and panic attacks.

Anafranil is an old Tricyclic antidepressant. These can have heavy side effects.

If it were me I would dump the Anafranil and keep the Rivotril.

I would bet it is the Anafranil causing the sexual side effects. It is listed as one. I have never heard of Rivotril causing that.

[Azwraith]

Originally Posted by kindness

Hi Azwraith,

Have you tried cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) ? CBT has greatly reduced my anxiety. CBT is applied to situations that bring you anxiety; it changes negative thinking into positive thinking.

Hello Kindness! I will try that next thank you very much.

Originally Posted by Mygrandjourney

Try going to the ocfoundation.org website and see if you can find a OCD specific therapist in your area. If they can treat OCD, they should be able to treat other types of anxiety as well. It's important to let the prescriber know the side effects and request alternatives. I think SSE was common with Anafranil.

Hello friend. I don't think that would be of much help since I live in Brazil. And its quite rare to find such doctors in the city I live (its very small). But I'll try to look for them.

Originally Posted by zinco14532323

I see Rivotril is the same as Klonopin (Clonazepam) a benzodiazapine. That is what I take. Highly effective for anxiety and panic attacks.

Anafranil is an old Tricyclic antidepressant. These can have heavy side effects.

If it were me I would dump the Anafranil and keep the Rivotril.

I would bet it is the Anafranil causing the sexual side effects. It is listed as one. I have never heard of Rivotril causing that.

Yes, Rivotril is Clonazepam and Anafranil is Clomepramine.
I was taking 5 Clomepramines a day and 1 Clonazepam. Now I am slowly cutting the Clomepramines and am now at 2 Clomepramines and 1 Clonazepam per day. I think I am feeling slightly better, but I am still afraid of the panic attacks

[Werewoman]

Propranolol (Inderal) is actually a beta blocker, but I find it enormously helpful along with klonopin for my panic attacks. I haven't had one since I've been on these drugs. I also take Welbutrin, which for some people, increases libido.

However, my dx is PTSD, not OCD, so I don't know if it would work for you as well as it does for me.

Good Luck! I had to try lots of different things before I found a combination that works.